珍稀郵票成中國收藏家們的新寵
Without rich Chinese collectors, some experts say, stamp collecting would have continued its long, slow decline from mainstream hobby to near-extinction.
些專家稱，如果沒有闊綽的中國藏家的參與，集郵漫長而又緩慢的頹敗過程本會繼續下去，從主流收藏愛好走向幾近消亡。At least a third of the world's 60 million stamp collectors are now in China, and the number is growing rapidly, says Stanley Gibbons, a British stamp dealer. China, including Hong Kong, has also become a big stamp-trading hub, with at least six auction houses in Hong Kong and another four major houses on the mainland plus several smaller ones, most opening in the past four years. Stamp shows have proliferated, drawing hundreds of thousands of buyers and gawkers at a time when similar events in the U.S. are lucky to break into the five figures. Online exchanges have also sprouted, with tickers scrolling across the screen like stock markets. Stanley Gibbons says Asian clients now make up 5 percent of the firm's investments in terms of volume--but almost 18 percent in value, as they spend more.
英國郵票經紀商斯坦利·吉本斯(Stanley Gibbons)說，全球6,000萬集郵者如今至少有三分之一在中國，而且這個數字還在迅速上升。包括香港地區在內，中國已成爲一個大型郵票交易中心。香港至少有六家拍賣行，中國大陸有四家大拍賣行以及幾家小拍賣行，其中大多數都是在過去四年間開業的。同時，郵票展的數量迅速增加，吸引了數以十萬計的買家與看客，現時類似的展覽能在美國吸引到五位數的觀衆就算幸運了。此外，郵票在線交易也涌現出來，市場行情會像股市那樣在屏幕上滾動顯示。吉本斯透露，以數量計算，如今亞洲客戶佔到其公司投資的5%，但由於他們的投入更高，所以按金額衡量他們所佔的比例幾乎達到18%。How much more? Three years ago, two sheets of the first ever-issued stamps for Formosa, the name of the island that later became Taiwan, sold to a Hong Kong collector for HK$10.4 million, or over $1.3 million. In 2011, a block of four stamps from 1968 called 'Chairman Mao's Inscription to Japanese Worker Friends' sold for more than $1 million at a Hong Kong auction. The stamps, which feature Chairman Mao's handwriting declaring that the revolution would succeed in Japan, were printed but never issued--except through a post office in Hebei, China, which started selling them before they were canceled. Last year, a pair of 1941 stamps that featured Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary leader who began the Republic of China in the early 20th century, sold for $709, 000 at an auction in Hong Kong. Like many other expensive stamps, their value was due to human error: The text and the $2 sign were printed upside down.
他們的投資到底高出多少？三年前，臺灣以“福摩薩”(Formosa)的名稱發行的史上首款郵票以1,040萬港幣的價格賣給了一名香港藏家。2011年，1968年的“毛主席給日本工人題詞”四方連郵票在香港一場拍賣會上以逾100萬美元的價格售出。該款郵票印有毛主席書寫的宣稱日本的革命必將勝利的手跡。它們在印製後從未發行，只是河北一家郵局在它被禁止發行之前預先售出了少量。在去年，1941年的孫中山（20世紀初開創中華民國的革命領袖）肖像雙連郵票在香港一場拍賣會上以逾709,000美元的價格拍出。與其他許多價值不菲的郵票一樣，它們的身價源自人爲失誤：郵票的文字及兩美元面額的標誌被倒印錯體。
Chinese buyers tend to like alternative investments, from art to jade to homegrown liquors--and now stamps. According to a report by the private-wealth division at Barclays, China's high-net-worth individuals put 17 percent of their wealth in these type of investments, compared to 9 percent of America's rich and only 7 percent of the British wealthy. Stamps are also a relatively cheap collectible for countries that have new and growing middle classes. A grab bag of hundreds of stamps can be had for less than $5, which makes it easy for new collectors to get started, and as they get wealthier, they delve deeper into the hobby.
