Waarde van postzegels
Gelegenheidszegels: welke meer waard zijn dan de nominale waarde
Bijgewerkt · 5 min lezen · Het StampGo-team
Kort antwoord
De meeste gelegenheidszegels zijn ongeveer hun nominale waarde waard, want ze werden in miljoenen gedrukt en door verzamelaars bewaard. Waardevol zijn de vroege uitgiften, vooral Amerikaanse gelegenheidszegels van de jaren 1890 tot 1930, hoge waarden en echte drukfouten. Goudfolie-«gelegenheidszegels» uit postorderreclame zijn souvenirs, geen frankeerwaarde.
Kerngegevens
- De meeste moderne gelegenheidszegels
- Nominale waarde ongebruikt, enkele centen gebruikt
- Waardevolle periode
- Ruwweg 1893 tot 1930 voor Amerikaanse gelegenheidszegels
- Wat de waarde verhoogt
- Hoge waarden, kleine oplagen, echte drukfouten, goede centrering
- Kerst- en feestzegels
- In enorme aantallen gedrukt. Bijna altijd algemeen
- Goudfolie-«zegels»
- Souvenirs zonder frankeerwaarde en nauwelijks iets waard bij doorverkoop
- Vellen en blokken
- Meestal hun nominale waarde als frankering
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.
Stap voor stap
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.
Gratis te downloaden voor iOS en Android
Veelgestelde vragen
Zijn ongebruikte gelegenheidsvellen meer waard dan hun nominale waarde?
Zelden. Moderne vellen gaan weg voor de nominale waarde of minder, omdat er zoveel zijn bewaard. Het betrouwbaarst gebruikt u ze als frankering.
Zijn gelegenheidszegels uit de jaren zeventig en tachtig waardevol?
Op enkele uitzonderingen na niet. Ze zijn in enorme aantallen gedrukt. In die periode komt de waarde van echte drukfouten, niet van de uitgiften zelf.
Wat is de duurste Amerikaanse gelegenheidszegel?
De inverts van de Pan-American-uitgifte uit 1901 en de hoge waarden van de Columbian-uitgifte uit 1893 horen bij de duurste, samen met de Graf Zeppelin-luchtpost uit 1930.
Mag ik oude gelegenheidszegels als frankering gebruiken?
Als ze algemeen en ongebruikt zijn wel. In de VS blijven zegels van na 1860 geldig, dus door ze te gebruiken krijgt u de volledige nominale waarde terug, meestal meer dan een handelaar biedt.
Worden er nog gelegenheidszegels uitgegeven?
Ja, elk jaar, en ze blijven populair bij verzamelaars en cadeaukopers. Verwacht alleen geen waardestijging: de oplagen zijn groot en ze worden perfect bewaard, en juist daardoor blijven ze algemeen.
Verlies ik geld door ongebruikte gelegenheidszegels op te plakken?
Bijna nooit. De meeste moderne gelegenheidszegels zijn toch ongeveer hun nominale waarde waard, dus gebruiken kost u niets en scheelt nieuwe frankering. Controleer wel eerst alles van voor ongeveer 1940.
