Stamp Investment Tip: San Marino 1951 UPU Anniversary Souvenir Sheets (Scott #C62a, C62b)

  In 1950 and '51, San Marino issued airmail stamps and souvenir sheets celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Postal Union and picturing a mail coach (Scott #C62, C62a, C62b). The 1951 varieties (Perf 13 1/2 X 14 and Imperf.- Scott # C62a and C62b) were issued in souvenir sheets of six, with quantities issued of 15,000 and 5,000, respectively. Scott '13 prices them unused at $45.00 ($80.- for NH) and $ 325.00 ($ 500.- for NH) .

   Aside from its appeal to collectors of Italy and Area, the souvenir sheets are also attractive Transportation Topicals.

Despite the fact that stamps of San Marino are mainly sold to collectors to generate income for the country, it is likely that quite a few of the Views sets were used as postage and discarded. The 200 lira high values were pricey for collectors of the time, especially given the state of the Italian economy in the early Post-War years.

San Marino is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains, with a population of about 30,000.While the country probably does not contain enough collectors to form a significant stamp collecting population, its stamps are popular among collectors of Italy and Area. In addition, San Marino has issued quite a few popular topicals, which has bolstered interest in its stamps.

Those interested in viewing a list of scarce stamps with printing quantities of 100,000 or fewer may wish to view the StampSelector Scarce Stamp Quantities Issued List, which currently contains over 9,700 entries. Researching quantities issued data is vital to determining in which stamps to invest.