From time to time, articles appear in the U.S. philatelic press describing the Philippines as a poor area for philatelic investment. As is usually the case with those who indulge such sweeping generalities, they are at the same time quite right and absolutely wrong. It is correctly pointed out that the issues of the Republic of the Philippines, since its inauguration on July 4, 1946, with but few exceptions have extremely limited investment potential. The pre-1946 issues, however, present quite a different story. True, the catalog of the pre-1946 issues lists many stamps which have been cheap for forty years and more; which are cheap now; and likely always will remain cheap. In that respect, the stamps of the Philippines are no different from those of the USA or 'most any other stamp-issuing country. The Philippines specialist collector, however, soon learns which stamps, postal stationery and covers are cheap and which are . . . well, let us fall back upon the old standby euphemism, "elusive;" while not yet priced beyond the means of most collectors, many postal emissions are surprisingly difficult to find, especially in VF or better condition. Current catalog pricing and prices realized at auction sales are beginning to reflect that situation.
Make no mistake about the existence of a well-informed, discriminating and active body of Philippines specialists; i.e., active buyers of Philippine philatelic material. Twenty or thirty years ago. perhaps even ten years ago, such definitely was not the case; in those days, supply exceeded demand. The situation has been in a reverse trend, particularly in the past five years or so, and in certain specific areas of collecting, the demand is now showing definite signs of exceeding supply. To the dismay of the collector attempting to fill those nagging "blank spaces" in his collection, but to the joy of the seller, the dealer and the investor, many items which were available at single-figure prices a short time ago are now commanding high two-figure and low three-figure prices.
Much of the recent increased interest maybe attributed in some degree to the formation in 1974 of the INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINE PHILATELIC SOCIETY (IPPS) of Manila - a group of Philippine specialists; followed a year later (1975) by the Philippine Philatelic Society of London, and, in 1976, by the Philippine Philatelic Society of Australia (PPSA). A substantial majority of the members of the IPPS and the PPS resides in the U.S.A. and all three societies publish journals of considerable merit. A newer group, the U.S. Possessions Philatelic Society (USPPS), has recently been formed, with an impressive starting membership of more than 200. The USSPS publishes a fine journal, and embraces the study of Philippines philately along with the other U.S. Possessions. Additionally, the journals of the leading Japanese
philatelic societies in the U.S. frequently contain articles relating to the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, as do Japanese-language journals in Japan, where virtually any Occupation material finds ready buyers. The net result of all that activity, in my opinion, is a substantial gain in value of much Philippine material.
Even a moderately careful reading of the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps, Philippine Section, will quickly identify the ad-hesives which display good investment possibilities; if one takes the trouble to compare prices in the latest 1979 edition with those of say, five years ago, the "good" numbers are even more quickly apparent: Scott Nos. 212; 223-25; 237-54; 273-74; 304,319a and b; 445; C8; C13-16; to list the most obvious. The stamps of greatest interest here in the U.S. quite naturally, are those of the U.S. Administration of the Philippines. In May, 1978, the Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc., sold the extraordinary W. Parsons Todd Collection which contained some 360 lots of U.S. Administration Philippines material, featuring multiples, blocks and imprint blocks of the number mentioned above. The total realization was in excess of a quarter of a million dollars; a single item, a Bottom Imprint and Plate Number block of six of No. 239, commanded an astonishing $27,000.00. I dare say the buyers of the Todd Philippines material do not anticipate a decline in the future value of their purchases.
The specific nature of the material in the Todd Collection brings me to the point of this overlong discourse: the true specialist looks well beyond the traditional catalog listings of single stamps, in unused and used condition, and seeks the multiples, blocks, imprint blocks, plate number blocks; the proofs, varieties and errors which are the hallmarks of fine specialized collections. With ever-increasing frequency, he abandons the catalog altogether and ventures ir o the collection of postal history, specifically into the collection of postal covers.
