Get a tissue. You are going to need one.

One of my newer customers sent me a note about what he is looking for. Here it is:

“I had a beautiful US collection that I had to sell along with China and Bermuda. I was able to realize $123,000. This is going to care for my wife of 55 years who has the worst illness, ALS. She is now confined to bed and cannot move or speak. But I do miss my collection and while I will never replace it, I can enjoy collecting stamps at a much reduced level. I still have my dad’s collection and while the value is low, it has many thousands of WW stamps and has much sentimental value.”

It must have been a very difficult decision to sell a phenomenal collection that was many years in the making, all for the sake of caring for his ailing wife. And now he’s going back and restarting a much smaller and much less valuable collection – because he had so much fun with stamp collecting.

I have said it a million times and I will say it a million more. Stamp collecting should not be about investment and money. Stamp collecting is done for fun and personal satisfaction.