Collectors Stuck on Rare Stamps

The Detroit Free News reports, "While financial markets continue to fall, rare stamps are becoming a hot commodity among the upper crust."

According to reporter Kimberly Lifton, "Last month, a Midwestern banker auctioned a single 1868 George Washington B-grill 3-cent stamp to an anonymous bidder for more than $1 million -- four times its book value. Only four copies of the B-grill stamp are known to exist."

New York's Siegel Auction Galleries President Scott Trepel is quoted in the article as saying, ""Collectors who want rare stamps don't seem fazed by the chaos in the financial markets."

Shown above, 1868 three-cent B-grill U.S. stamp that sold for $1.03 million at auction in New York.

To read the entire article, click here.

Click here for a related story that appears on the Bloomberg.com website about a stamp auction in Switzerland where stocks have fallen 33 percent this year.