on the investment
purpose, always buy unused copies of uncommon values. Unused are not
likely to depreciate, and they may appreciate.

In fact, it may be safely said that, all round, the thing to do in
stamps is to buy _unused_ for investment. When stamps are printed by
the million, _used_ supplies will be available for no one knows how
long; but in the case of unused, when a new issue is made, the
obsolete stamp is on the road to an advance in value. It is true
dealers stock large quantities of all stamps, but there are so many
countries to be stocked now that no dealer can afford to hoard unused
to any great extent, and even if he did, the dead capital would be an
item which would compel him to advance the price of unused to protect
himself from loss. Let us say a stamp becomes obsolete this year, and
a dealer buys L100 worth. It would be a moderate estimate to place the
earning power of stamps at 10 per cent. In seven years that L100 hoard
would, reckoning compound interest, represent L200, or double face. Of
course, no dealer would hoard up L100 worth of a common stamp, but
from the day that it becomes obsolete it must be hoarded up by
someone, and interest must be accruing on the investment which will
have to be added to the value of the stamp, unless someone is to stand
the loss. It will, therefore, be obvious that unused stamps must
appreciate while used may remain stationary, for the simple reason
that the limit of supply has been reached in one case but not in the
other.

Taking almost haphazard a few stamps, most of which have been within
the reach of all collectors during the last fifteen years, the
following table will give some idea of the appreciation in prices
which has been steadily going on in good stamps:--

|1875 |1880 |1886 |1890 |1893 |1897 |1902 |
|s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |
Bremen, 1867, 5 sgr., green, | | | | | | | |
_unused_ |1 0 |1 6 |2 6 |4 0 |5 0 |25 0 |17 6 |
Bechuanaland, 1886, 1s., | | | | | | | |
_used_. |-- |-- |-- |2 6 |2 6 |6 6 |30 0 |
" 1888-9, 4d., | | | | | | | |
_unused_ |-- |-- |-- |1 0 |2 0 |2 0 |3 0 |
British Guiana, 1860, 1 c, | | | |