Readers of this blog are aware by now of how fashions change in philately. Used stamps were comparatively more popular fifty years ago than they are today. Covers and postal history were essentially uncollected until about 1920, had their peak around 1980, and have since fallen to a secure but niche collecting status. Blocks and multiples were once part of everyone’s collection; today a single will do.
But original gum mania is merely low grade sniffles for US collectors compared to the full blown fever with which it affects the Italian stamp market. Classic Italy without gum catalogs for as little as 5-8% of the original gum prices. Wide disparities between original gum and no gum stamps are always an indication of market weakness, and the greater this disparity is, the weaker the market for those particular stamps. The reason for this is that there are always a small number of well heeled collectors who want (and, more importantly, are willing to pay for) the best. Market strength is not
measured by these wealthy few, but rather, by how many collectors there are behind them, desiring fine stamps but not willing to buy the best. Wide disparities in original gum versus no gum prices are one of the barometers we apply to markets to assess the depth of demand.