Stamp Catalogs for the Austrian and German Areas
Scott Stamp Catalogs – The most used stamp catalogs by US stamp collectors continues to be the Scott Stamp catalogs. The Scott catalogs cover all countries starting with the United States and the countries starting with A’s and B’s in volume 1 and ending with countries starting with “So” through “Z’. These six volumes list the major stamp issues of all countries. Scott also publishes a “Classic Specialized catalog of stamps and covers through 1940 catalog which lists all of the major issues and many more stamp varieties than are listed in the other 6 volumes. The classic catalog is the best reference for collectors of foreign stamps of all the Scott catalogs because it is much more detailed. Its limitation of course is that it stops with 1940 issues. As most US based collectors use the Scott catalog, it is a must for all collectors buying or selling stamps. Buyers and sellers identify stamps for sale by the Scott catalog numbers. (Beginning collectors can find most of the Scott catalogs in their public library.)
Austrian issues are contained in Volume 1. Germany issues in Volume 3. Unfortunately for collectors of these areas, there are Austrian and German related stamps listed in each of the other Scott volumes. For example, the 1918-1919 stamp issues of Poland were overprinted on Austrian stamps and are listed under Poland in Volume 5. The German occupation issues of Poland (General Government issues) are also listed under Poland in Volume 5. More advanced collectors have to refer to all 6 volumes at some point to identify all of the Austrian and German related issues.
Scott catalogs are available from Amos Advantage at https://www.amosadvantage.com/scottonline
Michel Germany Specialized Catalog – This catalog is published each year in two volumes. Volume 1 covers all German related areas from the first stamp issues of 1850 through the last issues of WWII in April 1945. Volume 2 covers all stamp issues from May 1945 through the present. These two catalogs are printed in German and are generally considered to be the definitive catalogs for collectors of German stamps and covers. (Not all German philatelic areas are covered in detail in these two volumes however. There are additional catalogs which go into great detail for areas such as covers, postal stationery, etc.)
All Europeans and many other collectors worldwide identify their stamp and covers with Michel catalog numbers. The major advantage of using Michel numbers is that Michel assigns catalog numbers to many more varieties of stamp issues than any other catalog. Pricing of stamp issues is more up-to-date in Michel than Scott for Austria and German issues. Also, almost all German related issues are listed in these two volumes.
Many US collectors hesitate to use Michel catalogs because they are in German. Actually, these catalogs are easy to use by non-German reading collectors. The catalogs include a detailed index of all the terms used in the catalogs and stamps are listed chronologically with color pictures of each stamp. Michel has recently begun publishes this catalog in English. Not all of each volume has yet been translated however. (I have both the German and English versions and find I refer only occasionally to the English version and then only for the footnotes which give “extra” details on some issues.)
Michel catalogs are available from www.briefmarken.de/michelshop/en
This catalog is available at www.briefmarken.de/michel.enMichel Austria Specialized Catalog – This catalog is Austria equivalent of the Germany Specialized catalog. This catalog is the most used catalog for Austrian stamps outside of the US. The Michel catalog is in German and lists just about all varieties of Austrian stamps. This catalog lists many specialty areas not included in other catalogs such as essays, rocket post, first flight covers, Christmas cancels, Balloon post etc. ANK also lists all officially issued postal stationery. Recent issues have added a complete listing of Austrian post stationery. Postal stationery are not included in Scott catalogs. Pricing of Austrian stamps in this catalog is the closest to actual market prices of all catalogs for Austrian issues.
This catalog is available at www.briefmarken.de/michel.en
Ferchenbauer Handbook of Austria 1850-1864 – published in 2008 is the most complete catalog of the period for Austria in the world. This handbook/catalog is published in four hardbound volumes and totals well over 2000 pages of information. This catalog includes everything philatelic pertaining to Austria during the period 1850-1918. It includes images of stamps and covers in the most accurate colors of any philatelic publication. One can identify shades accurately by comparing stamps to the handbook’s images! Although in German the catalog listings are easy to use because of the detailed descriptions and the clear images. (The Austria Philatelic Society (US) has translated a good portion of this catalog already.) This catalog is for more advanced collectors who are acquiring covers and cards, or collect the many varieties that exist among the early stamp issues.
The Handbook is available in the US only from our firm. The price is $380 postpaid .