VALUABLE STAMPS - Michel Valuable Stamps of the World 2013 (2nd edition)

Published by Schwaneberger. 1280pp. Colour & black and white. English/German.

Catalogue Detailing the most valuable stamps in the world, with a Michel catalogue value in excess of 200 Euro

Includes officials, military stamps, year sets, airmails, imperforate issues, tax stamps, parcel post, postage dues, locals, occupation issues, FDCs, booklets, stamps on;cover, reprints, forgeries, telegraphs, post offices abroad, colonies, tête-bêche issues, special delivery, precancels, Framas

Philatelic Exporter review, courtesy of David Rennie (September 2010):

This is a remarkable and unique reference tool, and worthy of consideration by dealers, collectors and, dare I say it, investors.

;It is partially bi-lingual in English and German, with a full English translation of the German Introduction, including colours and philatelic terms, specially prepared for this volume.

The countries are listed in English alphabetical order, but there are German and English country indexes. The headings for each issue are also partially bi-lingual.

The benchmark for inclusion of a stamp or set to be included is €200, the set being included in full, when at least one item in it equates to or exceeds the benchmark, and this of course includes varieties such as perforations, plate variations, colours etc.

There are more than 10,000 illustrations of the stamps in either colour or black and white.; However, probably more useful are the inclusion of a further 1500 colour illustrations and details/realizations, (in the local currency), of items sold in auctions during the last decade, many of these being covers, positional blocks or other selected items.

For the dealer it is a handy quick reference when evaluating a collection, to notice those stand-out items.; For the collector it is a useful guide to the items which should be bought at best when seen, on the basis that "cheap stamps are always cheap, but scarce items only get more expensive with time."

The auction items are also a good guide to genuine usage in the case of covers, and correct postmarks and cancellations on used items, and also include overprint varieties etc.

There are also year prices/set values based on the basic stamps, which should enable collectors looking for a new country to collect to assess the likely cost in building up a run-through collection, and thus if need be limit his collecting parameters.

Michel standard catalogue numbers are used throughout this 1200+ page volume.