The stock market is driven by greed, whereas the stamp market is driven by passion
Mike Hall, Chief Executive of Stanley Gibbons
There are 30 million collectors worldwide. Why do they buy signed covers? Why do the prices of good covers continue to rise?
The reason is: passion.
While investment is certainly an attraction of stamps and covers, most people (including you, we hope) buy for love. They buy pieces that speak to them, that MEAN something to them. Something that catches their interest, sparks their pride, that thrills them to own. How many other forms of investment offer the chance to hold a piece of history in your hand?
If you look at the incredible signatures included in our risk-free investment lots, you will see what we mean. This is a chance to possess rare, beautiful pieces personally signed by men and women who made history - who flew the first British Concorde, reached the peak of Everest before we knew it could be done, scored the winning goal in 1966, or played a critical part in destroying Hitler and winning World War Two.
Will the magic of history ever fade? We don't believe so. That is why your investment is likely to continue to rise in value as the years go by.
An index comparing the prices of 30 rare stamps sold by Stanley Gibbons in 1998 and again in 2007 shows an average annual increase of 10.7 per cent and a compound interest over the period of 149 per cent.
The Times, Saturday March 15th 2008
Behind Buckingham Covers is a dynamic husband and wife team: world expert, Tony Buckingham and award winning designer, Cath Buckingham.
Tony and Cath are no stranger to collectables. They build Benham Ltd, now one of the world leaders in first day covers, from a humble beginnings in their back bedroom (they were still teachers during the day in those days) to a huge, award winning business and one of the biggest names in collectables.
Benham build a reputation for incredible, innovative designs, and genuinely signed first day covers. Their collector base grew and grew, until tens of thousands of people scrambled after any new release. Today, many companies are built just on buying and selling classic Benham covers.
During their time at Benham, they raised well over half a million pounds for charity, mainly through signed first day covers. Cath won fistfuls of design awards, Tony won the first ever presigious Rowland Hill Award for his contribution to philately and Benham won Kent Company of the Year.
Tony and Cath sold the company in 1995 to Flying Brands plc (who later bought and then sold Stanley Gibbons). They left it all together in 1997. Tony had planned to play golf and write books but found he wasn't so good at either and he really missed the covers (Cath says he's addicted).
The dynamic duo started up again in 2000, launching the first Buckingham Covers series in 2001. For a while, they were a best kept secret - but by 2003, they were discovered! Unsurprisingly, collectors still go mad for Cath's designs and Tony's ideas. Now on Series 3, Buckingham Covers are collected and treasured worldwide and have good investment potential. The company actively buy back their own covers.
They still are passionate about charity fundraising and since 2001, Buckingham Covers has raised over £400,000 for charity, including over £30,000 for ChildLine and £32,000 for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
Daughter, Ellie, joined the company in 2003 to help when Tony and Cath's right hand man (well, lady), Emma Whyte went on maternity leave and the company faced crisis. She was soon hooked too!
Buckingham Covers now employs 22 wonderful people including 2 world experts (Brian Austin who specialises in classic covers and Brian Uden who specialises in stamps). All are team are passionate about what they do: delivering fabulous collectables, giving top customer service and raising funds for good causes. We are based in Folkestone, Kent (UK). Buckingham Covers is part of Internet Stamps Group Ltd (which also owns the Folkestone Stamp Shop.
Visit our main Buckingham Covers website
Are investment collections are hand-picked by Tony Buckingham. Tony is known worldwide as the top expert in GB first day covers. He was the first editor of the catalogue Collect GB First Day Covers and the first person to win a Royal Mail Rowland Hill award for his contribution to Philately.
Tony has been arranging signed covers for over 30 years and is known for his integrity and charity fund raising. All the autographs we sell at Buckingham Covers have good provenance. All the new covers and many of the older covers are signed by celebrities with whom we have direct contact. As well as providing the very best to our collectors, we also raise large sums for charity.
We are a well established company, known and trusted by collectors worldwide. We have Investors in People status and were delighted to win the Shepway Employer of the Year Award 2008.
We guarantee to buy back our set investment collections so if you are looking to invest £2500 or more, we can offer you a risk-free, guaranteed collection.
Visit the Buckingham Covers website
Find out more about Tony Buckingham
Find out more about Cath Buckingham
We have many online resources to help you learn more about collecting covers for investment and we are also always happy to answer questions and advise. One of our small, friendly team will be delighted to find out what you want and then consult Tony Buckingham on your behalf before returning to you with answers, ideas or suggestions. We welcome new collectors and try to make things as straight forward and jargon free as possible. Questions are always welcome and a chat commits you to nothing!
You can reach us on +44(0)1303 278 137 or by email.
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