A rare sheet of four souvenir stamps from 1932's Moscow Philatelic Exhibition achieved a hammer price of $13,000 on March 8 as part of a live telephone-internet auction.

The ungummed imperforated souvenir sheet, which led the March 8-9 sale, is printed on thin cardboard. Its condition approaches "as issued", helping to achieve the strong sale price.

1932 Moscow Philatelic Exhibition block of four

A seldom seen Fokker-111 inverted black surcharge 20k on 10r carmine in sound condition brought a solid $9,500 hammer price, making it the second top lot.

The "Odessa Fabulous Collection" - a bound compendium of 58 envelopes bearing Red Cross handstamps or printed incisions, arranged across exhibition style pages - also sold with strong results, bringing $4,500. The collection boasts 17 postally used examples of the instantly recognisable Red Cross handstamp.

With approximately 70% of the lots offered selling over the two day sale, the stamp market appears as buoyant as ever, with international collectors willing to part with substantial sums in order to get their hands on the finest examples.

Here at Paul Fraser Collectibles, we are particularly proud of the wide range of exceptional stamps we currently have in stock, including one of the crown jewels of British philately. This mint block of 12 Penny Black stamps is believed to be the largest surviving multiple from this rare plate in private hands. We do not expect it to remain in our inventory for long.

Stamps have remained a respected asset for decades, with prices underpinned by the sector's large and passionate collector base.

Very fine examples of rare stamps garner global recognition and tradability. With an estimated 50m serious postage stamp collectors worldwide, very rare stamps are always in demand. For more information on the investment potential of the market, please see our free guide to investing in postage stamps.

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