Well we had some bad news this month, Jill had to move back to Texas- she suffers severely from allergies particularly mold. As it happens the St Louis area has the nation’s highest mold levels. My wife and I both suffered from allergies when we first moved here but eventually we adapted to the climate. After three years in the St Louis area Jill was still under heavy medication for allergies and still suffering. Every time she made a business trip to Texas her allergies disappeared. She finally gave up and moved to Wichita Falls. She still will work with me as much as possible and we are trying out some ways for her to help me with the business. She, of course keeps my web site running and up to date. She is also handling DDR and Liechtenstein completely for me and will be picking up more areas.
This month we updated our German area list Part 4 which includes the German Areas of Romania through Zara. The bulk of the listing includes Saar issues. In addition to just about all of the Scott listed items our stock also includes a great many Michel listed varieties and plate flaws. Next month we will update our German colonies part 1 list.
It took a lot of looking to restock the German offices and colonies as we sold out of many items .

SCOTT 2018 VOLUME 1A-B

This year Amos Publishing has decided to split each of its catalogs into 2 volumes. The change does reduce the size of each volume and makes handling of the catalogs a lot easier.
With regard to changes in the Austria listings in this year’s catalog – there are none. I could not find one change in the listings or the prices any where in the Austria section.
I did find price changes in the Bosnia listings. Almost all issues both mint and used have reduced prices of 5- 15% Some samples:
SC 1- 10 * $1226 to $1057
U $96 to $80
65-85 * $175 to $153
U $196 to $175
141* $2100 to 1900 (despite the fact that almost no one has this stamp!)
J1-13 ** $140 to $115
Overall – again I would say that Austria collectors should pass on this year’s catalog. Any catalog less than 6-7 years old will give you realistic prices for Austria stamps. During that period catalog and market prices for Austrian stamps has been flat line.

MICHEL DEUTSCHLAND SPEZIAL 2017 –
VOL I

The new Michel Germany Part I Specialized catalog is now available.
There a few more price changes in this year’s edition than last year.
Most of the German states reflect no changes from last year. I found two minuscule price changes in Bavaria.
Bremen show some price increases among ** issues.
10a ** from 200 Euro to 250 Euro
10b ** from 600 Euro to 700 Euro
Hanover has many price decreases in the 5% to 10% range.
3a * 100 Euro to 80 Euro
12* from 900 Euro to 800 Euro
The remainder of the German states have a few scattered decreases of about 5%.
Germany issues show most increases among ** issues starting in 1900.
75-81* from 800 Euro to 900 Euro
140-53 ** from 16 Euro to 20 Euro
372-4 ** from 45 Euro to 55 Euro
423-4 ** from 420 Euro to 450 Euro
873-85** from 18 Euro to 22 Euro
The German offices and colonies show increases among most of the yacht issues for the * and ** issues with the biggest increases for ** issues.
G.E.A.
22-9* from 180 Euro to 220 Euro
22-9 ** from 470 Euro to 600 Euro
Cameroun
7-19** from 620 Euro to 750 Euro
Mariana Is
7-19** from 620 Euro to 750 Euro
Togo
7-19** from 600 Euro to 800 Euro
German occupations during WWI and WWII show very, very few changes and those are small increases among * and ** issues.
I bought my Michel catalogs from
Richard Hummel, Am Glaschen 23, 04420 Markranstadt, Germany.
I ordered my catalogs from his web site http://www.hummel-buch.de.
His website is in English and you can pay via PayPal. Each volume cost 106 Euro postpaid. The catalogs were mailed within a few days of issue and arrived promptly.

STAMP AUCTION PRICES

We receive auction catalogs from just about all of the US and German auction houses.
The overall trend in auction results in the past year has been very positive for the stamp market. Better individual stamps and better collections all sell. There is more competition for lots and prices are edging upward.
On the downside – some countries are losing popularity, used stamps are selling for far less than mint stamps, and modern stamps are in the doldrums.
For example here are a few lots selected at random from the recent HBA auction in Germany (HDA is one of the two largest stamp auction houses in Europe)
Individual items
Samoa MI 19** act 800 Euro start 200 Euro sold 310 Euro
Saar MI 2aII U cat 1200 Euro start 300 Euro not sold
Saar 128-34 U cat 5000 Euro
start 1500 Euro sold 1600 Euro
Soviet Zone MI Block 3 NH cat 1800 Euro Start 540 Euro sold 760 Euro
Deutsches Reich 438-9 (SA flight) NH cat 3500 Euro start 1000 Euro Sold 1450 Euro
Bremen Mi 1x U cat 750 Euro start 120 Euro Sold 120 Euro
Aus MI 518-23 Rotary issues NH cat 650 Euro Start 150 Euro Sold 130 Euro
Collections
German states * & U start 10,000 Euro sold 12,000 Euro
Germany 1872-1945 **/* Start 5000 Euro Sold 5400 Euro
Germany 1872 – 1945 U Start 1750 Euro sold 1650 Euro
Even with 20 % auction fees there were bargains to be had!
Stamps.com