Full set of Mongolia 1932 pictorial stamps worth looking for

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

Mongolia, in central Asia with 3.3 million people living on about 604,000 square miles of territory, is the world’s least densely populated sovereign nation. It is also the world’s largest landlocked nation. Almost the entire area of the country is desert, mountains or grassy steppe.

Mongolia was the home of the great conqueror Genghis Khan (1162-1227), who carved out the largest land empire in history.

Absorbed by China in the 16th century, Mongolia declared its independence from China in 1921, only to fall under the dominance of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In 1924, the Mongolian Socialist Republic became the world’s second communist state, discounting several short-lived communist republics in Eastern Europe after World War I. A peaceful revolution in 1990 removed the communist leadership and led to a multiparty political system with a free market economy.

From 1924 through World War II, Mongolia was so closely tied to the Soviet Union that many Russia and area collectors include Mongolian stamps from that period in their collections.

In 1932, Mongolia issued a set of 13 pictorial definitive stamps (Scott 62-74). The stamp designs feature the Mongolian dictator Sukhe Bator, a weaver, a telegrapher, local scenes and buildings, soldiers and revolutionaries, sheep shearing, wild horses and a camel caravan.

The Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940 values the set in unused, hinged condition at $89.45. The stamps saw very limited postal use. As a result, they are not valued in used condition.

Short sets of the lower denomination stamps (Scott 62-70) are inexpensive and plentiful. The full set is rarely offered. Only buy a complete set, because most of the value is in the four high denominations (71-74).

In very fine grade, this set is well worth full Scott catalog value. Sets in mint, never-hinged condition bring a healthy premium.

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