Germany 1933 "1923-1933" Welfare Nothilfe Block Question

Hello everyone.

This is my first post and I appreciate any constructive input you may be able to offer. I inherited 29 scott specialty albums from my late grandfather. He started the collection when he was posted overseas with the army for his daughter my aunt. She never showed interest but he kept up with it over the years. The most extensive collection is the Germany Album which contains every stamp from the late 1800's through the early 60's all hinged and all unused. My question is maybe simplistic but in regard to the 1993 Welfare Souvenir Sheet and all others for that matter he has the full souvenir sheet on one side where it's intended to be placed and on the opposite back left side he has hinged a block without the surrounding sheet. Is this common practice? Also, I've visited a few stamp dealers in the MD/DE area and have been told by one dealer that the hinged 1933 Nothlife souvenir sheet could be considered never hinged because the hinges are on the paper and not the stamp. Is this commonly accepted as I will be selling the stamps and don't want to misrepresent anything. I have listed the stamps on ebay if anyone would like to see an example of what I'm talking about. I will post a link if an admin or moderator gives me the ok or I can simply add pictures to the forum.

Very Respectfully,

Kurt

First, welcome to the board. I'll defer to others on most of your questions. Regarding hinging, normally if the sheet comes with full gum over the entire surface of the back, any hinge mark on it anywhere makes it hinged in the eyes of most collectors, whether the mark is on the stamps themselves or not. However, I believe that particular sheet was gummed only on the stamps and the surrounding margins were never gummed. In that case, a hinge mark in that ungummed portion can often be soaked off and the sheet dried and pressed to look like new. I've never done that myself and am not suggesting that you do it yourself, but my guess is that's what he's talking about.

Welcome to SCF, Kurt!




You were told incorrectly. All German souvenir sheets must not show any hinge mark in order to be considered "Never Hinged" - even on those sheets that have gum only on the stamp (the 1933 Nothlife, IPOSTA, Soviet zone Goethe sheet, and so on are all examples of sheets with no gum except for the stamps. The WWII French occupied zones imperf souvenir sheets came without gum and still have a never hinged expectation). Never Hinged prices for German stamps - especially 3rd Reich - are often 500-1000% above hinged prices, so the expectation is that said stamps be completely unblemished.

Cheers!

Brian

Thank You TheArtfulHinger and Rileysan! I appreciate the view. The stamp as you've both mentioned had at one time gum but the dealer said it was bad for the stamp and typically removed which is the case with my two instances. I think I will err on the side of caution and list them as mint hinged. Not to derail from my first question or two but another I was wondering is in regard to the removal of hinges, should I remove or let the individual who purchases the stamps remove the hinge?

Thanks again,

I look forward to learning as much as I can..

V/R

Kurt

I'm not quite sure I understand how this looks. Are you stating that there are stamps hinged to the back of a souvenir sheet or that the stamps are hinged to the back-side of the page (essentially a page not intended for any stamps)?

If hinged together, separate them. The risk of them sticking together is too great. If hinged to the back of the page, leave them alone.

For selling purposes, here's a quick break-down of what you can expect when selling these.


Federal republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1949 through roughly 1960 can have some significant values for both mint and used. Never hinged prices go through the roof on some of the higher face values.

After 1960, the stamps are common and are of little value. The expectation of catalogue values is that if mint, they MUST be never hinged. If used, hinged has no relevance. Mint/hinged stamps from this era sell for a pittance - I would estimate as little as .05/ea regardless of face value. Thus, there's no reason to worry about the modern souvenir sheets and extra stamps. Just count them with the rest.

DDR (East Germany) is even worse. I frequently buy collections for as little as .01/stamp. 1949 to roughly 1955 has a few nice values (especally used), but after 1955 has little to no value.

Modern Germany with Euro face values (€) should sell at 50%-75% of face (using 1-1 ratio of € to $) regardless of being hinged or not.

I would recommend selling the modern albums as-is. Count the total number of stamps and mention that in your auction listing.

I hope this helps. Good luck!