OREANDA-NEWS. July 08, 2015. Rare stamps continue to prove their investment value, with the latest Stanley Gibbons GB30 and GB250 indices showing continued growth from 2014. In fact, 2015 represents the 45th year in a row that the GB30 index has increased in value.

Listed on both the Bloomberg Professional® service and Thomson Reuters, the indices chart steady increases in value, reflecting the increasing popularity of rare, tangible, heritage assets. These steady increases are uncorrelated to mainstream markets, and create opportunities for portfolio diversification.

The GB250 index, tracking the prices of the top 250 investment-grade stamps of Great Britain has risen 2.05% from 2014 to 2015, clocking up an impressive 10 year growth of 165.72% and 10 year CAGR of 10.27%.

The GB30 Rarities Index, which charts the prices of the 30 rarest stamps of Great Britain, rose 2.40% over the same period, reflecting a 10 year growth rate of 120.09% with a CAGR of 8.21%.  Over the past 45 years the GB30 has shown a CAGR of 10.03%, with no drop in value.

Managing Director of Stanley Gibbons Investments, Keith Heddle, said, 'The indices show steady, sustained and sustainable growth in British stamps. Tangible, heritage assets now increasingly form part of a balanced portfolio. As we continue to see economic uncertainty, uncorrelated alternative assets such as rare stamps and coins are being sought to buffer market volatility.  175 years on from the introduction of the Penny Black, the world's first stamp, the role of stamps may have changed somewhat, but they can still pack a punch when it comes to wealth preservation.'

The best performing stamp in the GB250 Index over the past year is the SG440d, a 1935 1d scarlet with a double impression, where the image on the stamp has been printed twice due to a shift during the printing process. The stamp has risen in value by 20% (?20,000 to ?24,000). The best performer over the past decade, however, is the SG7 - a 1d red-brown dating back to 1841, which has risen in value from ?625 to ?11,500 - a jump of 1542.86%.