I finally had my back surgery in early May. I had 4 vertebrae fused in my lower back. Recovery time is estimated to take up to a year so there is lot’s of unpleasant time to get through.  My biggest limitation is that I cannot lift more than 5 pounds at one time. All of my stock books and some of my catalogs weigh over 5 pounds so working on orders can be a challenge.
Fortunately, Jill is able to fill all of our orders now so she is doing the lion’s share of order filling. Were it not for her I would be completely backed up.
I started up dating part III of our German area price list. Unfortunately I doubt that it will be finished before mid-May. To say I am working slowly would be an understatement. Our next list will be Part 4 of our German area list – mostly Saar issues. We have lots of new material for this list too.

sc3
Scott 2017
Volume 2

Volume 2 has only a few areas which fall into the Austria or German spheres.
The Camerouns show some significant price decrease since 2016.
7-19* was $329 and is now $306
7-19 U was $894 but is now $714.
Croatia shows a great many very small increases throughout with a few significant price changes.
1-8 ** was $68 and is now $89
1-8 U was $57 and is now $45.
B76 SS NH and used moved from $1400 to $1650.
Danzig has quite a few price increases spread throuhout.
168-192 * was $151 and is now $160
200-10 U decreases from $460 to $413
J30-9** moves from $180 to $225.
J40-2** was $133 and is now $160.
O1-27* moves from $140 to $175
O42-52** increases from $575 to $646.

THE AMERICAN STAMP DEALER & COLLECTOR

I have been recommending that our customers give this publication a try. This magazine is the newest and, I believe, the best periodical published today. Published by the American Stamp Dealers Association, this monthly magazine contains articles intended for both dealers and collectors. There is more philatelic information in one 80 page issue than a year’s worth of some other stamp publications.
The magazine has many contributors who write articles in each issue and always has articles on a wide variety of philatelic topics covering worldwide philately. The quality of the printing and photographs is top notch making the magazine a real pleasure to read.
If you subscribe to but one philatelic publication, I would recommend this one.
A one year subscription costs $19.95 from ASDA, PO Box 692, Leesport PA 19533.
Exchange Rate
The Euro is currently worth $1.12 – up 3 cents from last year but is a really favorable exchange rate for US buyers! The dollar continues to to be strong against most foreign currencies making collector buyer power the best it has been in many years!

MICHEL 2016 Catalogs
The new volumes 1 and 2 of the Michel Specialized Germany catalogs have been issued. I bought my copies from Richard Hummel in Germany. His web site http://www.hummel-buch.de/ can be viewed in English and offers a wide variety of collector supplies and catalogs. So far Ihave found his prices fair and his service excellent.

The Michel Austria 2016 Specialized catalog will be released 10 June. The postpaid price is 112 Euro. Payment may be made via Paypal or US personal check.
 

LUXEMBOURG STAMPS
Last year we noted an increase in in demand for Luxembourg stamps among our customers. For all of the years we have stocked Luxembourg, Luxembourg stamps have been the slowest selling area. Beginning in the middle of 2014 our sales of Luxembourg stamps have increased dramatically. Our Luxembourg sales are now rivaling our sales of Austria stamps as our second best selling area.

Naturally we are not sure why that is so. We have never promoted Luxembourg stamps when we advertise yet we are gaining new customers for Luxembourg at an increasing rate. I suspect there are not too many dealers who maintain a good stock of Luxembourg and collectors are finding us via internet searches. Once again the power of the internet impresses.
Since our sales have increased, we have been seeking out and buying good Luxembourg collections. We hope to update our Luxembourg price list again very soon.
If you collect Luxembourg but have not thought of us for this country’s stamps – please do!.
Michel Germany Specialized catalogs – In English
Michel has published an updated version of both of their English Volume 1 and 2 of their Germany Specialized catalogs. The updated catalogs are available from Richard Hummel at hiis web site.
The English versions are considerably reduced from the German versions – vol 1 in German has 1150 pages and in English 544 pages. Volume 2 in German has 1406 pages and in English 512 pages. Each volume is priced at 84 Euro by Michel.
CONTACT US:
R SCHNEIDER
POB 23049
BELLEVILLE IL 62223
OFFICE 618 277 6152
FAX 618 277 1050
EMAIL: RSCHNEIDERSTAMPS@ATT.NET
WEB SITE:
WWW.RSCHNEIDERSTAMPS.COM