Stamp collector Tim Nicholls steps up to help

A heart warming story  --- Good on you Tim!!

Fifteen-year-old Tim Nicholls, from New Zealand, is putting up his most prized stamp on the auction block in an effort to help save the beleaguered Nelson Youth Theatre after its disappointing 100th show season.

Tim has been involved in 56 shows with the company over its 10 years, and this week told his mother Joss Reid that he wanted to do something to help.

With ticket sales in a slump, the company faces a $30,000 loss on its three-show season and might have to fold.
Tim's rare 1882 one-penny stamp, which has a catalogue value of $2500, is now up for grabs on online auction site Trade Me.
"Youth Theatre has been his life," said Ms Reid. "I thought if he is willing to do that, maybe others would be, too."

Tim, who has Aspergers syndrome, first encountered Nelson Youth Theatre four years ago when he was dared to audition for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He made the cast, but then found his place in production.

"It's given me confidence," he said. "Usually I'm not too good with big audiences, but now I'm out the back it's not too bad."

Tim said he enjoyed standing backstage and seeing the excitement on the faces of the actors walking off.
"Then it's great to see the smile on the audience's faces when they walk out the door."

Tim bought the unused lilac postal fiscal stamp two years ago. It is the piece de resistance of his collection of hundreds of thousands of stamps.

Early Victorian fiscal stamps were "duty" stamps, but from 1882 they were allowed to be used for postal purposes. Duty stamps were mainly used as a convenient method of signifying the collection of charges for land transfers and other dutiable transactions.

The last stamp similar to Tim's went for $800 on TradeMe.

Tim was one of the first to find out about the company's troubles. When he heard the news, he fell silent. Others began to cry.

"I was kind of shocked. Usually a show does make a tiny loss, but not that much."

Audiences have picked up in the past two days. Ms Reid, who also helps with production, is hoping for a big finish and more support from the community.

"The people involved put so much commitment into it. It's become their life. We are all like a big family."

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/4211574/Stamp-collector-steps-up-to-help

Benham bought by Stanley Gibbons

Stanley Gibbons has acquired the stamps and collectables trader Benham for £1.5 million.

Under the terms of the deal, £750,000 of the cash sum was paid on completion and the remainder will be paid in 12 months time.

The deal was financed by a bank loan and Stanley Gibbons’ existing cash reserves.

Benham produces first day cover stamps for the collectors market as well as selling new issue stamps and other collectables such as autographs. The mail order company trades in Jersey and the UK. Benham was acquired from the retail group Flying Brands, to which it contributed a pre-tax profit in 2009 of £410,000 on a turnover of £2.96 million.

Mike Hall, chief executive of Stanley Gibbons, comments: ‘Benham is a low risk bolt-on acquisition providing a strong return on capital, high level of continuity revenue, good cash flows and diversification of revenue streams. It will provide opportunities for Stanley Gibbons to diversify into other collectibles markets and add specialist skills in volume mail order, collector club management and in-house design.’

London-based Stanley Gibbons is an AIM-listed trader of stamps and related philatelic products. The deal is Stanley Gibbons’ second acquisition this month following the £300,000 purchase of stamp dealers Nigel Haworth.

Stephen Cook, chief executive of Flying Brands, adds: ‘The disposal of Benham is a continuation of the Group's strategy of focusing on its core divisions of Garden and Gifts and on businesses with good online growth prospects.’

Source : http://www.mandadeals.co.uk/m-and-a-news/1285423/benham-bought-by-stanley-gibbons.thtml

Stanley Gibbons News & Update

Channel Islands - A popular stamping ground for Stanley Gibbons

                          Capital letter: a Benham First Day of Issue Cover in July. 

                          The firm has been bought by Stanley Gibbons

 

A growing number of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange or the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) are incorporated in the Channel Islands, where they enjoy lower company tax than elsewhere.

Stanley Gibbons is well known for its catalogues, which are “must haves” for philatelists worldwide. The parent group is Jersey-domiciled and listed on AIM, where the recent share price of 156p showed a yield of 3.4 per cent. Half-year profits were boosted to £1.6million by the London 2010 International Stamp fair, where it booked over £400,000 sales.

In recent years, Gibbons has promoted rare stamps as an alternative asset class. Last month Gibbons paid £410,000 for Benham, a long-established producer of special First Day of Issue Covers. Gibbons say that the deal anticipates the 2012 Olympics, where there should be a good demand for philatelic souvenirs. Benham was bought from another Jersey company, Flying Brands, which plans to concentrate on its flower and garden centre businesses.

Flying Brands is also Jersey-registered, but its shares are listed on the main London Exchange. The recent price of 58p shows a yield of 2.7 per cent.

By Mike Goodman / The Daily Telegraph
Published: 4:53PM BST 07 Oct 2010
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/offshorefinance/8043174/Jersey-and-Guernsey-popular-stamping-ground-for-Stanley-Gibbons.html

Chinese Stamp Sells For £300,000

An auction house in Hong Kong recently sold a rare Chinese stamp, known as the “Small One Dollar” for nearly £300,000 ($US 411, 960).  It dates back to 1897 and is one of 32-recorded copies in existence.

Only a minute number of the “king of stamps” were ever made because the Chinese Post Office printed the stamps with a typeface that was too small to read.

There have been several Chinese and Asian stamp sales over the course of the last month as wealthy speculators gamble on China’s rising world influence, wealth and power.

“There’s been a huge amount of speculation going on in the last year and a half in some of the more modern People’s Republic stamps that were printed after 1949… Prices of old stamps are rising at perhaps 15 per cent a year, but the modern issues are growing at more than 100 per cent as clients speculate that values will continue to rise,” said Louis Mangin, the auction’s director.

Other stamps, some not even that rare, were sold at this three-day auction that fetched amazing prices as well. For example, a complete sheet of Red Monkey stamps dating from 1980, with some five million in circulation fetched £83,000.

Many foreign buyers number among the buyers of these stamps as they seek to imitate the wealth already gleaned from Chinese mainland collectors.

The prices gleaned for some of these stamps in just the last two years alone have been extraordinary. A sheet of 1964 souvenir stamps issued to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China fetched £765 in December of 2008 and sold for £3,330 at an auction in August of this year.

Stamps are the new stocks in a dynamic market.

Source: http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/10/02/chinese-king-stamps-sells-300000/

Mother Theresa Stamp Issued

St. Louis -- Small in stature but a giant among her peers and those she helped, Mother Teresa was honored with her own postage stamp. Today that stamp was part of a special dedication at a St. Louis soup kitchen.

The stamp was unveiled at Missionaries of Charity Soup Kitchen on Spring Avenue in St. Louis. Missionaries of Charity is a group that Mother Teresa founded in 1950.

Mother Teresa served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years. She was an inspiration to countless people who wanted to make a difference in the world.

The sisters who work at the St. Louis soup kitchen take a vow of wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor, just like Mother Teresa.

The US Postal Service announced in early September it was releasing the Mother Teresa stamp.

Source: KSDK http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=220089&catid=3