Hindenburg stamp value: watermarks, sets and lookalikes

Which Hindenburg stamp do you have?

The portrait of Paul von Hindenburg appears on more than one German stamp family. This guide concentrates on the small medallion definitives introduced in 1932, their 1933 replacements and the black-bordered mourning issue of 1934. A rectangular birthday portrait, an airship stamp or a later overprinted stamp needs a different identification. Keep the country inscription and the complete frame visible when sorting an inherited page.

For the medallions, German Philately lists an initial seven-stamp group, Michel 467 to 473, followed by fourteen changed-color and new-value stamps, Michel 482 to 495. The later swastika-watermark series is Michel 512 to 528. The portrait can look familiar across all three groups, so a front-image match does not settle which paper you have. Write the catalog publisher beside the number; an isolated 512 is not a complete identification.

Sort by the printed denomination first, then by frame, watermark and format. Do not assign every stamp on a page to the date written above it. A collector may have mixed different printings or filled a gap with a similar-looking stamp. The catalog-number guide explains how to keep an album label separate from an identification you have actually checked.

Two whole-set offers, not a price for every single

The two offers below were checked directly on Allstamp.net on 5 October 2026. The dealer uses Scott numbering, as its own FAQ explains. GE00041531u is a used seventeen-stamp set described as very fine, with denominations from 1 to 100 pfennig and swastika-watermarked paper. GE00043641u is the used mourning set, also described as very fine. Neither is an auction result or a dealer's offer to buy your collection.

The visible price uses a dollar sign; the product HTML explicitly records currency as USD. These are US-dollar amounts, not euros or the original Reichspfennig face values. We do not convert them into another currency. Shipping and any tax are not established by these product prices. There is no auction buyer's premium because these are retail offers.

A set price cannot be divided by seventeen or six to produce a defensible price for your loose stamp. The completeness of the set, the particular condition and the dealer's stock policy belong to the offer. A damaged duplicate or an unverified watermark variety is not equivalent to that set. For broader comparisons, use the old stamps price list, then return to the exact Hindenburg issue.

Network paper and swastika paper need different comparisons

The network watermark is also called waffle watermark in English references. German Philately records it for the 1932 medallions and the April to August 1933 group. The series beginning in December 1933 uses a swastika watermark. This is a paper-identification feature, not a claim that a political symbol printed on the face proves a particular watermark. The pattern must be examined in the stamp itself.

Start with a dry inspection of the reverse where safe. If the stamp is stuck to an album page or remains on a cover, do not peel it away merely to see the watermark. Note that the back is inaccessible and leave the identification open. Our watermark guide describes a preservation-first sequence. A scan showing only the portrait cannot replace that physical check.

GermanStamps.net distinguishes the later issue's normal X and reversed Y watermark suffixes by the direction of the pattern when viewed from the back. That viewing direction matters. A mirrored photograph or a description written from the front can reverse your interpretation. Record the viewpoint with your observation, compare the relevant catalog illustration and leave the suffix unresolved if the full pattern is unclear. No Y-variety price is established by the ordinary set offers above.

Read pfennig denominations without importing inflation prices

The later medallion series has seventeen values from 1 to 100 Reichspfennig. German Philately records the new 1-pfennig stamp on 4 December 1933 and the 80-pfennig value in February 1936. GermanStamps.net independently describes the staggered release. Calling the entire group a single 1933 issue is convenient shorthand, but it does not date every denomination to December 1933.

These references identify the amounts as pfennig or Reichspfennig, not as millions or billions of inflation-era marks. Do not turn the number 100 into 100 marks. Copy the actual unit into your record even if an imported catalog has supplied only a number. Equally, a large printed denomination on another German stamp is not evidence that the Hindenburg medallion belongs to the same series.

Check for a numeral or inscription added over the original design. An overprinted denomination can change the postal value and sometimes the currency or issuing territory. The original number underneath is then insufficient. This guide's two prices cover unoverprinted German sets only; they do not establish prices for occupation surcharges. Photograph both the underlying denomination and the full added inscription before researching that separate object.

A black mourning border identifies a separate six-value issue

The mourning stamps are easy to confuse with dark-framed examples of the ordinary medallions. Look for the deliberately added black outer border around the design rather than judging whether the portrait looks dark. German Philately lists Michel 548 to 553, issued on 5 September 1934, with values of 3, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 25 Reichspfennig. Keep them separate from the unbordered seventeen-value set.

Allstamp's mourning description says Hindenburg died in September 1934. That is an error in the dealer's historical wording. German Philately records his death on 2 August 1934 and the stamp release in September. The dealer's price can document its own offer without becoming the authority for a death date. We use the corrected chronology and preserve the product code for checking the retail evidence.

