April was the best sales month in a year and we were surprised that May turned out even better. We got little else done in May other than keeping up with orders. We did mange a short trip to Chicago to attend the Rasdale auction. They are our favorite auction house for collections.
Jill is mostly settled in Wichita Falls. She is handling our Liechtenstein and DDR stock. That explains why customers sometimes get two letters filing one order. We are in the process of liquidating our Liechtenstein stock. We are currently discounting Liechtenstein stamp orders by 30% and sales of Liechtenstein stamps have greatly increased! When the Liechtenstein stamps are gone Jill will pick up our Luxemburg stock.
This month we have updated our German Offices and Colonies Price list Part 1 – next month we will update Part 2. The offices and colonies are the most popular of our price lists in recent years and we try very hard to replace sold out stock.

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 – exactly the same rate that it was last year still a very favorable exchange rate for US buyers! The dollar continues to be strong against most foreign currencies making collector buyer power extremely strong.

RASDALE STAMP AUCTION RESULTS

Rasdale Auctions conducts their collection lots part of the auction Saturday morning and their singles part of the auction on Sunday – the reverse of most auctions.
In recent years Rasdale has altered their auction proceedings to permit internet bidding. This change has greatly altered the flow of auction bidding and the auction results.
Before permitting live internet bidding the majority of auction lots were won by floor bidders and/or auction agents placing bids for absent buyers. Now the vast majority of winning bids come from internet bidders. As I sat though hours of bidding on worldwide, covers and US collections, I kept track of whether lots were being won by floor bidders, book bidders (bidders who sent their bids in advance of the auction, auction agents, or internet bidders. The result was 73% of lots were won by internet bidders, 14% by floor bidders, 10% by auction agents and 3% by the book. (96 % of collection lots were sold.
Rasdale estimated realizations have always been notoriously low – this auction was no exception – while I was tracking lots 87% sold above the estimates and many sold several times higher than the estimates. e.g a British Caribbean collection estimated at $450 sold for $2400. A US accumulation of medium value stamps estimated at $1900 sold for $9000 – a massive US collection estimated at $6500 sold for $21,000.
German area lots all sold and all but one sold above the estimates but there were few surprises as most of the German lots were very basic collections.
Overall auctions results for the collection lots were very strong. Clearly internet bidders are pushing auction results higher.

     MICHEL DEUTSCHLAND SPEZIAL 2017 VOL 2

The new Michel Volume 2 was released last month. To say that modern Germany retail prices are extremely stable would be an understatement. I poured through the new volume 2 carefully but could not find a single price change from last year’s volume.

The new volume adds all of the 2016 new issues otherwise is a reprint from last year. If you have a Volume 2 issued as far back as 2010 prices are still reasonably up to date.
If you decide to buy a new catalog this year, I recommend Richard Hummel’s service. His prices are competitive and his service is excellent. You can order on line at http://www.hummel-buch.de Mr Hummel accepts Paypal payments.
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