German Bundespost 1949-1981 Stamps

Hello,

I have an album full of stamps - German Bundespost, stamps from 1949 to 1981. Is a Michel album, it has 1073 slots out of which 993 are full (so the album is 92.54% complete). They are not glued to the paper, they are in small slots, small pockets made out of plastic. Some of them are stamped, some of them are not - here are some pictures:






I would love to hear your opinion on this - how rare this are and how much this entire album would cost if you can make an estimate.

Thank you.

Good morning, and welcome to SCF!

The Lighthouse hingeless album by itself would sell for ~$50 at auction. Most of the stamps after 1960 are of minimal value, but if unused I would expect a complete collection from 1960-1981 to sell in the $100 range.

Now comes the best part. 1949 through 1960 is where all the value is in West Germany. Thee photo showing a used Beethoven Souvenir Sheet is from that era. This sheet typically sells for $8-$10.

The highest valued stamps from West Germany are from 1949-1960. There are many sets that catalogue in the $100 range. A complete used collection would have a rough catalogue value in excess of $1500. A complete Mint, Never Hinged (unblemished gum) stamp collection would have a rough catalogue value in excess of $3000. A complete mint, hinged stamp collection (blemished gum) would have the least catalogue value.

Realistically, most items from this era sell for 15%-20% of catalogue value in online auctions. There are a few exceptions.

The question is: Do you you have key issues?

Take photos of everything from 1949-1960. We'll go from there.

Cheers!

Brian

PITIKU------Welcome to this board,the 80 stamps that you are missing could be the difference between a collection worth $400.00 and $2,000.00.Does your include BERLIN ?......its hard to value because we don't know whats missing ,do you have the first overprint set and is it real with cert's or signed ,or are they forgeries.....all this will change the price from high price to the lower value in price quickly.

Unfortunately the missing ones are from the first part, 1949-1960. I guess that the value of the album drops a lot now, but it goes around what figure? 200-300 dollars?
I have Berlin stamps in a different album where I have 175 out of 267 slots - any idea how much would these be?
Also I have another 2 Berlin collections - Berlin 1979 with 17 stamps and Berlin 1980 with 11 stamps - How much would this be?

I am asking this because I inherited the stamps but I am not a big fan so I want to sell them and I want to get an idea what money I can get for them. I appreciate your answers!

Regards

With the photos you have provided, and the descriptions given, if this thread were an ebay auction, you would not get over $100 for the album.

The key to selling is information and photos. Take a hundred photos and put them on a free photo sharing website like Photobucket. Else, all the buyer has to go on is "I have 993 used and unused German stamps that date from 1949-1981 in a hingeless album". With this information, as a collector I would bid not more than a nickel per stamp ($49.65) and $50 for the album. A dealer would pay half that.




Berlin follows the same trend as West Germany. 1949-1960 is where all the value is. Most everything after that is penny stamps. With the information given, you have $15 in Berlin stamps ... tops. Post photos, you might have something better.

Brian

Hello Brian,

I appreciate the fast answer but unfortunately I don't have the album anymore - I sent it to someone to have a look at it. In the meantime I found some more stamps, have a look at them and tell me what you think. I made pictures this time :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream

Forgot one http://www.flickr.com/photos/919440.../photostream

Now were getting somewhere!

The second link is to a set of 1936 summer Olympics (Issued May 8, 1936) on a flown Zeppelin cover. This, by far and away, is your best item.

It's difficult to put a value on this cover. Scott catalogue values the individual stamps at $15.75, and Michel (German specialized catalogue) values the 40pf stamp on cover at 22€. My opinion is that this cover should be sold separate from the rest of the collection and it should sell in the $50-$75 range.






There is a used 1949 Berlin set pictured (catalogue 9N42-9N60) that catalogues for $45. These sets typically sell for $10-$15.

The last two links (in the last two posts made by you) feature German 3rd Reich era stamps. The value of those are dependant on the status of the gum. If Never Hinged, unblemished gum, the single stamp (Scott catalogue B169) is valued at $6 unused/hinged gum or $27.50 if Never Hinged. The last photo is Scott catalogue B177-185. If Never Hinged, the set is valued at $32.

With German stamps, the condition of the gum has a HUGE impact on value. You're going to need to check the backs of your unused stamps.

Cheers

Brian