Content of Deutschland-Spezial 2018 catalog Volume I: 1849-04/1945

Old Germany, Northern German Confederation and the German Reich, local issues of 1923, foreign post offices, colonies and maritime mail abroad, occupation issues of World War One and Two, plebiscite areas, Belgian military mail in Rhineland, Eupen and Malmédy, Gdansk, the Memel Region, Bohemia and Moravia, general government, Sudetenland, field post issues, official mail, war and propaganda forgeries, international reply coupons.

• Focal points of this new edition: Shipping lines, local issues of the Memel Region, memo-rial sheets of the general governments, international reply coupons as well as war and propaganda forgeries
• Numerous novel colour illustrations featuring the German Reich, the occupation in World War One, the Belgian military mail in Rheinland, Eupen and Malmédy
• Inclusion of numerous new type variations, plate flaws and rarities
• Price movements throughout the catalogue, particularly regarding the 1923 local issues
• Approx. 5900 illustrations and over 95 500 price quotations

Before the U.S.A. entered into the world war, stamps for the traffic of submarines between Germany and the United States were issued in 1916. What was special about these issues was the fact that the five-to-100-mark values of the 14 postage stamps not only included the postage fee but also the insurance fee for insured letters. The German insurance bank, Deutsche Versicherungsbank GmbH, in Berlin, which issued these stamps, would then forward the postage to the postal system. The new MICHEL Germany Special presents this collection area in a completely revised edition. For the first time, the value cards, which are part of the postage stamps, submarine letters for the projected third journey to America and diplomatic courier mail have been catalogued. High-resolution colour illustrations of all issues for insured letters, postage tables and background information about the history of mail make this collection area come alive.

Content of Deutschland-Spezial 2018 catalog Volume II: 05/1945-

German local issues as of 1945 with official issues and private products; joint issues, Berlin and Brandenburg, the Soviet Zone; the German Democratic Republic, Berlin (West), Saarland as well as Saarland as a federal state of the F.R.G.; the French Zone, the American Zone and the British Zone; F.R.G., foreign post offices, international reply coupons; Germany (BRD).

• New: with the EAN strips of stamps on rolls – including the sequence numbers on the back typical of stamps on rolls as well as two-and-three se-tenant units
• The postage table of Saarland has been completely revised
• New: Including the complete cataloguing of se-tenant sheets issued by the GDR (with appraisals and numerous illustrations) and international reply coupons
• Approx. 200 new colour illustrations in the Chapter “French occupation zone”
• Plenty of new type variations, plate flaws and rarities
• Price movements throughout the edition, particularly for local issues, Berlin, Branden-burg and SBZ
• About 9700 illustrations and over 114 000 price quotations
• With all stamps published up to MICHEL Rundschau 3/2018

Since July 2nd, 1945, many postage stamps from Fredersdorf contained the abbreviation ”F.M“. This abbreviation, which can stand for “Fredersdorf/Mark“ as well as for the German term for “postage stamp“, corresponds to the initials of Franz Massino, the postmaster at the time. Thanks to him, the residents of the postal district of Fredersdorf were able to put stamps on their letters in advance even in the difficult post war times, which saved them unnecessary trips.
Some of the self-adhesive labels with this signet imprint manually affixed by a postmark seal are much rarer than formerly assumed. Therefore the appraisals of MICHEL Numbers Sp 170 to 177 have more than doubled in this new Germany Specialized!

Additional Information:

• Content: The classic and modern postmarks from the "One Kreuzer Black" of 1849 to the latest issues of Deutsche Post AG in 2018
• hardcover print, colored bookmark and watermark-folding plate
• Optimal reference book for both experienced philatelists as well as new and for all ages
• Incl. issue dates and prices in various conditions
• Size specifications for mounts
• Editorial revision of the entire catalog
• Complete revision and adjustment of minimum prices
• Including international sales results
• New Releases cataloging up to MiR 03/2017

The catalog is organized according to collection areas. Cataloging within these sections is chronological, based on issue date. Special stamp types, like official stamps, are located at the end of a collection area section. In order to assist collectors organize their stamps, numerous illustrations are provided, as well as information on similar stamps to help avoid possible mix-ups.

