Hamburg Envelope Question

Can anybody tell me where to look for some more info on these envelope stamps? I've spent a few hours searching on the internet and flipping through the Scott's Catalog I have and can't seem to find anything on them.

I'm new to this hobby and apologize in advance for what I"m sure is a simple question....and advance thanks for any help as well.

The three at the bottom are what I'm wondering about.

Jeff

You will find them in Michel. Michel is a German language Catalog however they did put out an English version, Cost is around $100.

Hi iil1ill,

You'd probably have to look in a specialist postal stationery catalogue, either one from Michel as revstampman suggested or the old Higgins and Gage catalogue which covered the whole world in many volumes. Most catalogues like these though will just list the complete envelopes rather than the cut-outs.

Cool. Thanks guys. I'll hit a couple libraries here in Denver and see if I can get lucky that way first before spending the money to purchase a specialty book like that.

Any idea if they're worth anything without the envelope?

Jeff-

Not sure where you are, but the U.S. is seemingly one of the few places where cut squares are accepted. That alone hurts their market, because there is already a limited market for postal stationery to start with. (That, and the lack of a ready catalogue for determining pricing.)

You might check the various online auctions and see what they go for. I would be surprised if you found very many, but that seems like your best hope for an idea of what they might sell for. The Higgins set can't be in many public libraries in the U.S., and Michel is probably only slightly less rare.

Let us know if you find anything. These types of things have a way of accumulating over time from mixed lots.

Collin

Make sure you check for reprints, as that series was reprinted more than once, including a contemporary reprint -- your cut squares look awfully "new/fresh". I don't know if the reprints included the envelopes.

Cjd,

I'm not really interested in selling anything at the moment. I'm finding alot of this pretty interesting, I " inherited" the collection from my great grandfather (he gave it to my dad 50 years ago and he just gave it to me). I'm just going through and trying to figure out what everything is and get an idea of what I have.

I'm pretty new to this and just want to make sure I understand, the 'envelopes' that I have are actually just the corners of envelopes that came with the stamps already printed on them as part of the original purchase price?

Khj,

In looking in the Scott's catalog, the stamps at the top of the page I posted are a slightly different color than the stamps listed in the catalog. Would that mean they're reprints? Nothing in this book is older than 1903 (nothing in the 2000 or so stamps I've checked on anyway), would they have been reprinted before then? If so, what does that do for the value of them?

That's exactly right. (Sometimes it is cut from a postcard or other form of postal stationery, but the concept is the same.) Much of the rest of the world wants the entire piece. In the U.S. you'll find both camps, depending on who you ask, but I think it is a fair generalization to say that here you'll find more acceptance of the cut square.

Enjoy.