We finally got a break in the weather in the last ten days of August. The temperatures have dropped below 100 and we actually received a few inches of rain. So far this year we have had over 60 100 degree days including a streak of 52 consecutive 100 degree days in July and August. That puts this area at the bottom of the top ten 100 degree days in a year category.

The stamp business has been good this summer but substantially slower than last year. I suspect that’s because everyone is taking more vacations this year after two years of isolation. Surprisingly though there have been more summer stamp auctions worldwide that I can remember. I am continually impressed with how good the auction results are. I mostly watch the results of Austria and German area lots but also note that similar results are occurring for most European country stamps.

Almost every lot sells and most at very high prices. Collectors can sometimes find bargains on individual items but seldom on collection lots. Competition for the better material is very high.

This month we have reworked our covers and cards listing and have added over 400 new items. If you collect postal history you should be able to find some items of interest.

We are spending more time keeping our web site listings current. We try to delete sold out items as they occur so when customers order they can expect the stamps to be on hand. Of course as soon as I write that something will be gone.

Treasure Boxes

We always offer treasure boxes which consist of mostly German and Austrian area stamps and covers but can contain just about anything philatelic. We constantly buy collections which often contain stamps and covers we don’t need or have the time to go through. As we sort through acquisitions we always have a few priority medium boxes nearby which receive a steady flow of stamps and covers. We try to make sure there is enough value in each box to justify our price and seem to be successful as we almost always get multiple reorders from collectors who order them. The boxes are good for collectors who like to hunt for varieties as well as Scott listed material. If you run out of items to go through you might try a box to work through.

Scott Catalogs 2022 Volumes 4 and 5

Neither of the new catalogs have any significant price changes for any German or Austrian related area. Liechtenstein and Luxembourg listings are essentially reprints of last year’s listings with 2021 issues added. Again I see no good reason for acquiring these catalogs.

 

As active auction buyers, we watch all auctions in the US and overseas for good German and Austrian collections. The market for collections has been getting stronger and stronger in recent years with a major upturn occurring during the past three years. Good collections are selling at the high prices.

The trend for the bigger auction houses is to hold their auctions live on the internet. This trend has increased bidding on lots and resulted in higher realizations overall. On line auctions improve the chances of bidders absent from the auction site to compete against floor bidders. Traditionally most of the better material has gone to floor bidders but this has changed. Auction houses also do a much better job of showing images of the stamps in collections on line. This improvement has done as much to increase bidding as l live online bidding. Buyers now have a realistic idea of the content and quality of each lot.  For collections the best auctions are Rasdales, Kelleher, and sometime Dutch Country. They provide good descriptions and images.

The auctions that I have best overall for Austrian and German material are

Rasdale Stamps Auctions Chicago

H.R. Harmer New York

Cherrystone Stamp Auctions – New York

HBA (Hanseatische Briefmarkenauktionen OHG) Hamburg

Heinrich Kohler Auktion – Wiesbaden

Dutch Country Auctions, Wilmingtin DE

Daniel Kelleher Auctions, Danbury CT

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