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Greg Manning is CEO of West Caldwell's Greg Manning Auctions, one of the largest public auctioneers of stamps and collectibles in the U.S. Earlier this month, Manning and his entourage traveled to San Francisco, where they were the exclusive auctioneers for the Pacific 97 World Philatelic Exhibition.
BUSINESS NEWS: What is the Pacific 97 World Philatelic Exhibition?
Manning: It is a gathering of stamp collectors and dealers from around the world that is held every 10 years in this country. The last exhibition was in Chicago in 1986. This year's exhibition brought together approximately 150,000 stamp collectors from around the world. The U.S. had the largest representation. But there was also a huge contingent from the Pacific Rim--Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Many people flew in from Europe and South and Central America.
BUSINESS NEWS: It sounds as though stamp collection knows no geographic boundaries.
Manning: It's an international hobby. U.S. stamps can be sold in Europe and Asia. But collectibles like baseball cards are primarily sold in the U.S., as are U.S. coins, which have a much stronger home market. Stamps are portable and continue to have value in any country.
BUSINESS NEWS: What were some of the highlights of the exhibition?
Manning: Our first auction was a sale of intact stamp collections in which larger lots of stamps were put up on the block. We sold 975 lots that realized a little over $4.7 million, a house record for a collections sale. It was probably the largest collections sale ever held. One particular stamp collection known as Park Avenue realized...