We often look back to the beginnings of the stock and bond hobby. Times were quite different back in 1978 when the field was given it’s name “SCRIPOPHILY”. Stocks of quality were far more plentiful than they are today. Demand was very strong due to the fact that the German, Swiss, and British demand skyrocketed. We issued our first LaBarre Newsletter back in the winter of 1981. It started with an article titled “News From the Field”. This short article repeated here will serve to give collectors an idea of the mood of the market in these pioneering stages of a new and exciting field of collecting stocks and bonds.

News From The Field

 

     Scarcely a month passes without a new article on stocks and bonds appearing in a magazine or newspaper. An article by Dale Flesher titled "Recycle Your Old Stocks and Bonds" was published recently in the Public Utilities Fortnightly (August 28, 1980). Not surprisingly, his article dealt mainly with the potential profit utility companies might realize by disposing of defunct issues residing in their company files or archives.  His advice to companies: find out what you have and sell.  The company will realize an unexpected profit, and pare their records storage as well. Flesher's advice is timely for all companies, not just those in the utilities industry.

     The collectibles market is also drawing increased interest in other business sources. Two articles have appeared in Forbes (September 15,1980 and December 8, 1980) in recent weeks, which discuss the market activity and investment potential of collectibles. With inflation moving steadily upwards again, investors continue their search for investment opportunities in areas such as collectibles to protect them from inflation.    

The earlier article discussed the serious flight of capital from traditional investment mediums such as securities, mutual funds, etc., in favor of "tangibles" like gems, paintings, coins, stamps, and others, predicting that this trend will continue to grow as new fields of collectibles are developed.  Collectibles

offer many varied avenues for collectors to pursue individual predilections and tastes. The article noted: "The market in collectibles now encompasses a spectrum of obscure items from beer cans to worthless - in an operating sense - securities." Collectors and investors in stocks and bonds will no doubt question the selection of "obscure” to describe their area of collecting interest.

     The second article investigated the accelerating pace of investing in collectibles of all types. Major auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby Parke Bernet are intensifying their efforts to attract new accounts by going after the market with “hammer and tongs." This booming trade in collectibles shows no signs of diminishing.  On the contrary, the market gives every indication of robustness and heightened activity in the future.  The burgeoning interest exhibited in stocks and bonds over the past several years attests to this broader interest in collectibles of every description.   

 

Originally Published and Printed by G.Labarre, The LaBarre Newsletter, Issue 1, Winter 1981

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