Briefmarkenwerte
Sondermarken: Wert und welche mehr als den Nennwert bringen
Aktualisiert · 5 Min. Lesezeit · Vom StampGo-Team
Kurze Antwort
Die meisten Sondermarken sind etwa ihren Nennwert wert, weil sie millionenfach gedruckt und von Sammlern aufbewahrt wurden. Wertvoll sind frühe Ausgaben, bei den USA vor allem von den 1890er Jahren bis 1930, hohe Nennwerte und echte Fehldrucke. Goldfolien-„Sondermarken“ aus dem Versandhandel sind Souvenirs, kein Porto.
Die wichtigsten Fakten
- Die meisten modernen Sondermarken
- Ungebraucht Nennwert, gestempelt wenige Cent
- Wertvolle Epoche
- Bei US-Sondermarken etwa 1893 bis 1930
- Was den Wert hebt
- Hohe Nennwerte, kleine Auflagen, echte Fehldrucke, gute Zentrierung
- Weihnachts- und Feiertagsmarken
- In riesigen Mengen gedruckt. Fast immer häufig
- Goldfolien-„Marken“
- Souvenirs, kein gültiges Porto, beim Wiederverkauf kaum etwas wert
- Bogen und Kleinbogen
- Meist ihren Nennwert als Porto wert
Are commemorative stamps worth anything?
Most are worth their face value and no more. Commemoratives are issued to be collected, so they're printed in large numbers and millions are saved in perfect condition, which is the opposite of scarcity.
That's the paradox of collecting modern issues: the stamps designed for collectors are the ones least likely to become rare. The 1993 Elvis stamp is the clearest example, with more than 500 million printed. Value comes from scarcity and demand, not from the occasion being commemorated.
What's the difference between a commemorative and a definitive?
A commemorative marks an event, person or anniversary and is printed once, for a limited period. A definitive is the everyday stamp, reprinted for years in many denominations.
Counter-intuitively, definitives more often hide the valuable varieties. They were reprinted with different perforations, watermarks and presses over long runs, which creates scarce versions. See the Washington-Franklin series for the classic case.
Which commemorative stamps are valuable?
Early issues with high face values, small print runs or famous errors. For the US that means the 1893 Columbians, 1898 Trans-Mississippi, 1901 Pan-Americans and the 1930 Graf Zeppelins.
| Issue | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Columbian Exposition (1893) | The $1–$5 high values are the key stamps, especially unused |
| Trans-Mississippi (1898) | High values such as the $1 “Western Cattle in Storm” |
| Pan-American (1901) | Attractive bi-colours, and the famous inverted-centre errors |
| Graf Zeppelin airmails (1930) | Expensive when issued, so relatively few were sold |
| British Empire Exhibition (1924–25) | Britain's first commemoratives, so early and collected |
| Postal Union Congress £1 (1929) | The key British commemorative of the period |
Condition decides where in the range a copy falls. See stamp condition grades, and error stamps worth money for the inverts.
Why are modern commemoratives worth so little?
Because supply overwhelms demand. Post offices print tens of millions, collectors save whole sheets unused, and far more survive in perfect condition than there are buyers.
Unused modern commemoratives keep one solid use: they're valid postage. Sheets bought years ago can go on today's mail at their printed value, which usually beats what a dealer would pay. In the US, stamps issued since 1860 remain valid. See how to sell stamps.
What are gold-foil “commemorative” stamps worth?
Very little. Gold-foil replicas sold by mail-order and TV marketing firms are novelty items, not postage, and there's almost no collector market for them.
They're usually sold as “tributes” or “collector editions”, often in presentation folders with certificates of authenticity that authenticate nothing more than the novelty itself. The gold content is a microscopic layer, and the resale price is typically a small fraction of what was paid. The same caution applies to “collector edition” sheets from private mints.
What are Christmas stamps worth?
Almost always face value. Christmas issues are among the highest-volume stamps any post office prints, and they're saved in quantity every year.
The exceptions are the same as everywhere else: genuine errors, the earliest issues from a country's Christmas series, and unusual varieties. Christmas seals, the charity labels sold alongside stamps, are collected separately and are not valid postage.
Are commemorative first day covers and souvenir sheets worth more?
Usually not. First day covers for modern commemoratives were produced in huge numbers, and souvenir sheets tend to sell at or near face value. Both are attractive, and both are common.
Souvenir sheets and miniature sheets are issued specifically to be bought by collectors, so the same supply problem applies: almost every one printed survives in perfect condition. The exceptions are early sheets, limited overprints for exhibitions, and genuine errors.
- Modern first day covers: typically a few dollars at most, and often less than the stamps' face value.
- Souvenir sheets: around face value, with a small premium for popular topics.
- Presentation packs and year books: usually worth less than the stamps inside them.
- Worth checking: anything pre-1940, hand-painted cachets, and sheets with printing errors.
See first day cover value for what makes a cover worth more than its stamps.
Schritt für Schritt
How to check a commemorative with StampGo
Commemoratives are easy to scan in batches, because you're usually sorting a shoebox of modern issues looking for the few older ones that matter.
- 1
Scan the stamp
Tap Scan Now and photograph one stamp at a time.
- 2
Check the year and price range
Anything issued before about 1930 with a meaningful reference price deserves a closer look.
- 3
Set aside the keepers
Add the better stamps to your collection and leave the modern face-value ones in the postage pile.
Kostenloser Download für iOS und Android
Häufige Fragen
Sind ungebrauchte Sondermarkenbogen mehr als den Nennwert wert?
Selten. Moderne Bogen bringen meist den Nennwert oder weniger, weil so viele aufbewahrt wurden. Am zuverlässigsten nutzen Sie sie als Porto.
Sind Sondermarken der 1970er und 1980er wertvoll?
Bis auf wenige Ausnahmen nein. Sie wurden in enormen Mengen gedruckt. Wert entsteht in dieser Zeit durch echte Fehldrucke, nicht durch die Ausgaben selbst.
Welche US-Sondermarke ist am wertvollsten?
Zu den wertvollsten zählen die Invert-Fehldrucke der Pan-American-Ausgabe von 1901 und die Höchstwerte der Columbian-Ausgabe von 1893, dazu die Graf-Zeppelin-Flugpostmarken von 1930.
Soll ich alte Sondermarken als Porto verwenden?
Wenn sie häufig und ungebraucht sind, ja. In den USA sind alle seit 1860 ausgegebenen Marken weiterhin gültig, so erhalten Sie den vollen Nennwert, meist mehr als ein Händler zahlen würde.
Werden noch Sondermarken ausgegeben?
Ja, jedes Jahr, und sie sind bei Sammlern und Geschenkkäufern weiterhin beliebt. Erwarten Sie nur keine Wertsteigerung: Sie erscheinen in großen Auflagen und werden tadellos aufbewahrt, genau das hält sie häufig.
Verliere ich Geld, wenn ich ungebrauchte Sondermarken verfrankiere?
So gut wie nie. Die meisten modernen Sondermarken sind so oder so etwa ihren Nennwert wert, das Verfrankieren kostet Sie also nichts und spart neues Porto. Prüfen Sie nur alles, was vor etwa 1940 erschienen ist.