For a loose stamp, compare its denomination and complete border with the mourning issue before choosing a catalog entry. A thick cancellation across an ordinary frame does not make a mourning stamp. Conversely, a missing corner can obscure part of a genuine border. Describe the fault separately rather than changing the issue identification to explain damaged paper.

The 1927 birthday charity portrait is a useful lookalike

The genuine scan below is a different Hindenburg stamp, Michel 403 from 1927. It has a rectangular frontal portrait, the name HINDENBURG at the side, dates at the other side and an 8 in each upper corner. It is not one of the small medallions in the price table. German Philately identifies it as an 8 plus 7 Reichspfennig welfare issue for Hindenburg's eightieth birthday.

The scan's visible 8 is the postage denomination. The reference records an additional 7-Reichspfennig charity surcharge; do not describe the pictured face as if a printed plus 7 were visible. Neither the postage amount nor the original surcharge is a present collector price. An image search for Hindenburg can place this issue next to medallions even though the postal purpose and catalog entry differ.

Use the scan to compare the portrait layout and inscriptions, not to infer gum, watermark or grade. It was sourced separately from the dealer offers and is not a priced specimen from either set. If your stamp shows a circular medallion rather than this rectangular portrait, return to the three definitive groups instead of borrowing the birthday issue's catalog number.

Gum, faults and cancellations still belong to the identification

The table's VF labels are the dealer's descriptions, not grades assigned to your own stamps. A stamp with no cancellation is not automatically mint never hinged. Look at the reverse for original gum, hinge traces, missing gum, thins or creases, and record which observations you can actually make. Do not touch or moisten the gum to test it. A concealed back remains an unresolved condition question.

On a used medallion, note whether the cancellation obscures the denomination, the inscription or part of the frame. A readable town and date can help research postal use, but a postmark is not necessarily the issue date. Check all four edges for shortened teeth, tears or trimmed areas. Color comparisons also need neutral lighting; a yellow cast in a photograph can make a shade difference look more convincing than it is.

The condition guide gives wording for faults without inventing a numerical grade. Compare like with like: a used set with a used set, an unused single with a described unused single, and a cover with another cover. The two current retail offers do not price mint gum categories, scarce shades or particular dated cancellations.

Keep strips, booklets and added inscriptions intact

German Philately records sheet, coil and booklet production within the medallion groups. Connected stamps or retained margins can preserve information lost in a separated single. Count the attached stamps and photograph both sides of the complete item. A booklet cover, advertising label or sheet margin belongs in that record even when the portrait seems to be the only feature you recognize.

GermanStamps.net documents private KaBe overprints on the 3-pfennig stamp for Stamp Day, 10 January 1937. It explicitly distinguishes the overprinted stamps, which were not valid postage, from the unoverprinted stamps used by the Reichspost. An added inscription therefore does not automatically mean an official postal surcharge. Read it before searching for a rare overprint price.

For a suspected open-D variety, the same reference names Michel 485 I and Michel 517 X I. Check the D in the country inscription rather than a random gap in the portrait. A printing weakness, cancellation or damaged scan may imitate an opening. Retain clear enlargement and provenance, then consult a specialist before adopting the suffix. No certified open-D sale or value is claimed here.

Give the checker the features that narrow the issue

Photograph one stamp straight on with all edges visible. In collector notes, copy the denomination, country inscription and any overprint. Say whether there is a black mourning border and whether the item is a single, set, strip or cover. If you have physically checked the watermark, name the pattern and viewing direction. Otherwise write that it has not been checked, rather than accepting an invisible feature suggested from a front photograph.

The existing free checker below can suggest an issue and preliminary value context. Compare the result with the group table, then verify paper and condition outside the tool. A rare suffix, original gum or an altered overprint requires more than image similarity. Keep the unresolved question beside the scan so that your later catalog search starts with the same evidence.

Choose the next comparison from the object in your album

For an ordinary used medallion, finish the watermark and denomination check before collecting more price links. For a mourning stamp, confirm the border and one of the six denominations. For a birthday charity portrait, use its separate reference and surcharge context. For an overprinted or connected item, keep the whole object intact and identify the additional postal or private purpose first.

Retain the product code, source URL, observation date, stated condition and quantity beside every price. If you later find an auction result, add the actual sale date and premium basis rather than treating an estimate as a completed sale. The strongest improvement to a Hindenburg value search is often a better identification, not a larger number copied from an unrelated airship or specialist variety.

Frequently asked questions