Hoping To Find Info On These

these stamps are a bit curled, but 98% are fully gummed. this is very small sample of his pre 1945 german stamps. If we have anyone familiar with theses I would love to know the "not holding you to it" value. Not that I want to sell tem but it might make me think about how much time to invest in them.

Thx, John

They each have a minimum catalog value but a real value of pennies (maybe even a penny) each.

What Rodgcam said, but also some interesting stamps. The top row includes nazi occupied Poland and Bavaria, the second row some early official stamps for use in Prussia, then a large number of interwar inflationary overprints and a row of airmails. On the second page, the green stamp with eagle and swastika would be worth in the tens of dollars if it were used rather than mint. The 35 pfennig blue stamp is from the DDR (East Germany) and has a catalog value of a couple of dollars.

re: "...green stamp with eagle and swastika would be worth in the tens of dollars if it were used rather than mint."

a used stamt more valuable than a mint? that seems counterinuitive to me, but that is my inexperience talking i'm sure. please explain THX, John

Hi John,

This will be due to a very limited period of time the stamp could be used, or a very high face value stamp that would rarely be used, even if it was available for a long period of time.

Your instinct is often correct, especially for modern stamps. But, used specimens (especially if still on-cover) can be worth a lot. For example, the stamp was issued by mistake but several (or several hundred) were used before the recall; the cancel is from a post office or station that saw very special or limited use (such as Deutsche Seepost from the German Marshall Islands); or the cancel itself indicates that only a select few people could have sent the letter (like the UK House of Commons Post Office).

For many modern stamps, used prices are higher than mint prices. A lot of the stamps see very little postal use. Many postal services release sets of stamps when only some of the issued stamps are supplied to post offices. The sets, often, have a face value that makes it 'economic' to print stamps. With the decline in mail due to digital communication, philatelic sales have become an important source of income. More sets are printed in smaller quantities but at higer combined face value. It should be noted that higher prices for 'used' stamps often only apply to genuine postally used specimens.

It is not always required the cancel is scarce for the used stamp to be worth more than the mint counterpart. The 1922 Irish overprints on British stamps have a number of examples. Quite a few sets are worth more used than unused hinged sets. In most cases mint never hinged are the most expensive still. However, among the high values is a set that is priced higher used than mint. Some individual values are as well. The two Harrison overprint sets for use in vending machines and the one with the 'long 1 in 1922' variety all are priced highest used. The reason is the comparative rarity of the used stamps.

The 'Saorstát Éireann 1922' high values were overprinted with adjoining narrow and wide settings by the stamping branch of the IRS at Somerset House in London. Pairs with this composite setting are very expensive. Unmounted mint, the three horizontal pairs are priced at € 4,200 by Hibernian. Hinged unused are priced € 2,400. Used are not even priced but just quoted as 'rare.' The postal use of high values is rare. The postal use of pairs of high values is extremely rare.

Allow me to better define my use of the term modern: my use is 1952-present (that date chosen only to coincide with the end of George VI's reign). I think one would be hard pressed to find a significant number of modern 20th century stamps worth more used than mint, just because they're used.

You also need to be aware of the difference between used stamps and CTOs (Canceled To Order). CTOs are canceled usually at the same time as they are printed, so they can be sold to dealers as used stamps, because that means the postal authorities can sell nearly twice as many stamps to dealers. Many collectors want a mint and a used stamp of each type. Often issues that are very scarce used postally are still very common CTO.

Try Hibernian for Irish stamps.

Bavaria, was not occupied by the nazis. In fact, the nazi party was born in Bavaria. The stamps shown, are Kingdom of Bavaria, pre-1918 stamps, overprinted to be used all around Germany, after 1948.