New/Used C13-15 Zepps

I have a new C13 Zepp but I have a lead on a decent (F-VF) used set of C13-C15 at a good price. If I get the used set I would have to sell my new C13. Does anyone have an opinion on new vs. used on the zepps. Is one going to hold or increase its value more than the other. I guess the question is whether to continue to hold to someday get a new C14 and C15 to finish out a new set or take advantage of this used set?

My comments are strictly anecdotal, so take with a grain of salt.

Zeppelins, across the board, have been hot sellers for the couple of years, and seem to have bucked the trend of stagnation that other classic US stamps have been plagued with. This applies to Mint AND used stamps.

An interesting exercise would be to graph, year-by-year, the price changes of mint and used Zeps from the 1970s to the present, and see what you come up with. My guess would be that mint and used copies have mirrored each other on percentage of price changes year-by-year ... but that needs to be put to the test.

Does anyone have 40 years worth of US catalogues handy?

edit: Interesting information below ... catalogue values don't seem to reflect my opinion. What does the 2012 catalogue state?

My 2c

I agree with Riley with this qualifier:

Appreciation and marketability for the Zepps is reserved for the higher quality specimens, and moreso for the used variety.

If I had to choose between mint and used, I would want the used copy to be nearly flawless.

Now that I'm home, here are some catalogue prices from my own catalogues. I left out Never Hinged because they were not defined in 1983.

1983:

c13 - Mint: $550, Used: $400, Cover: $500
c14 - Mint: $1350, Used: $800, Cover:$1000
c15 - Mint: $2100, Used: $1250, Cover: $1500
Set: $4000 $2450 $3000

2001:

c13 - Mint: $250, Used: $160, Cover: $175
c14 - Mint: $500, Used: $375, Cover: $400
c15 - Mint: $800, Used: $575, Cover: $600
Set: $1550 $1110 $1175

2010:

c13 - Mint: $225, Used: $150, Cover: $160
c14 - Mint: $475, Used: $350, Cover: $375
C15 - Mint: $615, Used: $550, Cover: $575
Set: $1315 $1050 $1110


Summation:

Mint (2010) minus mint (1983) equals: $1310 - $4000 = -$2690
Used (2010) minus used (1983) equals: $1050 - $2450 = -$1400
Cover (2010) minus cover (1983) equals: $1110 - $3000 = -$1890

Clearly, you are on the right track. Used stamps suffered the smallest loss ($1400) out of the (3) categories over the 17 year period shown, therefore used stamps would be the best investment!

Brian

Edit: sorry for the endless edits. I type faster than I proofread :)

Thank you for the research Rileysan - that's very interesting. I think as percentages, new declined 67%, used 57% and cover 63%. Ouch!