Making Sense of German Stamp Collecting

First, a deep dive into my post-WWII German occupation stamps. I think you'll like how easy I make it to identify the different printings of the AM Post stamps.
Finally, I walk you through my table of all the stamps that could be part of a German stamp collection. It's complicated for sure, but hopefully I demystify that chaos.
I've put out a blog post with the full table so you can refer to without pausing the video. My blog is at: kensstampcollection.blogspot.com

[@MarkDyck]

You mention a few times how you are making decisions based on the story you're trying to tell, rather than the way the catalogue sorts things. I admire that and try to model it in my own collection. Another excellent video, Ken! I look forward to each one. 💖

[@KensStampCollection]

I appreciate that. I certainly could use the catalog as a checklist. Honestly, filling in a pre-made album is very much like that. I have no problem with that approach. It's a fun way to collect. I just can't help but bust out of the bounds, and so, I'm forced to come up with my own approaches. -- Making order out of chaos.

[@sheldonsimonis4236]

Wow! This is the best explanation I have ever heard regarding stamps from this era. Thank you!

[@KensStampCollection]

You are so welcome!

[@jeffnewbery7376]

What a wonderful overview. Well done and very helpful.

[@KensStampCollection]

So much thanks

[@fareast_de]

Very enjoyable and informative, thanks for taking your viewers along ! Yup, the post war- history of German stamps is a little bit complicated. American Zone, British Zone, French Zone, Soviet Zone, Saargebiet, common issues of the "Alliierter Kontrollrat". Then, in 1949 things became more straight: Federal Republic of Germany, German Democratic Republic, Berlin and Saarland (until 1959). Keep it up, you got a new subscriber. 👍Greets from GER, U.

[@KensStampCollection]

I love getting positive feedback from a German collector. I appreciate it.

[@davidkeeley8473]

Wow, I've had absolutely no idea about the allied controlled areas and different postage stamps. Absolutely amazing. I have a handful of these and couldn't make sense of what I had. Another one of your videos saved for future reference. Thank you for the information.

[@KensStampCollection]

I love those stamps

[@tedlawrence4189]

States,Reich,Bund,Berlin,DDR,Colonies,Danzig,Saar,Memel etc. Huge area to collect!

[@KensStampCollection]

With such interesting history behind them

[@chrislovesstamps]

Just discovered your channel Ken. First video I watched. I have to say, excellent video. I appreciate the time and effort you made. I am relatively new to collecting German stamp and obviously this video is a lot to take in. I will watch it a few times and will come back to it. I am looking forward to seeing more of your videos. And, your presentation is really good. Love the quiet voice, how good you explain things. Thanks!

[@KensStampCollection]

Welcome to the channel

[@fufufini]

Glad to find this, great content, well organized, wonderful production values. Better serious detail vs. other 'stamp collecting' videos I've seen. Thanks

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad you’ve found my channel! Welcome

[@MrMoritz74]

Thank you. I'm from Germany and I collect German and British stamps. The german stamps are very different. In the german empire the kaiser don't want his portrait on stamps, because he said: no one lick with his tongue over my face ;-) So this is the difference between the United Kingdom and Germany. The third "Reich" had nice stamps. Greetings from Germany and thanks for your video!

[@KensStampCollection]

What a great story! Thank you

[@Stampio2K]

Isn't the Kaiser on the 5 Mark stamps (MiNr 66, 81 and 97)? .. but of course you need a magnifying glass to see him :-) So you are right that there are no portrait stamps

[@KensStampCollection]

@@Stampio2K Will you look at that. Sometimes I just forget to look at the details of a stamp--totally missing what's on them. You are exactly right.

[@happybunny1329]

I really enjoyed this video, thanks. I've been trying to better understand how the whole Germany stamp history fits together, and you have been really helpful in explaining it so clearly. :)

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching

[@antoniojeremywilliams4659]

I enjoy the presentation and your knowledge of how to bring order to the chaos

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad you like it

[@stevenbecker5571]

I love collecting the entire "German area" for it's history. The repeated unification and dismemberment of Germany over the decades is well reflected in its postage stamps - perhaps no other collecting area is so reflective of its history than Germany. It's interesting to note that "Germany" has only been a single stamp-issuing entity since its most recent unification in 1990. Prior to that, there were always 3 or more (sometimes a LOT more) German entities issuing postage stamps. Also a quick shout out to your closing comment about reducing* entropy, as I've thought about collecting using that exact word for a long time, glad to see I'm not the only one! *Of course a physicist will tell you that you're only reducing entropy in one specific setting, but by doing so, your activities still cause overall entropy to increase. Just mentioning this to head off any comments along those lines. 😊

[@KensStampCollection]

It's an interesting area, lots of fun. I'm glad to support fellow nerdy people with my entropy comment. Extending the nerdiness, you didn't head off the comment, you made it, essentially causing a time paradox that can never be resolved.

