Collectible Investments for the High Net Worth Investor

Chapter Investing in Rare Books

Introduction

I suspect most of us formed collections in our youth from such items as baseball cards, stamps, and Dinky Toys, which were dutifully saved by our parents after we grew older in case “we should ever need them.” A great many of us never did, but many others graduated into becoming serious collectors. This begs the question: Why do large numbers of people show such an interest in collecting?

Many people spend a great deal of time and money planning and growing their collections, shopping for new items, and generally managing and cataloguing their collectibles. The activity has been described thus:^[2] “Collecting is a common, intensely involving form of consumption.” A wide variety of objects are collected, ...