Sharp rise in value for 1943 Mongolia set

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

Mongolia lies in Central Asia sandwiched between two giants, Russia and China. The landlocked nation gets little rainfall and is very hot in summer and very cold in winter, with the result that there is little arable land. Its topography mostly comprises desert, steppe and mountains.

Although it is the 18th largest country in the world by land area, its population is just 3 million. About 30 percent of its population are nomadic herdsmen, while another 45 percent live in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. It is the most sparsely populated independent country in the world.

As might be expected from its geographical location, for most of its history Mongolia has been dominated by either China or Russia. Russia gained lasting ascendancy after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

Mongolia issued its first postage stamps in 1924 under the tutelage of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was so involved in Mongolia’s stamp production that at one point pages for Mongolian stamps were included in Scott Publishing Co.’s Soviet Republics stamp album.

In 1943, Mongolia issued a set of eight pictorial stamps depicting local people, local scenes and Mongolian army leader Sukhe Bator (Scott 75-82).

When we tipped this set in the Stamp Market Tips column in the Jan. 30, 2017, issue of Linn’s, the Scott catalog value for the set in unused, hinged condition was $297. Today it stands at a whopping $3,595.

This set is both scarce and in demand. The Scott catalog values are in italics, indicating that the set is rarely sold, so pricing is difficult to establish.

Don’t hesitate to pay full Scott catalog value for a set in mint, never-hinged condition. A set in unused, hinged condition is a great buy at about 70 percent of Scott catalog value.

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