[@Hans-lv3ow]

Outstanding presentation! Very helpful! Thanks for posting.

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@franceslindsey7910]

Excellent presentation! I have just started seriously collecting German stamps and you have answered many of my questions. Thank you!!

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad it was useful. Have you found anything great yet?

[@numinotaphilistuk3160]

Informative and very interesting video Ken. Reducing entropy is why I collect stamps too! Two years ago I bought my brother a large collection of Nazi Germany stamps. This year I gifted him a reasonable collection of Churchill stamps from many different issuing countries. He's having moral conscience issues about displaying them in the same folder!

[@KensStampCollection]

I have a similar quandary. You may have noticed that I put some stamps in my collection upside-down. That's been my solution, so far.

[@milacatownminnesota]

I'm new to your channel, but I look forward to watching ALL of your videos.

[@KensStampCollection]

Hope they hold up well for you

[@milacatownminnesota]

I have tried a few several other philatelic channels, but they just don't do "it" for me. Thanks for continuing your/our labor of love.

[@GreatStampAdventure]

Wow, an excellent video of an intricate subject! Thank you Ken, this is certainly an excellent rendition of German stamps through history! Even if one should just casually come across German stamps, this knowledge will allow some more understanding of what you have in front of you. Thanks so much!!!! I am going to watch this video a few times, but is also looking forward to your next video!

[@KensStampCollection]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@adamhuffman3354]

I don’t care for the cto variety of German stamps. What I find most attractive are the early German states issue’s with the centers embossed and used with that nice post mark.

[@KensStampCollection]

We are in agreement

[@leahg.4646]

Wonderful information I acquired a pretty wonderful French based collection of stamps and this has been so fun to learn

[@KensStampCollection]

I really like the early French stamps

[@stampsforgramps1268]

Very informative presentation. Always learn something new with each video.

[@KensStampCollection]

So nice of you

[@MartinBruun-yo8jn]

What a great video! I have been collecting stamps for more than 40 years, but have always found Germany such a difficult area to really get into. Until recently my German collection was more or less divided into BRD, DDR, Old Germany and then everything else, while I focussed on other countries. But lately I have taken up the challenge to revise my German collection and your video is a great help to understand the historical. And especially the explanation of the post WW2 zone stamps was very useful.

[@KensStampCollection]

I found myself in exactly the same position when I bought an old German stockbook I needed to make sense of.

[@f.k.burnham8491]

Thank you for the great explanation of the stamps. I think I can now be able to sort my piles of Germany. I just found your channel tonight and subscribed.

[@KensStampCollection]

Sounds like I helped turn a chore into a fun project. Have fun

[@kengilbride7182]

Have a lot of these stamps. Hope all is well with you and your family. Been working with some members in the Perfins Club exchanging stamps As always Happy Collecting the other Ken

[@KensStampCollection]

All good here, thank you. Return wishes for you and yours. I've always liked perfins, but never actively collected them. Sounds like fun.

[@thinkittoitstudies]

very thorough... thank you!

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad you came by

[@peterkent4263]

I have a very large German collection but unfortunately I do not know much about the catalogue numbers etc.... so I just collect them and organize them my own way. I noticed that some of the ones you find hard to collect I actually find very easy to collect. Maybe because I live in the U.K. it maybe easier living closer to Europe? who knows. Thank you this video was very informative and gave me a lot of information I had no idea about.

[@KensStampCollection]

The catalogs aren't critical to a great collection. There are no rules in the hobby, so long as you enjoy what you are collecting. I think it is much easier to collect US stamps here in the US. Although the next easiest seem to be Germany and the U.K. I guess, Hungary too if you go by volume of stamps that come up in lots. Glad you find the video's useful!

[@peterkent4263]

@KensStampCollection indeed Lol I also have a lot of Hungary stamps too.I got a bit bored over last Xmas and spent my life savings collecting other people's collections and I collect every Friday too from a dealer.Like you say it can be an expensive hobby Lol I spent about £20,000 in a year 😀

[@KensStampCollection]

Wow, that's a lot of retail therapy. You'll have fun with that!

[@antoniojeremywilliams4659]

I anticipate your next one 🇿🇦

[@KensStampCollection]

It’s up now

[@ronaldmansfield.6439]

German States, Colonies and German Empire postage stamps pre 1940 are the most interesting.

[@KensStampCollection]

I love those stamps

[@rmcreynolds1959]

Very nice presentation, Ken. I have hundreds of thousands of German stamps (literally). I collect all of the areas that you describe. I’m looking for a more understandable way to display my stamps and will give consideration to some type of format based on your description.

