A Surge in Demand for Penny Blacks

Don Schilling, who writes on his own blog "The Stamp Collecting Round-Up", wrote an article in December 2010 that Stanley Gibbons sold out the company's stock of Penny Blacks imported for the International Stamp and Coin Expo in Beijing last month and an order was placed for 10,000 more stamps. Stanley Gibbons CEO, Mike Hall, is quoted in a Gibbons press release as saying, "We normally sell no more than a hundred penny blacks in any given year so this trade order creates a demand 100 times the normal market size. We might end up with most of the penny blacks in the world going to China. The Chinese are already paying twice our catalogue price to get their hands on them." Stanley Gibbons Director of Sales and Marketing, Keith Heddle, goes on to say, "The Asian market is hungry for items with historical significance; almost as soon as a rare item becomes available in this market, it sells. As much as we would love these historical documents to stay in the UK for study by future generations and to preserve our heritage, there just isn't the demand for them here that we witness in India and Asia in particular."
  

According to the 2010 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report, compiled earlier this year by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, the number of wealthy individuals in Asia has exceeded those in Europe for the first time, with the Japanese elite investing heavily in luxury collectables. The report also highlighted the mania for memorabilia in places such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan according to the release. With a limited number of Penny Blacks available on the market, Stanley Gibbons have been attempting to protect the interests of their customers by holding back a selection of Penny Blacks ranging in quality from fine to very fine to ensure their loyal collector base aren't adversely affected by this surge in demand.

Source: http://stampcollectingroundup.blogspot.com/2010/12/get-your-penny-blacks-now.html

http://globalstamps.blogspot.com/2010/12/want-penny-black-try-china.html

http://www.prfire.co.uk/press-release/britains-historical-treasures-snapped-up-by-tiger-economies-37191.html