To become more specific, it is my opinion that the following is but some of the Philippines material which offers good investment potential:
SPANISH ADMINISTRATION: any cover with legible postal markings — and the same applies to the Aguinaldo era,
U.S. and COMMONWEALTH ADMINISTRATIONS. In my opinion, Scott does a fine job ol listing the early issues of the U.S. Administration, Nos. 212 to 240, which are listed and priced in five categories: as singles; on cover; blocks of four; margin strips of three; imprint and plate number and margin blocks of six, imprint and plate numbers. Yet subsequent issues of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing also are found on cover and bear imprint plate numbers, but remain unlisted and unpriced in those categories, in Scott or any other catalog. As far as I know, no study of those later plate 'numbers has yet been published, and most examples can be purchased at little or no premium. But someone eventually will publish such a study, and many of the plate blocks will then quickly become priced at considerable more than the traditional six or seven times the price of a single. Presently, no one knows the relative scarcity of the various plate blocks of that period; over the longer run, I think they offer good investment potential.
In the same period, commercial covers bearing examples of the 1914-23 Perf. 10 Regular Issues (excepting the 2c, 4c, and 20c values) are surprisingly scarce, and when found, bring ever-increasing prices. It is difficult to be too specific, because postmarks, registry, paquebot and other postal markings affect the value of a cover to the specialist collector. Most of the 2c values of the period are very commonly found on cover, and scarcely deserve a second look. But not so with No. 326, the 2c coil stamp of 1928. Soon after release, it became evident that coil stamps simply are not compatible with the tropical climate of the Philippines. I have never seen nor heard of No. 326 on cover, yet it stands to reason that such must exist. If you have one, I know where you can get considerably more than the undoubted two-bits you paid for it.
JAPANESE OCCUPATION. This is my area of particular interest, and it abounds in scarce and rare covers with good investment potential. Stern-
ly limiting myself to the discussion of but one example, Scott prices FDCs of N29-31 and N29a-31 a at $1.25, which I think is reasonable and proper _ for FDCs postmarked at Manila, and only at Manila. In fact, FDCs of October 14, 1943, were processed in 47 different provincial cities and town in the Occupied Philippines, and many are very scarce indeed. I have been searching for many years and still lack one town; I still hope to find it for 5(W or so in a dealer's "bargain box," but probably will have to pay the $50.00 or so it is truly worth.
POSTAL STATIONERY. Scott lists only the major numbers, and recently has increased prices substantially, almost across the board. But the specialist collector goes beyond the general listing to the specialized listings in the Philippines Section of the UPSS catalog, The Postal Stationery of the Possessions and Administrative Areas of The United States. Unfortunately, the prices appearing in that 1972 publication are more sadly out of date, but that defect inhibits the dedicated collectors not at all. With monotonous regularity, examples of Philippine postal stationery exchange hands in auction and private treaty sales at prices in excess of those listed in either catalog. Many collectors cannot, and most dealers will not take the time and trouble properly to identify postal stationery by size, knife, watermark, etc ... as a consequence of which examples will change hands many times at modest prices — until a specialist collector gets his hands on it, identifies it correctly, and suddenly, the price advances in satisfying multipliers. I guess that could be called "investing," of sorts; whatever it is, its great fun.
The WAMARVA Philippine Study Group announces that it will host a get-together for Philippine philatelic societies at BALPEX in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The get-together will include a special guest lecturer and is scheduled for 2 pfn, Saturday, September 1 at the Hunt Valley Inn.
Over the past several years, enthusiastic collectors in the Washington-Maryland-Virginia area have regularly been meeting to discuss their common interest-Philippine Philately. As a result of these meetings, the WAMARVA Philippine Study Group was formed. To the casual observer, these collectors appear somewhat peculiar due to their unusual language which includes words like papeles sellados, Aquinaldo, lloilo and Zamboanga. How-
ever, it is their interest in this peculiar language which binds them together.