The numbers game
One of the favorite rants among stamp collectors is the number of new issues. The current flow of new postage stamps is simply too much for many; especially if compared to actual postal needs… Below is a chart describing the number of annual postage stamp sets issued between 1840 and 2008 worldwide.
Number of postage stamps sets from 1840 onwards
The numbers are based on data I’ve accumulated from Michel online stamp catalog. Please note, that the data is somewhat incomplete for year 2008 (or so I assume).
As one can see, there has been a very steep uprising trend for the last century, especially from the 1950’s onwards… Has the numbers reached their peak? I honestly don’t know, but I do hope so.
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Really amazing!
This statistics on stamps would advise collectors & hobbyists to concentrate themselves in pre 1950s issues. That is if you are interested in stamps as an investment avenue. They are going to get rarer and rarer due to age. Collectors have a tendency to like difficult to get items and as such they may shift their attention to earlier issues. The new issues I would also presume to also be issued in large numbers?
I am a part time collector from the Philippines and I have set my sight on WW2 and earlier issues.
Hi Piter,
“The new issues I would also presume to also be issued in large numbers?”
Actually no (And no, this is not a fact; it’s based on educated guess, LOL)