Exchange Launched by Dealer : Computers Used in Stamp Trading

Maverick stamp dealer Marc Rousso is shaking up the world of stamp collecting.

The 35-year-old French financier launched an international stamp exchange in Miami Beach this fall that enables collectors to buy and sell rare postage stamps, like stocks, by computer.

Stamp dealers believe Rousso’s plan will rejuvenate the hobby as well as drastically alter the way collectors hunt their prey. Rousso hopes it will also persuade millions of investors to buy rare stamps the way they now buy gold or stocks.

He has even written President Reagan to suggest that people be allowed to fund their IRA and Keough retirement accounts with stamps.

“It’s a terrific idea. I can only see additional collectors coming in on this,” said Stan Kopkin of Tropical Stamps, a large dealer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Dealers Like Operation

“I’ve been in the business 52 years and stamp collectors don’t hook on to new ideas too quickly,” said Herman Herst, a philatelic appraiser and consultant from Boca Raton. “But we need something like this.”

Kenneth Miller, president of Promenade Stamp Co., added: “The search, the hunt for stamps, for many, is the greatest challenge of the hobby. With the opening of this exchange, this hobby comes into the 20th Century.”

The International Stamp Exchange Corp. opened with a stash of 25,000 stamps worth $3 million to $4 million. The stamps are stored in 2,800 safe deposit boxes in a locked vault at the exchange headquarters.

In a year, Rousso said he expects to have $50 million worth of stamps in inventory and have $300 million worth of stamps in three years.

Rousso has earned a reputation as a nonconformist in the world of stamp collecting with his highly publicized, $1-million barter deals. He has traded stamps for a yacht, a personal jet and a Palm Beach estate. He swapped $1.5 million in stamps for the exchange headquarters building.

Rousso, who speaks with a heavy French accent, said he first went into business in stamps in Paris when he was 18. “When I was a kid I was intrigued by stamps.”

He said his personal stamp collection is worth about $1 million and he did $35 million in stamp deals last year. This year, his purchase of a $99,000 plate block of eight $5 Christopher Columbus stamps was reported to be the largest single transaction at the Siegel Rarity Sale in New York.

The stamp network will work something like a computerized stock exchange. It will have representatives in all 50 states and in Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

To gain access to the database, traders must have a personal computer or use of a telex. Sellers set the “ask” price that they want for their stamps and send the stamps to Miami Beach where they are authenticated, insured and entered into the computerized listing. Buyers submit a “bid” price.

Transactions will be conducted in U.S. dollars, and the exchange collects commissions of 9% per trade--6% from the seller and 3% from the buyer. The database includes up-to-the minute foreign currency conversion rates.

Stamp dealers can join the exchange as a broker now for free, but eventually it will cost $5,000 to become a member, according to a brochure describing the business.