Graf Zeppelins

Hi! Mary Jane had inquired about these stamps, so I thought I'd post. I did not make this scan from the originals, as the stamps in this book are carefully put away. This is a color copy of the page that my mother-in-law made prior to giving us the stamps. I know it's hard to tell much from a copy, but they still look beautiful to me!

*GASP*!! WOW you are probably the luckiest person on the planet! Great looking zeppelins you have there and I'm glad you posted them for us to see! Thank you very much.

Hello
Thank you for posting the photos of the Zeps. They look very nice and from the way they are presented I think you have inherited a very nice collection. When I am looking at estate collections the first thing I look for it the presentation, then start looking at the content. This looks to have both. As far as value, if the Zeps are with original gum, and have been hinged (Mint og h) the average current selling price is between $650.00/$850.00. If they are not hinged (Mint og nh) $2000.00/3000.00.
Again it looks like you have a winner of a collection that somebody has spent a lot of time putting together.
Ron

Hi Ron! Stamps were my husband's grandfather's passion! As I have time, I'll post more of his collection. Thanks for your input!

You are truly fortunate to have received such a great collection and thanks for posting the Zeps.

I wonder if your husband's grandfather also had good reference books that went beyond just the catalogs. Seeing the care he took makes me think somebody somewhere has his reference books. It may not hurt to ask whatever happened to them, if in fact they do exist.

~~ Mary-Jane ~~

That is a wonderful idea! That would be great for you to get those as you could learn all about his collection. good call stamphound!

"If they are not hinged (Mint og nh) $2000.00/3000.00."

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but that is INSANELY optimistic. Only if all 3 were certed OGNH and professionaly graded XF or better could you possibly hit $2K, and that's full show dealer retail, not selling to one.

For a routine VF NH set without certs, you're looking in the area of $1,200-1,500, and a patient buyer can find them for less.

2 years ago I picked up a F/VF NH set with clean PSE certs from Heritage auctions when they briefly returned to the stamp field. I paid $1,015 including the buyer's premium. I thought I got a great deal... but when I started shopping the set, the best offer I got from "major" dealers was about $950. I subsequently sold the set 2 months later at INDYPEX but to a smaller dealer, for $1,500.

So I made out fine on the deal, but there can be HUGE variance in buy prices from "big" dealer to "not so big", as well as regionally. You're likely to find offers all over the map, and quite a few lowballers.

At any rate, I'm not trying to sound negative, but I'm always wary of aggressively optimistic assessments/appraisals, especially when given to someone who may not know the subtleties and intricacies of the stamp market.

To the OP: They appear attractive (but as with anything, the devil is in the details; it only takes one or two hidden faults to drop their value DRAMATICALLY), and C13-15 are a set that will ALWAYS be in demand. They are a good long-term hold, in my opinion. If you don't need to sell them, I would not. Given what the stock market, the U.S. dollar, and CD/money markets are doing, this isn't a bad thing to keep as an investment at all.

This is one of the most interesting envelopes I have seen.
Zeppelin trip 16, December 5, 1935. I posted it here and maybe pick up on Zeppelin
Stamps.

I have been in Friedrichshafen am Bodensee.

Regardless of what these might sell for, or be valued at, I drool with envy. (Of course at my age, that is not difficult.) regards, yakboomer.

The US zepp stamps are indeed great looking stamps, as are the 1928-30 Germany 'Graf Zeppelins'. Not got either set - yet!
Waiting for that lottery win.
Fifia, that is one superb cover!
DavidR

mine.

Those are beautiful. Someday I hope to get a set of them

My world wide zeppelin stamps, so far . . .

There were a few covers listed on ebay recently which were carried on the Graf Zeppelin and I thought about bidding for a couple but didn't. I collect Austria and they were mostly Austrian covers - great looking but I had no idea of their worth, so didn't bid.

NBStamper - covers postmarked in Austria and carried on the Graf Zeppelin can range from
$40 on up.

As far as trips by the Graf to Austria, in looking quickly through my Frost catalogue, the
first I see is May 1929. According to Frost, this flight was without official mail delivery.
The mail prepared to be taken on this flight received the mark "No mail will be taken on the
flight to Vienna" and returned to sender. Only unofficially boarded cards and letters were
dropped during this flight.

The catalogue price for those covers is in the $150 - $800 range, although of course they can
be had for less.

The next flight to Austria I see was in July, 1931. These covers are more common and
range from $60 - $380.

It is interesting to note that of the rigid airships of the era, Graf Zeppelin, Hindenburg,
USS Los Angeles (which was built in Germany), the Shenandoah, The Akron, the Macon,
the Italian Italia, the British R38, R100 & R101, only Graf and Los Angeles did not
crash or blow up. The British R100 was permanently grounded after a very short career.
If I have left out any country's airship, please excuse my omission. yakboomer

I need to correct some mis-information I posted. The Britsh R100 was the best built and successful dirigible that Britain produced. During the summer of 1929 she made a round-trip flight to Canada. Some covers exist of this flight and are very pricey. The R101 however crashed and burned on her first flight. The R100 was then grounded and scrapped. - yakboomer