[@KensStampCollection]

That’s a lot of stamps! Let me know if I can help further.

[@gargoyle7863]

7:29 Palatinate was part/exclave of the State of Bavaria till 1946. (The maps inscription is misleading here!) 31:46 I'm not sure if the Berlin tax stamp belongs into the "Berlin collection", the funding went to Berlin but it was mandatory in West-Germany but not in/to West-Berlin. Nice Video! 👍 Germany is a big area with many more topics like the East vs. West postwar.

[@KensStampCollection]

Big and complicated. I’m not sure I’ll ever get it all right

[@jasondaniels1647]

I liked your video, it showed me an easy way to tell my AM stamps and others but you probably know there is a L O T of the soviet zone local issues. Finsterwalde, Grossraschen, Plauen, Storkow, Lubbenau... and on and on and on. A LOT of them. I love collecting these.

[@KensStampCollection]

Oh, thanks. I haven't seen any of those.

[@jasondaniels1647]

Both of these are free websites, the second takes some getting used to and has a lot of adds but it has a few different German locals that the first website doesn't have. They are quite a bit easier that looking in the books.

[@jasondaniels1647]

I added two websites, I don't see them now. KZbin,

[@KensStampCollection]

I’m thinking yt doesn’t like links in comments. I was able to google some of these. Very cool. I’ll keep a lookout for them.

[@jasondaniels1647]

It will be a pain to find them without a link but... (Stamp-collecting-world) is the fist site I referenced. (Stamp world) is the 2nd. And...( worldwide stamps) is a GREAT site but has very few stamps from 1945-1947 Germany and those are Bizone and soviet issues.

[@JoesInvestmentExpress]

This is an excellent video! Very informational, extremely well thought out. . You have GOT to work on the video quality -- I feel that doing this will push your videos up among the highest quality on KZbin.

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad you enjoyed it. I'm learning on the video quality and sound quality. I'm using an iPhone 14 to record. Any hints are welcome.

[@mecollectingstamps2023]

I keep watching dis video again and again. My brain is smoking. Is really difficult. I started one year ago to collect german stamps. They are a pain sometimes. 😂

[@KensStampCollection]

That’s a good sign of an expanding collection. Is there some area that’s particularly hard? Perhaps I can help. Or one of the other viewers.

[@mecollectingstamps2023]

I am stuck on understanding how to organize them in the album. By the way I do have some stamps missing in your collection, and I will be more than happy to send it to you. I don't know how long will take from Germany to USA. 😅 and I look on your blog but I didn't find an email or contact address.

[@KensStampCollection]

I put my email in the about section of my KZbin channel. Its kenflowers atsign comcast dot net. Tell us more about your album and what your very next roadblock is. One step at a time works best for me. Can I assume that you are using a stock book rather than a labeled album, and that you have some free-form organization. That sometimes gets me into the loop of having too many options.

[@AuroraMills]

Thanks so very much for this video Ken. I'm a brand new collector and have fallen under the spell of Germany. I know it's twisted, but I actually enjoy the complexity! Can you recommend a single volume text that covers the basics of German history? Specifically Imperial Germany through Occupation. Again, thanks for the great education Ken!

[@KensStampCollection]

You know, I would suggest you start with Wikipedia

[@jrh2u]

Very interesting video. Much appreciated. I agree that the Scott catalogue inadequate here (I dislike Scott's numbering system in general) and use Michel for Germany. However, its ordering of occupation zone stamps is also confusing chronologically, or so I find.

[@KensStampCollection]

The order of these stamps is a puzzle. A kind viewer helped me understand that I had the order of the overprints backward. More research to do for sure.

[@jrh2u]

That was me😀@@KensStampCollection

[@KensStampCollection]

Haha, I haven’t tied online names to emails

[@Flipper83]

very helpfull ! thank you! subscribed 👍

[@KensStampCollection]

I really appreciate it. Glad it was helpful!

[@Robertbrown08049]

About half way through the video you said that you would explain the 2 overprints later and then never got around to it. I have always been curious about these.

[@KensStampCollection]

So, these came out around when the Soviets blockaded the city of Berlin. I'm not sure I have the order right, but, the Allies were changing currency from Reichmark to Deutches Marks. The overprints were part of that conversion. The Soviets said "nope" and made their own overprints. I doubt that this conflict was really about a currency change, but that was the proximate cause.

[@Robertbrown08049]

I was talking about the overprint with a small row of post horns and the other one with post horns all over. Scott starting witn #585A for use in American and British Zones.

