Our area has pretty much shut down as has everywhere else in the country but we still trek to the post office every day and keep up with our orders. We hope all of you are well and coping successfully with the crisis .

Spring arrived here in early March – a month earlier than usual. I started my garden in early March and everything I planted is now thriving. I suspect that we will also see an early summer with 100 degree plus weather too so getting things growing early is cab ve the key to the garden’s survival when the heat arrives. Last year we lost almost half of our plants during a ten day streak of 100+ degree weather.

This month we have updated our Private Post Locals Part 2 price list which includes issues from Hamburg through Zwickau. As always many of these issues are one of a kind as private post stamps are always difficult to acquire. Be sure to include some alternates to avoid disappointment.

This month we have also created a price list for Yugoslavia issues on Austria stamps. We rarely have many issues from this area but were fortunate to acquire a collection filled with this there are many seldom seen singles , sets and covers and cards on the list. Keep in mind that many of the varieties are ne of a kind.

Next month we will up date our Germany Part 1 price list which includes the 19th century and early 20th century Deutsches Reich issues. In recent years demand for these issues has steadily increased and we have made a major effort to secure a wide stock of early issues and there are many new items.

We get a lot of inquiries as to when we will attend a particular stamp show. Unfortunately our response is that we no longer plan to have a table at any show. My physical limitations make it too difficult to travel and haul inventory to shows. We will miss seeing a lot of our regular customers.

AUCTION TRENDS

The bigger auction firms are now conducting their auctions online as well as by mail and live. As a result there are far more bidders participating in the auctions and auction lots are now selling at higher prices. This is particularly true for collection lots.

I bid in many auctions and watch the results for German and Austrian related lots closely. Last month I bid for several collections in the Rasdale Chicago auction. Lot 524 was a German Reich and early post war

collection with a suggested bid of $1700 and a starting bid of $900. The lot sold for $4000. I also bid on lot 531 with a suggested bid of $3250 which sold for $4250. A 3rd lot I bid on was #535 with a suggested bid of $850 which sold for $4000.

These type of results are pretty similar among other auctions. I should mention that most auction houses are showing many images of collection lots on line making it possible for remote bidders to intelligently assess the value of the collections. I personally do not bid on auction lots without images. European auctions are also being conducted on line these days and are becoming much easier for US bidder to participate.

AUSTRIA PHILATELIC SOCIETY (US)

The Austria Philatelic Society (US) is entering its 20th year as a stamp club focusing on the Austrian area. We have members throughout the US and abroad. The club is anchored by its quarterly bulletin and twice a year stamp auctions.

If you collect stamps and/or covers from the Austrian area you should consider joining our group; we have members from beginners to extremely advanced collectors. Dues are still only $16 a year. Ask us for a free sample bulletin and application. Check out our website at
www.AustriaPhilatelicSociety.com

If you collect Austrian stamps or covers give our club a try!!

MICHEL DEUTSCHLAND SPEZIAL KATALOGS

The 2020 Germany specialized catalogs (Volume 1 and 2) will be released in Germany on 3 April. The prices for these catalog remain the same as last year. It is uncertain when the catalogs will be ready for distribution as suppliers have not been notified yet as to when they will be available. As soon as the catalogs are distributed by Michel you can logs can order them from Richard Hummel www.hummel-buch.de. His web site is in English and he has complete stock of the European published catalogs. The quoted prices include postage which is a real killer now – each catalog costs 90 Euro but postage is 46 Euro.

Michel Deutschland Spezial Katalog 2020 Band 1 (Germany Specialized vol. 1 – 1849 – April 1945), in German, MICHEL catalogue Germany specialized 2019, Vol. I: Over 6000 high-resolution color images and approx. 96,000 price evaluations.

Michel Deutschland Spezial Katalog 2015 Band 2 (Germany Specialized vol. 2 – from May 1945 – now), in German, Around 10,000 images and over 115,500 price quotes • New listings up to March 2020 • 1472 pages long

Payment can be made via PayPal.

ALTERNATE CHOICES

We frequently remind our customers to please provide alternate choices on their orders. We wish we had an unlimited supply of stamps, but we do not. We always fill your first choices if we have them and use your alternate choices only when we are sold out of your first choices. By providing alternates you insure that you will get stamps and not a refund!