What's Happening With German Stamps?

I'm actively collecting MNH Germany and notice a lot of material isn't selling. Prices generally seem very inflated but I do see bargains, which means the higher prices are stuck in the past.

Shermae, patience will pay in regard to MNH modern Germany up to the "euro" issues. The material is certainly not rare, and it can be found at the right price, at times. I am mystified at the people who try to sell these stamps at vastly inflated prices month after month. They'd be better off buying lottery tickets.

The euro-denominated stamps are not to be found at discounted prices, because they have value as postage. Also, except for the self-adhesive varieties, they are not produced in large numbers. I think the Bundespost is just making the water-activated varieties for stamp collectors.

I mostly collect used and don't actively collect MNH Germany, but I will bite occasionally if the price is right. I wouldn't mind upgrading my collection to MNH or having both a used and NH collection, but I'm not going to pay a lot for it. Anyway, if you want the best bargains, I'd limit your search results to auctions. Bulk lots at auction (assuming a low start price and no reserve) can probably be had for a small fraction of the BIN prices some sellers are tying to get.

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My experience with German kiloware shows this to be true, with self adhesives outnumbering sheet stamps by 10-1 or more. Some stamps are issued only with water activated gum, some are issued in both self adhesive and water activated format. For stamps issued in both formats, the self-adhesive version can outnumber the sheet stamp in kiloware by as much as 50 or 100 to 1. The water activated version of common self adhesive stamps can be some of the hardest ones to find postally used, and they are the keys to forming a complete postally used collection. Those stamps are probably actually worth catalog value or close to it, but a $2 valuation for a used, self-adhesive 1.45Euro stamp is a joke. Buy a kg of German kiloware (something every collector should do at least once) and you'll end up with hundreds of those supposedly $2 stamps.

I couldn't agree more. The cancels tend to be very neat, and I've seen more than my share of SON cancellations, so I've been accidentally building up a nice collection of towns. Unfortunately, Germany has moved to a mailing center system, so some of the charm is lost, but I'm getting some quiet amusement out of trying to get a SON from each Briefzentrum (which are conveniently numbered 1 through 100).

The other thing about postwar German stamps is that the designs and themes are generally really solid, with very few "What did they put that out for?" moments. For when I don't feel like studying perforation varieties and just want to relax, modern Germany is about as good as it gets.

Town cancels can still occasionally be found in modern kilware, but they are very few and far between. I've thought about collecting all 100 Briefzentrums as there are some stamps (the self-adhesive Hornum Lighthouse stamp comes to mind) that I have several hundred of. I'm probably mostly there already. That might be a nice little side project, actually.