A Look at German Hyperinflation Surcharge Stamps

Рет қаралды 3,687

4 ай бұрын

We take a deep dive into all those unbelievably high denomination stamps from Germany in the years following World War I, trying to understand why these stamps exist and enough history to get a sense of why there are so many of them.
Inflation chart: By Delphi234 - Own work, CC0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Currency images credit and thanks to National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History.
As always when I do German stamp videos, a special shout out to www.germanstamps.net/ for permission to use images from the site.

Пікірлер: 51

@AuroraMills 3 ай бұрын

It's a good day when Ken drops a video! As always, I learned a great deal from your work. As a side note, the 400 Tausand 15,25,30 and 40 pfennig, dark- to black-yellow ochre stamps (Michel 297-300) ARE available without the overprint, but they are rare. They have Michel sub-numbers 297 F, 298 F/U, 299F and 300F. My understanding is that by October '23 when these were printed, the regional offices had been directed by the postal ministry to make them cheap since they were only a substrate for the overprint. . To cut cost, they used the cheaper brown dye. Since they were printed only to by overprinted, few base stamps remain, but they are available. Why the four denominations and not simply print a bunch of one denomination..?? No idea. I'm hoping someone will correct me where I'm wrong. Thanks again Ken!

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

Cheaper ink. That makes sense. Thank you. I’m guessing the non-overprinted ones are errors. I’ll look them up. Thanks!

@christopherdecker3830 Ай бұрын

Love your organization of these 😀! Well done.

@KensStampCollection Ай бұрын

Thank you!

@ocsmadr10ojcisch25 26 күн бұрын

Brilliant video. Well elaborated and quality information...thank you also for telling the history behind the stamps.

@KensStampCollection 26 күн бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it. This one was fun to make.

@SnailmailwithSmokey 2 ай бұрын

Great video, With lots of useful information! Such an interesting topic, I think we have all found one of these stamps and wondered what the story was, thanks for the great explanation!

@KensStampCollection 2 ай бұрын

Thank you. I enjoy your videos by the way. Everyone--go watch @SnailmailwithSomkey

@SnailmailwithSmokey 2 ай бұрын

@@KensStampCollection Thank you!

@voneschenbachmusic 3 ай бұрын

Wow - I've been collecting German for decades and never noticed the base stamp colors that were different in the overprint variety! I read several of Erich Maria Remarque's novels (author of All Quiet On The Western Front) and a few take place during the hyper-inflation era. He talks about starvation, suicides, people going to museums and other public buildings to stay warm, and everhone rushing out to spend currency the minute they get it because it will be worth less in days.

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

Frightening time, I'm sure.

@ThreeStunStamps 3 ай бұрын

Great video Ken! You never fail with the detailed explanations! 👍🙌

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

Thanks - I'm worrying that I might be getting too in the weeds, but they come out like they come out.

@fufufini 3 ай бұрын

The 'forever stamp' concept might have been useful during this era! I sometimes wonder if these chaotic/ridiculous stamps were sort of a passive-aggressive cry from Germany to the rest of the world to protest their reparations burden... it seems like there might have been other quieter ways to handle the situation. Thanks for the video and conveying your thought process re: how to organize and trying some approaches to see how they work out.

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

You make an excellent point. Politics are part of these choices too

@grandcrowdadforde6127 Ай бұрын

These are great! on cover-- i have some.. theres always 4/5 }} or more stamps used just for 1 simple letter...!

@KensStampCollection Ай бұрын

These are much harder to get used. Imagine the price of a letter doubling days after you bought the stamps. No wonder there were so many stamps on each cover.

@GreatStampAdventure 3 ай бұрын

Wow, another video chock and block with information. Since I started watching the video at about zero knowledge of the German hyperinflation stamps, apart from seeing them in world stamp mixes, I will have to watch the video many times! It is pretty complicated! I cannot imagine how it must have felt to literally loose the value of your money at such a rate. Horrible! ... About putting away mint and used stamps of each stamp - I thought it will be neat to have a set of used stamps and following it a set of mint stamps of the same stamps, but I haven't done any of this yet, and it might take up too much space in practice. Thanks so much for the video, Ken!!!!

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

It sounds so frightening

@ugolock-filatelista 3 ай бұрын

Super. Thank you.

