Canadian Stamp Auctions
Stamp market commentary
Commentary No. 54 - 17 December, 2003
Stamps Printed on the Gummed Side
Commentary No. 54 - 17 December, 2003
Stamps Printed on the Gummed Side
One of the stranger varieties that has surfaced in recent years is a group of stamps printed on the back instead of the front of the stamp, otherwise known as stamps printed on the gummed side. This is a surprising development, as you would think that with our modern day computers, it would be relatively easy to spot such a mistake. Most of the stamps that were printed on the gummed side were issued between 1967 and 1987. A full list of the Canadian stamps printed on gum to this date is shown below at the end of this Commentary.
The Earliest Stamp
The earliest such stamp we are aware of is this 3¢ stamp (Scott 219c) issued in 1935:
25 October, 2000
Scott 219cA review of the Scott prices for the stamp is shown below:
Year
ValueThis stamp appears regularly at auction and is not rare. It is seldom well centered. The relatively low catalogue value appears to reflect the lack of demand that presently exists for this variety.
Subsequent Stamps
22 January, 2002
Lot 861
Scott 454f
Catalogue $700
Realised $1,450
It took another thirty-two years before the next stamp printed on gum appeared. It was the above 1¢ stamp from the Centennial set issued in 1967. This is an extremely rare stamp that seldom comes to market and is highly sought after.
This stamp has done exceptionally well at auction on the few occasions when it has appeared. There is one other stamp from the 1967 set that is printed on gum, the 6¢ black, but it is fairly common.
Scott ListingsNone of the stamps printed on gum was listed in the Scott catalogue until the 2000 edition, when seven suddenly appeared. A year later, in the 2001 edition, all 18 we now know about were listed, plus 2 were listed in Unitrade, for a total of 20.
These varieties had been listed in the Unitrade and Darnell specialized catalogues well before Scott and it may have been their influence that persuaded Scott to take action. It could also have been the increasing number of these stamps appearing at auction in 1999 and subsequent years.
Range of Values
Not all of the stamps are expensive. As a result, it is still possible for the average collector to acquire a few. Here are some of the less-expensive ones:
21 September, 2001
Lot 48
Scott 460i (block of 4)
Catalogue $48 (block of 4)
Realised $40
But for the collectors who can afford it, there are some very expensive stamps printed on gum to set their sights on. Here are a few:
8 September, 1999
Lot 611
Scott 865a
Catalogue $600
Realised $595
U.S. and UK ExperienceWe had a look at the regular Scott listings for the U.S. and UK to see if they also issued stamps printed on gum. We found that neither country had stamps of this particular variety.
We also had a look for stamps printed on gum through the Google search engine and discovered that these stamps have appeared in the past in both Israel and Lebanon! We suspect therefore, that there are other countries that have this rarity, and it appears not to be a special Canadian invention.
The Interesting Time LagIt is very interesting that many of the stamps appeared to auction only after a certain number of years after they were first issued. Here are some examples:
Year of
issueIt is not hard to notice the pattern in the above. It seems to be this: stamps issued between 1967 and 1987 appeared for the most part at auction in either 1992 or 1998/1999. But is this a coincidence? One can speculate that one or more individuals may have been able to get their hands on the stamps and held them for a few years before putting them on the market.
Used Copies
Oddly enough, we have not yet seen any used copies.
Quantities
With few exceptions, only a small quantity of each of these stamps seems to have reached the market.
We have pricing records on 13 of the 20 stamps we have identified as being printed on gum. Of the 13, we can find no record of a sale at auction for 3. Of the remaining 10, we note in general that there have been less than six sales for each one.
25 October, 2000
Lot 1113
Scott 219c
Catalogue $200
Realised $180
23 August, 2003
Lot 857
Scott 878i
Catalogue $2000
Realised $800On the other hand, there have been greater quantities for the above two, but this is reflected in their prices. Scott 219c is valued at only $200. This price hasn't changed since it was first listed. Scott 878i is the only one, other than 907i, that is still not listed in Scott catalogue. It is listed at $2,000 in the Unitrade, but according to our records has never sold for as much is this at auction.
Valuations
The top value in the catalogue is for Scott 973b:
Scott 973b
Catalogue $10,000
This was the last of the stamps to be listed. The catalogue value is $10,000. According to Unitrade, there is only one copy in existence.
Of the 20 stamps printed on gum, 18 are listed in Scott. Of the 18, 8 (or 44%) saw price increases between Scott 2001 and 2004. This is quite a high percentage. The biggest percentage increase was for Scott 586d:
24 April, 2002
Scott 586d
2001 Catalogue value $250
2004 Catalogue value $500
As mentioned, we have included 13 of these stamps in our ten-year pricing records and have recorded prices for 10 of them (the other three have never sold). In 7 cases out of 10, the auction prices have pretty consistently exceeded the catalogue values.
It seems therefore that with low quantities, with relatively few of the stamps coming to auction and with the auction prices exceeding catalogue values, there is a bright future for these varieties.
Conclusion
If you had asked us twenty years ago if we would expect to see more than a few copies of these stamps in future, we probably would have said no. This shows you can never predict the future in philately. We are surprised at how many of these stamps there are. We can only think of two possible reasons for their sudden appearance in recent years. Either someone at the printers was able to run them off and store them at home or, there were mechanical faults in the printing equipment and the sheets got out by accident. Perhaps we shall never know unless, of course, someone from the printers can provide us with an explanation. If we hear from them or from anyone else who knows the story, we will let you know.
List of Canadian Stamps
Printed on Gum
©2003, Canadian Stamp Auctions
Ltd., Montréal, Québec, Canada
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