Germany 1943 - Listed Variety - But No Cv!

I recently acquired a Michel Specialised catalogue for Germany. I'm not impressed, though! The first listed variety I found (white fleck on right collar - Mi. Nr. 863 I) doesn't give a CV. Why do they do this? I've got no way of knowing now whether this is a valuable find or not. What's the point of listing an item if you don't give a CV for it???

Here are some scans:

Can you make any headway Googling the number? If it is valuable, it will probably pop up in one or another auction catalogue or prices-realized list. They probably lack data to set a number. It wouldn't be fair to the owners to just guess...

Thank for the suggestion, Cjd. I tracked it down on a website for the auctioneers Schwanke. It says it's 'very rare' but the price they were asking for was only 180 Euros and it remained unsold.

I suppose with no catalogue value, most potential buyers don't know if they are getting a screaming deal, or getting taken to the cleaners.

Still, better to have it, than to not...

If this is the same stamp, it doesn't seem to be especially valuable, as you can "buy it now" on this e-bay site for $6.39 (USD):

http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/1943-NAZI-ST...AS_W0QQitemZ220652546191QQihZ012QQcategoryZ36048QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Exactly!

I think it's the role of a catalogue - especially a specialised catalogue - to provide guidance in such matters.

Even if they were only able to provide a range instead of a precise figure it would be better.

wt1, it's not the same stamp. The one you pointed us to doesn't have the plate error (white fleck on right collar).

The CV for the regular example is given in Michel and it's only 0,90 Euros for MNH.

If the white collar variety is constant on all sheets, say the same position on a sheet of 50, then one out of 50 would have it. I think then it would have a MAXIMUM value of 50 tmes a regular issue.

If it is just a freak, I think maybe worth even less.

The majority of stamps in a catalogue do not have a CV.
The price suggested is a "handling fee"
A catalogue is there to identify it.

Stamps do not have a fixed price, they are open to
interpretation.
Put it to auction and let the public decide.
You have a price eu0 - eu180

Check the space where the CV should be,
they may have a cross or a sword, to have you
look in the catalogue preamble to note their comments.

rod222, they just have dashes.

Even though stamps do not have 'prices' a CV is a guide to a stamp's relative value. At the least you can tell whether an item is rare or not (and of course there are degrees of rarity). When there's no CV given you have no idea why ...

I would defer to Cjd's comment,
"they probably lack data to comment"

Philately is often considered that which is outside the catalogue.
If we are to move forward we have to do some work of our own.

If you intend to be immersed in philately then perhaps
you can follow other links, talk to specialists,
contact dealers, and then advise us of your
results. This is how it all works.

If you recall some of the threads on the Indian princely states
oftentimes the catalogue is lacking in information.
The gurus talk and discuss, then maybe advise Stanley Gibbons
with examples, it then gets admitted to the catalogue, if deemed
appropriate.

Quite so, Rod. In fact, the catalogues often omit prices, either because the item is unknown/can't exist, or because it appears for sale so rarely that it's impossible to put a reliable price on it.

Collectors all grumble when the catalogue prices are wrong - usually too high. Why would the catalogue editors make a rod for their own backs by putting a nominal price on an item about which they have even less information than normal? Rod mentioned the Indian States: at least half the stamps of Duttia are unpriced used in Gibbons because used copies appear so infrequently on the market that it would be misleading to pluck a value out of the air. In the same way, Gibbons only quote mint prices for two of the first eight stamps of Dungarpur: again, because there isn't the information available to frame sensible prices for them.

But I'd suggest taking the positive view of the situation. The flaw is listed, even if it isn't priced. You now know you have something, which you wouldn't have known otherwise. You can now proceed to get some idea of its value by watching sales of the stamp.

This stamp is from Position 26 in the sheet of 50. It normally goes for $50-100 USD.

Michel is simply GREAT.
-,- means "kein Preisansatz möglich". It`s up to you as seller, or buyer. This one for example misses from my Deutsches Reich collection, although Germany pre 1945 is on 5th place in my priority list. If it would be a top priority (and if I had money at the moment), I`d surely buy it for 100 bucks.