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

Glad you watched

@mr.m7014 2 ай бұрын

I have some of your missing stamps as I looked at your nice collections.

@KensStampCollection 2 ай бұрын

You must have a very nice collection. These are fun to collect.

@mr.m7014 2 ай бұрын

@@KensStampCollection agree! You have a rare collection too:)

@petervik5399 3 ай бұрын

Hi, I'm still a bit confused but do have a better understanding of these stamps now. Thank you.

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

They can be confusing for sure. If you have some, sort through your pile and then watch again. Enjoy

@rogerturner1881 3 ай бұрын

also in Greece there was inflation of the Greek drachma in 1st September 1942-1944 GREEK ISSUE OF LANDSCAPES 18 values from 2dr to 5,000,000dr. and in 20th July 1944 a set of 10 with overprint values 50,000+450,000dr.11th November 1944-1945 they issued a NEW DRACHMA overprint for a set of 4.

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

Oh, thank you for the pointer.

@silkontheweb 3 ай бұрын

I heard a buddy once say that he's rich in friends, but not in dollars in cents... I always liked that idea... we're rich in stamps, eh? 😂

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

Better the friends, but I’ll take the stamps

@tedlawrence4189 3 ай бұрын

I took a sheet of the 20 milliarden value with me on my trip to Germany 30 years ago. I figured if I cashed them in I may become one of the wealthiest men in the World. LOL. Just kidding. The roulette variety of that stamp is pretty scarce in genuine usage cancelled condition. Back in the late '70s,I purchased,several thousand sheets of mixed denominations. I paid 10c a sheet. I still have them as they at least make me feel wealthy anyway! Many fake cancels exist on these inflation issues. Only buy the valuable ones which have been expertized.

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

That's great advice. It's much easier to fake a cancel than to fake the base stamp.

@ballsofsteel-pz5nv 3 ай бұрын

For the ultimate in hyperinflation stamps see Hungary in 1946. The top value in that set (Scott 774) is 500,000 Billio-Pengo. That is half a million million million Pengo! Cheers!

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

I just learned about those. Amazing. Thank you

@tedlawrence4189 3 ай бұрын

You could buy Budapest for that now.

@solo-on-the-fly 3 ай бұрын

Where did you get the specific dates of changes in postage rates from? Is there a source book? I have always been very curious about these inflation stamps. I have a whole collection of these from when I was a kid in the 1970s. I am looking to create some sort of collection book presentation with history notes included. Thanks for all your videos!

@KensStampCollection 3 ай бұрын

They are listed in the Michel stamp catalog, but I also found some sources with a google search for "German Postal Rate History." There were some minor differences, so I trusted Michel more. I love your project idea.

@solo-on-the-fly 3 ай бұрын

@@KensStampCollection Thank you! The Michel's catalog has been on my list to check out.

@RaviKumar-hb7gz Ай бұрын

Hi , i have inherited a massive collection of stamps and from researching online i seem to have a lot of valuable stamps. what i am seeking to find out is where and how do i sell them? regards

@KensStampCollection Ай бұрын

I'm sorry for your loss. What makes you think they are valuable? What limited information I can share about selling a collection, I've put in my blog here: kensstampcollection.blogspot.com/2023/09/kens-advice-on-selling-stamp-collection.html

@PIT72100 2 ай бұрын

Hi,ken I received the collection of my dad he have been collecting stamps for 70 years he passed away 2 years ago and he told me that in the collection a hawaii stamp worth 100000 Euro. Can you recommend me were I can sell the stamp... thanks

@KensStampCollection 2 ай бұрын

I'm sorry for your loss. What a nice connection to your father, though. So, let me start by saying I've written a blog article about selling stamps. I'm not very good at that, but what limited information I can share is here: kensstampcollection.blogspot.com/2023/09/kens-advice-on-selling-stamp-collection.html That said, you've intrigued me. 100,000 Euro is quite a sum. It's not impossible for a Hawaii stamp, but it would be amazing. The only stamp I can see that would be worth that amount is a blue 2 cent stamp with a simple 2 in the middle of it. Is that what you have? Anyway, I'd really like to see a picture of what you have, just for my own curiosity. Would you mind sending me one at kenflowers at comcast dot net?