Canadian Stamp Auctions

Stamp market commentary

Commentary No. 49 - 17 July, 2003

The New 2004 Scott Catalogue - Our Review & Comments

The 2004 Scott Catalogue, Volume 2, became available in Canada at the end of May. The cost for the CD offered over the Internet was $82 cdn. including postage. This was similar to the cost from local dealers. The catalogue contained a minimum of price increases or decreases and no noticeable trend. Here is a summary of the pricing changes:
Early Canada to Numerals
No changes
Edward VII
1¢, 2¢ and 50¢ decreased; 5¢ and 10¢ increased.
Quebec Tercentenary
½ ¢, 1¢ and 2¢ increased
Admirals
No increases.
Confederation
One decrease - Scott 142
Modern Canada

1 increase - Scott 1356b

3 decreases - Scott 723A, 1289-92 and 1376b

4 prices added - Scott 973a &b, 1878a and 1883a

Back of the Book
No changes
Stamp Prices Steady
Last year's reductions, though numerous, were not significant. At the time we didn't understand why there were so many price reductions. We still don't understand a year later.This year, Scott had only 13 changes.Once again we fail to understand the lack of any price movement in the catalogue. Out in the marketplace, we continue to see an increased demand for Canadian material, at least up to the War issue of 1942 and we also see it with the "Back of the Book" stamps. We have seen more new record prices realized this year than in any year since we began compiling our pricing records. We have noted prices strengthening beyond the Admirals to include, for the first time, the Scroll and Arch sets.
Because there are so few changes, it is possible that in future the Scott catalogue could become less relevant to collectors than in the past. At the same time, the cost to purchase the catalogue is going up, as mentioned in our Commentary No. 48, to a level that may be beyond the reach of the average collector. Maybe there is nothing Scott can do about this, if this is the true state of the market, but we can see many collectors questioning the need to buy a new catalogue each year if there is so little new information to be gained from it.
A year ago when we reviewed the 2003 Scott catalogue (see our Commentary No.33) we expressed our uncertainty over the downward trend of the prices. We find ourselves in the same position this year as we try to understand why there is no trend that all.
We hope it will all become clearer next year when we review the 2005 Scott catalogue!