中國的買家往往青睞另類投資品，以前是玉石和國產白酒，現在則是郵票。巴克萊銀行(Barclays)私人財富管理部門的一份報告顯示，中國的高 值人羣將他們17%的財富都投入到此類投資品上，而美國與英國的富裕階層投入的資產比例分別只有9%和7%。對於新興中產階級不斷壯大的國家而言，郵票也是一種相對低價的收藏品。不到五美元就能買到一包數量達幾百張的郵票，使得新藏家比較容易起步。隨着他們越來越富裕，他們會更深入地投入到這個愛好當中。The focus is on the rarest and most valuable issues, some of which had to be sourced from overseas after being spirited out of the country earlier. They find their way back to the country through wholesale dealers like Max Stern, a 92-year-old Czech émigré in Australia. He says he started dealing in Chinese stamps in the 1950s and watched the hobby be driven underground during the 10-year Cultural Revolution, when he was barred from doing business with China Post. Now, he says, the backbone of the hobby's growth is the parents who came of age in the 1980s, when stamp-collecting became acceptable again, and now are passing it on to their children.
焦點是那些最稀有、最珍貴的郵票，其中一些因爲早前被人帶出中國，因此得從海外尋覓它們。像馬克斯·斯特恩(Max Stern)這樣的批發經紀商便是把它們帶回中國的中間人。這位今年92歲、生活在澳大利亞的捷克僑民說，他從上世紀50年代開始從事中國郵票的經紀業務，並目睹這一愛好在十年文化大革命期間轉至地下，當時他也被禁止與中國郵政做生意。他指出，現在推動這項愛好發展的主力軍是在80年代，即在集郵解禁時成年的家長們，如今他們把它傳給了他們的孩子。Still, the market is highly volatile, he says, and he sees prices spike and fall in less than three months. 'There are thousands of dealers, and the big ones hold very large stocks and manipulate the price, ' he says from his Sydney office.
然而，斯特恩指出市場的波動性還很強，他看到郵票價格在不到三個月的時間內就漲漲跌跌。他在自己的悉尼辦公室中說道：“郵票經紀商有幾千名，其中一些大經紀商持有大量存貨，他們會操控價格。”Many stamp purists are unhappy about all the sales in China--and especially the volatility in prices. Like contemporary art and wine, the Chinese market for stamps shot up spectacularly in the year preceding 2011, then fell by 30 percent the following year, and is now starting to come back up in 2013. Stamp experts say buyers should expect the postal treasures to keep inflating and deflating along with the liquidity of the general Chinese economy.
許多純粹的集郵者對中國的各宗銷售交易，特別是對價格的波動頗爲不滿。與當代藝術品和葡萄酒市場相同，中國的集郵市場在2011年前一年急劇上漲，到2012年跌了30%，在2013年又開始回升。集郵專家稱，買家應預料到郵票會繼續隨着中國整體經濟流動性的變化而上漲或下跌。Other stamp insiders say China's rush into stamps is reminiscent of the 1970s, which also isn't ideal. Many of the popular stamps from that era haven't budged in value from 40 years ago since the Western market crashed in the 1980s. 'I certainly wouldn't want to put ￡10, 000 on Chinese stamps, ' says Colin Such, director at Warwick & Warwick, an auction house based in England. 'Philately is a wonderful hobby, and ideally it should just be that.'
其他一些集郵界業內人士稱，中國涌入集郵市場的情形讓人回想起70年代，當時的狀況也讓人不滿。許多在那個時代受追捧的郵票的價值在40年後絲毫未變，其緣由是西方郵市在80年代崩潰。英格蘭拍賣行Warwick & Warwick的總監科林·薩奇(Colin Such)說：“我絕對不想在中國郵票上投入10,000英鎊。集郵是一項很棒的愛好，理想地說它應該僅限於是個愛好。”
