Questions On German Stamp Lot For Those Who Know...

khj:
Yeah, I guess the Euro rising, etc. makes sense with a potential price change. Toning like these would really drop the value to 10-20%! WOW! Again, I had no idea...not used to even looking at stamps that have much book value...very interesting. Definitely not going to try to sell them if that's the kind of offer they'd bring I'd much rather have some interesting stamps for my collection. Thanks for the info on the Vario stock sheets too...I'll have to check those out.

danko:
That's an interesting idea with the sport cards sheets. I wouldn't have thought of that. It seems like it would be a lot less expensive! Why are stamp supplies so pricey?! I collect other things (comic books, baseball cards, coins, etc. and I don't think the supplies for any of those are as expensive as they are for stamps! I was going to buy some of the little plastic sleeves/covers for mint stamps the other day and a package of assorted sizes was almost $30!! WHAT?!? It was a tiny little package too! I'm sure there must be a good reason, but I just passed it up and used that money to buy more stamps instead

That is just my opinion. Others may differ in their opinion. But put it this way -- I would typically sell FVF MH or MNH stamps from that era at 25%-33% of the respective catalog price, and I wouldn't be the only one. Remember, the Scott catalog price is for VF MNH stamp with no flaws.

In general, the higher the premium, the greater the drop-off in price due to flaws.

It's good to remind ourselves that we will enjoy collect stamps more if we focus on the fun and beauty, rather than the catalog/resale value.

So, enjoy your stamp! I know I enjoyed seeing it!

k

khj:
Oh yeah, I completely agree! Like I said, I'm used to collecting stamps that are worth 10¢ because I like them and I think they're beautiful I was expecting all of these to be of that variety as well. I have never really dealt with something that had an actual catalog value much higher, so all of this is very interesting...not because I want to sell them, just for the info. And I definitely appreciate all of the info! It's all quite intriguing and gives me a nice set of stamps start a new book with

That's exactly the reason I like to buy large lots and low priced stamps. I'm almost never disappointed, and if there happens to be a high catalog value item in there, well that's just icing on the cake.

I once found a penny black in one lot that cost me about 5c per stamp. It was far from perfect, but very presentable. Even if the penny black wasn't in there, I would have been perfectly happy with all the other stamps in the lot!

This is how I keep things in perspective. Whether the catalog value is 20c or 20000c, the stamp still basically takes up the same space in my album. It doesn't get its own page, it doesn't get framed on the wall. It's in a little rectangular spot somewhere among many pages somewhere among many binders somewhere among many bookshelves somewhere among many rooms (well, OK, just 3 rooms -- I don't have a big house).

That's how I enjoy my stamps.

k

Yeah, I've been mostly buying Czech lots to build upon my set...it's been nice finding nice lots of stamps that I need for pennies. Nothing like finding a penny black though! Nice!

Sounds like you have waaaay more stamps than me. I have a couple of shelves and a box

Put it this way -- you probably have a lot more maneuvering room where you live! I've been trying to sell some larger (not more expensive, but LARGER) items so that I can have more crawlspace!

k

LOL! Yeah...I don't have a ton of space, but we can maneuver fairly well [:D) I do have a closet full of comics, a bookshelf full of baseball cards, several bookcases full of books and DVDs, and a few shelves of stamps and coins, but for the most part it all stores nicely out of the way.

Then again, I don't have the money to buy larger and/or more expensive items, so I haven't been able to collect quite that much!

Well, at least in Austin, the outdoors is better than the indoors!

bwbollom - it looks like you got a good, eclectic start on your German material.

If you're interested in more used German I've got a pretty complete collection of duplicate post-WWII through 2005 that I will sell at 25% of 2009 Scotts postpaid. That includes a fair amount of semi-postal and Berlin issues.

Shoot me an email if you're interested.

Sounds like a winning price to me!

k

laswabbie:
Thanks! I like the start so far.

I appreciate the offer too, but most of my spare stamp money right now is going into working on my Czech collection. It sounds like a good deal and I may look you up again in the future once things calm down a bit on that front, but for now I'm having too much fun (and spending too much of what little money I have available) on stamps from my ancestral homeland

Hi folks.....

In my opinion......using the plastic pockets made for coins is NOT a good idea......over time they wrinkle and any stamps in them will be ruined.....they are not made for paper items.

nr-notrare:
Thanks for the info. Would you think the same for the pages made for baseball cards? Those are made for thin cardboard, but obviously not as thin as paper like stamps. I've never tried it, just curious as to how this would work out. Thanks!

Ok, just an update for anyone interested. I found out that there's a stamp shop in town and it's actually not too far from where I live. I decided to trek over there this afternoon to see what they had to say about the German stamps that have been ID'd in this thread. The lady at the front counter first looked them up in the Scott guide and found out basically the same info that had been given to me here, though she did find one remnant of a hinge on one of the stamps that I had somehow missed previously. All of the others she agreed looked to be MNH! She wanted to get the store owner's opinion as soon as he was available.

He came to the front a few minutes later and immediately said they were indeed MNH (except for the one which had a hinge), but were all without gum. He said they look to have been stuck to something at some point and then soaked off. Ugh. So this puts their value, according to the store owner, at about 1/3 of MH price...basically nothing Oh well...still interesting stamps to put in my "interesting stamps" book

I did find a nice shop with friendly, helpful management and ended up buying some Czech stamps and commemorative sheets for my ever growing album! They took down my info and are going to call me in the near future after they sort through a recent, large purchase which is supposed to include a decent chunk of Czech stamps. They let me know that Czech stuff is almost all very inexpensive and they don't like pricing it out because they deal more in the higher dollar stuff, so I could have a crack at the low dollar Czech stuff...exactly what I want!

It was definitely worth the trip and conversation!