To Seperate Or Not?

I obtained this grouping of the US zeppelins several years ago in an online auction and since then I've displayed it as a group in a Scotts album. However, lately I've been thinking about separating the stamps and mounting them in mounts in the appropriate album spaces. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts regarding this. Would it diminish the value of the stamps to do so? I wish I had the complete original cover, but this is how I purchased them. Thanks.

It's a pity you do not have the complete cover. I have heard that there are no zeppelin covers known using all three stamps. I find myself wondering whether these cancels are genuine, they are setting off my alarm bells. Since all the CDS are clearly identical, why is there only one flag? Each CDS should have a flag. You might well discover that the backs are not as good as the fronts if you remove them if the cancels are not real.

the cancels are fake, maybe the stamps too

At first glance, I was thinking that the pic was the result of a bad scan. On closer scrutiny, the colors are not quite right and the printing looks like a copy, or offset printing. There is not the detail in line work that an engraving should demonstrate.

A closeup of one of the stamps would be helpful.

Do you recall who sold it to you?

Everything about them screams forgeries. Look at those "perfect" perfs or lack thereof. Fake cancellations.

Wow! Faked cancels, forged stamps ... anything like what you expected, jmdregs?

Looking at them in the cold light of dawn as opposed to last night, I agree. The stamps are also fakes.

jmdregs,

Take a close look at the C-15 ($2.60). An authentic copy will have the lettering "Graf Zeppelin" and "D-LZ 127" clearly visible. There should also be evenly spaced diagonal lines in the globe.

It could be your scan but I don't see either.

Dan

Not true. Not as rare as you think, but still pricey. The Sieger Zeppelin Katalog values a cover with a complete set of Graf Zeppelin stamps at 2,200 Euros while Michel quotes a lower value of 1,000 Euros.

As a matter of fact, at last week's Kelleher Auction, two covers with complete sets sold for $1,100 and $1,200, respectively.

Do I remember correctly that a cover with all 3 Zeps was worth $10,000 in the heyday?

Could be, but that probably referred to a first day cover (April 19, 1930) with all three stamps. That item has a catalog value of 12,500 Euros in the Sieger catalog. Bill Langs is offering one of these for sale on his website for $11,000 (or best offer) plus $7 for shipping!

I have to agree that these are forgeries based on Danstamps posting and the general consensus. Looking at my ebay purchase history, I got these from a guy in Greece, Lagwnikakis. No surprise that he's no longer registered with E-bay. An expensive lesson at 200 plus dollars...no wonder I thought they were a bargain. At least I can add them to a page of several other US forgeries that I own. Thanks for the help guys.

jmdregs,
Sorry you lost money, but I agree that you didn't lose if you don't lose the lesson. In a previous thread regarding NYStamps you mentioned that you support them too. Please be careful.

There are some good deals on ebay and there are some rip-offs. The vast majority of listings go off at market prices. Remember that there are folks who have invested hundreds of hours in learning about a single stamp issue. Then there are people who have invested even more, a lifetime learning in an area like revenues. These type folks are most likely to uncover the 'bargains'. Typical collectors like you and I may think we are knowledgeable but compared to the hardcore collectors we are ripe for being taken.

Ask around for quality sellers names, be wary of those who are known to troll for suckers or have marginal material. When you find good sellers, share their name. (Sometimes I think that some people purposely do not disclose good sellers names in fear that it will give them more competition.)
Don

what kind of value do they have as forgeries?

As a collector of forgeries, I would pay $6.00 to $8.00 for a set like this. I see lots of sellers on ebay offering modern forgeries like this for a lot more. They are very easy for me to pass up.