国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

您現(xiàn)在的位置: > Language Tips > Audio & Video > Normal Speed News  
 





  Interest grows in rare stamps as investments
[ 2006-06-13 10:14 ]

 

Stamp collecting is a popular hobby that also can pay off financially. Stamps and related postal objects can be beautiful and exotic, plus they often have historical value. And as VOA's Mil Arcega reports, the stamp trade is beginning to attract serious investors.

It's the world's largest stamp show. Held only once every 10 years - the World Philatelic Exhibition opened earlier this month in Washington D.C.

The show attracts stamp afficionados , dealers and postal organizations from all over the world. Some come here to buy, sell, or trade -- but most come simply to admire the variety of stamps on display, including some of the world's rarest.

Whatever the reasons, stamp dealer Bob Prager says an increasing number of collectors are now seeing stamps as commodities. "The first reason for collecting anything is for the love of the item or the stamp. But there are more people coming in, looking for ways of investing money, and hopefully getting a return on their investment. "

But investing in stamps is not a game for amateurs. "It is like any business. You have to know a lot about what you do."

And Prager says even professionals make mistakes. He admits he's lost money on some stamps but says he's also had his share of winners. He offers as an example, an inverted U.S. stamp, known as "121-B".

"My collector purchased this probably about six, seven years ago, probably for about $40,000. It is now worth about $60,000."

British-based philatelic firm Stanley Gibbons, which specializes in alternative investments, says rare stamps were among the top four investments of the 20th century, with an average annual return of about 10 percent.

Prager says the secret to making money is patience -- waiting for the right stamp to come along and knowing when to sell it. That's where professionals come in.

"I don't hold a stamp very long. I buy and sell and buy and sell. So it is different. I am in and out of a stamp but I like to place it with a collector so that one day when they get tired of their stamp collecting and they want to sell their collection they will come to me to buy it from them, so I try to sell them the right things to begin with. I want to buy my own stamps back."

Stamp collecting is among the world's most popular hobbies. Philately organizations say more than 30 million stamp collectors help fuel the estimated $10 billion a year industry. 

Vocabulary:


afficionado : (西班牙語)狂熱愛好者;迷

philatelic : 集郵的


(來源:VOA 英語點津姍姍編輯


 

 
 
 




新宁县| 富川| 雷波县| 修文县| 宁德市| 峨边| 石棉县| 福鼎市| 会宁县| 清水县| 衢州市| 勐海县| 靖江市| 平塘县| 呼伦贝尔市| 会昌县| 尼玛县| 乌海市| 邵阳市| 洮南市| 桑植县| 盐池县| 扬中市| 揭阳市| 且末县| 朝阳县| 新泰市| 图片| 海门市| 无棣县| 正安县| 三原县| 灵寿县| 兴城市| 安义县| 枝江市| 开江县| 城固县| 边坝县| 和田市| 兴海县|