Practically all the stamps of the Transvaal have greatly appreciated, and large sums have been made by the fortunate holders of stock acquired at the old 1882 figures. In an old, but well-known catalogue, thirty-five stamps are priced in unused state, varying from 3d. to 10s., the latter being for a One Penny in red, on Sixpence, black, of May, 1879: and sixty-four used, ranging from 6d. to 7s. 6d., and including amongst the intermediate prices those of four of the May, 1879, provisionals. A glance at Gibbons will show, even taking the commonest varieties, a great rise all round, sufficient even to satisfy a greedy investor. Of minor Transvaal varieties there are many, and several of these show an abnormal rise in price: on the other hand, some have appreciated very little. How, therefore, is the would-be speculator-investor to know what to take?
In the old catalogue above referred to, some of the 1881 Turks' Islands provisionals are priced from 6d. to 2s. each unused—presumably the commonest varieties: now these stamps vary from 12s. to £5 for the "1/2", from £3 to £30 for the "21/2", and from 30s. to £7 for the "4". The One Shilling, lilac, of 1873-79, largely used for the above provisionals, has increased some twelve-fold in value since 1882.
If the reverend gentleman who, by the help of a typewriter, evolved the earliest of the 1895 issues of Uganda, had only a few remainders on hand, he should reap a handsome return for his original outlay of two or three hundred cowries: but most probably he did not keep any, consequently the stamps are, and will remain, scarce and expensive.
The Five Shillings, Victoria, blue on yellow, is a striking stamp, and its present value is somewhere about £15 unused: a very famous collection contains several mint copies, which the owner once remarked were "Not bad at 7s. 6d. each."
Mr. Stanley Gibbons's well-known half-sheet of the Twopence, Western Australia, printed in 1879, in mauve, the colour of the Sixpence, affords a fitting close to this cursory list of good investments in British Colonies: acquired at 6d. each, the price to the collector was 5s., then raised to £2, and now it stands at over £20.
Space precludes a similarly long list of foreign stamps which have greatly appreciated; but the following examples, with early prices (as indicated) and those at present asked, may be interesting, showing the rises in many of the medium stamps:—
Egypt—1st issue, set, 6s. 3d. (in 1882), now £6 2s. 6d.
Oldenburg—1st issue, 1/30 thaler, 1s. (in 1882), now £2.
Oldenburg—1859-61 issues (in 1882), from 9d. each; now 4s. is the lowest, 12s. the next, and the highest £11.
Schleswig-Holstein—the pretty little stamps of 1850 were (in 1882) 9d. and 1s. 6d. each: they have now risen to 28s. and 50s.