The first issue of Tasmania, then known as "Van Diemen's Land," affords an instance of a substantial rise during the last thirty years; but, although substantial, it is not abnormal. The Fourpence, blue, of 1870-71, would have proved a satisfactory investment to the purchaser of a moderate quantity at its original cost, for it is now catalogued at £5.
Owing to the greater part of the stock of the Sixpence, stone, 1884, of Tobago, with watermark of Crown "CA", having been used for a provisional surcharged Halfpenny, that stamp rose from its first catalogue price of about 1s. 3d. to its present value of £7 10s. No dealer seems to have obtained more than a small supply of this Sixpence, and the subsequent consignments from London to Tobago were printed in a totally different colour, orange-brown.
Practically all the stamps of the Transvaal have greatly appreciated, and large sums have been made by the fortunate holders of stock acquired at the old 1882 figures. In an old, but well-known catalogue, thirty-five stamps are priced in unused state, varying from 3d. to 10s., the latter being for a One Penny in red, on Sixpence, black, of May, 1879: and sixty-four used, ranging from 6d. to 7s. 6d., and including amongst the intermediate prices those of four of the May, 1879, provisionals. A glance at Gibbons will show, even taking the commonest varieties, a great rise all round, sufficient even to satisfy a greedy investor. Of minor Transvaal varieties there are many, and several of these show an abnormal rise in price: on the other hand, some have appreciated very little. How, therefore, is the would-be speculator-investor to know what to take?
In the old catalogue above referred to, some of the 1881 Turks' Islands provisionals are priced from 6d. to 2s. each unused--presumably the commonest varieties: now these stamps vary from 12s. to £5 for the "½", from £3 to £30 for the "2½", and from 30s. to £7 for the "4". The One Shilling, lilac, of 1873-79, largely used for the above provisionals, has increased some twelve-fold in value since 1882.
If the reverend gentleman who, by the help of a typewriter, evolved the earliest of the 1895 issues of Uganda, had only a few remainders on hand, he should reap a handsome return for his original outlay of two or three hundred cowries: but most probably he did not keep any, consequently the stamps are, and will remain, scarce and expensive.