Royal Issues Not so Rare

Question: My topic in stamp collecting is British royal wedding issues. Do the Princess Anne (1973) and Prince Charles (1981) wedding sets have good potentials for price increases in the long term?

Also, I am thinking about assembling a set issued for the 1935 Silver Jubilee. Considering that most stamps in this issue catalogue for more than $20, does this set have investment potential?--R.K.

Answer: If anybody could see the future, they would quickly become quite wealthy. The stamps that you mention are popular issues, but they are not my first choice for serious long-term investment. These stamps were issued in sufficient quantities that they are not what we would call rare.

I think they deserve a place in a comprehensive collection of 20th-Century British stamps, but for the long term, who knows? The Silver Jubilees are probably more popular to collect in Great Britain than they are here, and I believe that the recent Prince Charles, Lady Di and similar issues have been overpromoted.

Q: Shortly after World War II, I was in Brazil, where I bought several sheets of commemoratives showing a picture of the Rio de Janeiro post office. The denominations are 5 and 10 cruzeiros. What are these worth now?--M.C.

A: You have the more valuable members of a set of seven stamps issued to honor the Fifth Postal Union Congress of the Americas and Spain in 1946. Catalogue values are $4.50 for the 5 cruzeiros, $5 for the 10 cruzeiros stamp, per mint stamp. So your panes (sheets) are worth something.