PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
BILL GROSS SELLS STAMP COLLECTION FOR $4.5 MILLION
It's non-numismatic, but a noteworthy development. Bill Gross has sold a portion of his blockbuster stamp collection for a whopping
$4.5 million dollars. -Editor
Billionaire bond manager Bill Gross sold a portion of his stamp collection for $4.5 million and will donate some of proceeds to the foundation he created at his former employer, Pacific Investment Management Co. The stamp collection was purchased by a private collector. Several other charities will also receive some of the proceeds, including the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, Kershaw’s Challenge and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, according to Charles Shreve of Robert A. Siegel International, who brokered the sale. “The Pimco Foundation appreciates the donation from Sue and Bill Gross,” Sarah Middleton, executive director of the foundation, said in a statement. “These donations serve to improve local and global communities and help empower others to better their lives through our various giving mechanisms, such as our Grants Program, Innovation Fund, and more.” The sale included a block of six “Double Geneva” stamps from 1843, among the most iconic and famous of any stamps in the world, according to the statement. The block of stamps sold for $121,800 in 1964. Part of Gross’s stamp collection is also exhibited at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington.
Stamp collecting is far from the heights it enjoyed in the 1960s and 70s, when rushing to the post office to buy sheets and plate blocks
was all the rage (much like the coin roll craze of the 1960s). Today numismatists fret about the future of the hobby as collectors age
and fewer young people seem to be coming on board. The demise of the stamp hobby in the U.S. has been seen as a harbinger of what's
to come for numismatics. But $4.5 million dollars isn't chicken feed. Dirt-common plate blocks are probably not in the inventory, but
this sale is an indication that rarity and quality will always find interested buyers, even when the thundering herds have departed the
scene. -Editor
To read the complete article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
|