Claude Vachy does not want to sell his collection of more than 70,000 stamps from all over the world lightly.
“It does not interest anyone around me, my children, my granddaughters, no one wants it. Philately is being abandoned by young people. This passion was passed on to me by my father, who took me to the Grand Palais in Paris in 1949, where the King of the United Kingdom, George VI, exhibited his stamp collection. »
An auction at the Espace des sales du Coudray, this Tuesday
So, Wednesday January 25, 2023, he went to the Galerie de Chartres at Coudray, with three big albums under his arm. A sample of the hundred collections he has at home in the Perche, in order to have his collection appraised by Jocelyn Boiteux, philatelist and technical advisor to the auction room.
Not a safe haven
As a passionate and fine connoisseur of philately, Claude Vachy has no illusions about the value of his collection. According to his estimate, it would be listed at €400,000 in the Yvert et Tellier reference catalogue. He expects ten times less.
Jocelyn Boiteux warns from the outset: “Germany stamps are already not selling”.
“500 to 600 requests for 50 gummed stamps each year”, according to the deputy director of PhilaPoste
“There has been a significant drop in price since the end of the 1980s. Enthusiasts exchange stamps at a third of the price. You have to find the buyers opposite and there are fewer and fewer of them. »
Jocelyn Boiteux
Many reasons explain this discount of stamps: the number of collectors has melted, with the drop in the volume of mail and the rise of the Internet. The stamp is not a safe haven like metals such as gold or silver.
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1,250 euros for the Marseillaise de Rude
“The goal is not to make money with a stamp collection, but to have fun. For example, you can embark on a thematic collection on cats, cars, paintings…”
The changeover occurred in the 1980s, until then the quotation in the Yvert et Tellier catalog increased by 10% on all stamps, then it began to decrease.
Back in pictures on the day of free expertise of stamp collections, in Chartres
Nevertheless, Jocelyn Boiteux recognizes that if we invest in “good stamps, very rare, or in very old letters, these are still expensive”.
He takes a concrete example, which he saw recently at the Galerie de Chartres. “It’s a stamp with La Marseillaise de Rude, dating from 1917-1918, which cost 5 francs postage and 5 francs surcharge for war orphans. It is quoted at €5,700 and left at €1,250. Which is fine. »
Claire Beguin
