Hot market for Qatar 1950s-70s FDCs, commercial covers

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

Qatar is an emirate situated on a peninsula on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. It is surrounded on three sides by the Persian Gulf and shares a land border to the south with Saudi Arabia.

Qatar is a semiconstitutional monarchy ruled by an emir from the House of Thani. It became a British protectorate in 1916 and gained independence in 1971.

Qatar issued its first stamps in 1957. Prior to that, stamps of Muscat were used in Qatar.

A note in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue at the beginning of the listings for Qatar reads: “The market for Qatar stamps is extremely volatile, and dealer stocks are quite limited. All values for this country are tentative and italicized.”

The market for first-day covers and commercial covers for Qatar stamps of the 1950s through the 1970s is hot, with most issues in demand and many selling in the $50 to $200 price range.

For example, an FDC for the Qatar Boy Scout Jamboree souvenir sheet of four (Scott 187a) recently sold in an online auction for approximately $90. A mint, never-hinged example of that souvenir sheet is valued at $40 in the Scott catalog.

As you browse through dealer stocks and accumulations, keep an eye out for Qatar FDCs and commercial covers. You might find a bargain.

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