Target Group:

Stamp collectors specialized in stamps of Germany, experts, dealers, thematic collectors, study groups, teachers

Title: Deutschland-Spezial 2018
Volumes: I (1848-04/1945), II (05/1945-03/2018)
Edition: 48th edition, in colour
Pages: Volume I ca 1216, volume II ca. 1440
Format: 155 mm x 230 mm, hardcover
Publisher: Schwaneberger Verlag GmbH
Publication Date: April 13, 2018
Language: German

MICHEL provides top-quality information for collectors

Thanks to decades of experience and constant revision, the MICHEL catalogs are unmatched in terms of lay-out, comprehensiveness, accuracy and production. MICHEL catalogues provide all key information on stamps, postal stationary and coins. The systematic collection of data on collectable items, a well-organised system and detailed illustrations ensure easy use and a quick way to find required information. Each new edition of a MICHEL catalog is completely revised, updated and expanded so that it always reflects the latest situation on the market.

Users of the MICHEL catalogs value the comprehensive and detailed listings of collectable items. The MICHEL catalogs are among the best in the world when it comes to details, comprehensiveness and illustration. MICHEL products have been awarded well over 600 medals (including 31 gold), diplomas and honorary prizes in the course of the company’s history. The expertise of the Schwaneberger publishing house’s staff is outstandingly represented in the MICHEL catalogs.

The colourful, varied range of products includes standard and special-edition catalogues for Germany, Europe and overseas. There is also philatelic literature, the MICHEL-Exklusiv album, the MICHEL Colour Guide, the MICHEL-Lux examination lamp and the MICHEL-Rundschau monthly magazine. More than 85 different products in total.

MICHEL also enjoys a good reputation in electronic publishing thanks to various software programs, websites and e-catalogs. It is no wonder that the MICHEL catalogs have been known for years as the “philatelists’ bible”. However, bearing this accolade brings with it the responsibility of always remaining at the top with regard to quality.

The 669,000th MICHEL catalog number was issued recently. A look at the most important of the 85 different MICHEL catalogs reveals that the catalogues for Europe and overseas alone make up some 25,000 catalog pages. They contain 314,000 pictures and 1,800,000 price quotations. Most of this information is stored in powerful picture and text databases and is consulted, revised and corrected for each new edition of a MICHEL catalog. And of course that also applies to each individual page, irrespective of which MICHEL catalog it comes from. MICHEL goes to great lengths on its customers’ behalf. MICHEL’s editorial team spends an average of 45 minutes on research for each new set of stamps. Around 18,000 new stamps appear each year, which are then catalogued and published in the MICHEL-Rundschau, as well as in the relevant MICHEL catalog and online catalogue.

100 years of the MICHEL catalogue

It is more than 100 years since the stamp dealer Hugo MICHEL from Apolda in Thüringen published the first MICHEL stamp catalogue in 1909. He thereby created a product that would be continually be improved, but never surpassed. In the same year, publisher and philatelic editor Hugo Schwaneberger founded a publishing company that bore his name. The philatelist, who was well known in his field, created the Schwaneberger Album, the first album to adopt a scientific approach.
Owing to the great demand for MICHEL catalog, Hugo MICHEL was no longer able to dedicate himself to his career as a stamp dealer. He therefore sold the rights to the publisher Schwaneberger. The catalogue, which had only covered Europe until that point, was expanded by the new publishing house to include overseas countries.

Hugo MICHEL continued to edit the catalogue supplement, which is today known as the MICHEL-Rundschau. The company was then bought by the publisher Eugen Berlin. He moved it to Munich in 1950 where he came across a company, the Carl Geber printing works (now the Gerber Satz und Gerber publishing house) that was able to draw up the complicated catalogue typesetting. The publishing rights went to the Hohenester/Gerber families who assigned them to the publishing house, now trading as the “Schwaneberger Verlag”.

At the turn of the century other stamp catalogues had already appeared, but the remarkable success of the MICHEL catalog was attributed to its sophisticated and comprehensive cataloguing system. The stamps were numbered successively from the first number for each country, yet at the same time organised according to various sub-categories and genres, and described as fully as possible. This system was refined over the years and adapted where necessary - but never had to be changed! In fact, the MICHEL numbering system has become standard in Germany. This is underscored by the numerous licence contracts that the Schwaneberger Verlag has concluded with other publishers. All stock lists of German dealers are organised according to the MICHEL numbering system. Collectors exchange, buy and sell using MICHEL numbers.

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