[@KensStampCollection]

Yup. Those are the ones that the Allie’s and the re-forming German government put out with the new currency at the same time as the German blockade. That currency change was a driving factor to the soviets escalating the situation. Pair those horn overprints with the “Soviet administrative zone” overprints

[@raulgongora2077]

Very interesting my friend I collecting lot world stamps my passion nobody buy nothing very picky and complicated lost atencion for continue collecting . Blessings

[@raulgongora2077]

Iam making doing more profit sale world of coins that stamps 0.

[@KensStampCollection]

I don’t think there is much money in stamps. I hope you enjoy my channel

[@user-mg6ud3bt6f]

Maps and stamps make the story twice interesting)

[@KensStampCollection]

I find they help me

[@derekschroder6667]

Hi Ken, how can I identify Berlin stamps during the occupation period? Thanks Derek

[@KensStampCollection]

I think I cover that in a later video: German Postage Stamp Varieties. Check that out and let me know if you still have questions.

[@antoniojeremywilliams4659]

I just subscribed as new member 555

[@KensStampCollection]

A cool number to get

[@tedtalksstamps]

A great thorough explanation of post-war German stamps. Now, can you help me navigate the minefield that is German States? 😁

[@KensStampCollection]

Glad it helped, and glad you found the channel. Those German states are tough. Fortunately (or unfortunately) it's not a very frequent problem for me. When I first put my albums together, I didn't even bother with anything except Bavaria.

[@mecollectingstamps2023]

Thank you so much for your video. It helps allot. Please make one video on the Third reich and German empire.

[@KensStampCollection]

Good suggestion, thanks for watching

[@allanwestphall8108]

Excellent overview, thanks for posting. The subtitles are no good - too small

[@KensStampCollection]

Interesting. Are they different than other channels? I don't generate those, that's KZbin. But, I'm sorry they are too small.

[@FilipeLemos1964]

Hi Ken, I have some West Berlin stamps, I guest they are CTO, because they are withdraw? ( period ) or like DDR sell to stamp agent? 🤔Did you know?🤪

[@KensStampCollection]

I’m not sure. I do think there were some west German CTO stamps.

[@user-vb2qp9hg4t]

Very nice ❤❤❤ I'm from Iraq

[@KensStampCollection]

Thank you! I have a few stamps from Iraq, but certainly not enough to call a collection. What do you collect?

[@issamalmohsen1197]

عرض رائع ومفيد

[@KensStampCollection]

Thanks for visiting

[@JeffHole-wc1tc]

An excellent and informative video! Instant like and subscribe... I hope there are more to come. You have tackled a complex and fascinating area of philately in a well structured manner.

[@KensStampCollection]

I appreciate it. I plan to make more, for sure

[@ednafruchey7386]

Do you buy German stamps?

[@KensStampCollection]

Sorry, not via this channel. I have a blog post with very limited suggestions on how to sell stamps. Best of luck. kensstampcollection.blogspot.com/2023/09/kens-advice-on-selling-stamp-collection.html

[@grandcrowdadforde6127]

YO! Germany was the first country i ever bot en masse! about 750 different from H E HARRIS a renowned Boston Mass dealer...cost me $$ 7. 50 Cdn.

[@KensStampCollection]

Bet that was fun

[@issamalmohsen1197]

اقوم بجمع الطوابع البريدية منذ كنت صغيرا والان اريد بيعها من اجل اولادي وهي مجموعات نادره وقديمه ارجو مساعدتي وللك الشكر

[@KensStampCollection]

I'm afraid I have never sold a postage stamp, so I have zero experience with this. I know that some dealers will make offers on whole collections. I'd anticipate getting ten percent or less of the catalog value if you go that way. People also have success using eBay and Hipstamp to sell individual stamps and sets. Except for rarities, expect to get on the order of ten percent of catalog. If you do have rarities, consider reaching out to a stamp auction house. Share back with the success you have.

[@donatellamarchesin6658]

Tradurre in italiano??????? Grazie

[@KensStampCollection]

Pensavo che KZbin lo facesse per me. Vedo che non lo fanno. Fammi vedere come impostarlo. Ci scusiamo per la traduzione di Google.

[@KensStampCollection]

I put together an Italian translation. It took a long time to clean up the original English before KZbin would do an auto translation. I do know that they will do an auto translation for a viewer but I don’t know how to make that happen. Anyway. That was a lot of work and I’d like to know it made a difference from the auto translation feature before I do that again. Can anyone tell? I certainly can’t quality check the Italian.

[@MichaelLynnFlute]

This is a great video. I was a fairly serious German Sates collection and also collected a lot of postwar WW2 occupation stamps. They have always been rather frustrating but your video has helped a lot. I'm going to dig back into them.

[@KensStampCollection]

That exactly what I filmed it for. Have fun

[@MichaelLynnFlute]

Thanks@@KensStampCollection