Chapter 3 World catalogues [PREV] [NEXT] [HOME]

This chapter was last modified on [13-12-96 (Fri) at 15:25:07] . Please send all bug reports, additions etc. to the Editor, Gert Bultman. This chapter gives on overview of the 4 main World Catalogues, sc. MICHEL, Scott, Stanley Gibbons & Yvert & Tellier. When the List Price is quoted, please be aware that usually catalogues can be purchased for (much) less. Look carefully in the classifieds in your favourite stamp magazine (Linns is a good source). The prices in US dollars are based on the 1992 Subway catalogue and/or ads in Linns. The prices in Dutch guilders may serve as a guideline for European collectors.

Opinions

Jon Lodeesen writes: the most comprehensive, MICHEL. There are weaknesses (illustrations, e.g.) but it comes closer than Scott for most countries in including the information usually found in the specialized catalogs. It is very orderly and logical. It is also rather generous in what it accepts as stamps. It gives useful warnings about stamps which have been extensively forged. Yvert & Tellier is, in my opinion, somewhat less precise that MICHEL but is for the most part interchangeable with it.

Martti Tolvanen writes: I agree with all this, but I have to say that Swiss Zumstein catalogs are as good as MICHEL, IMHO. I use Yvert & Tellier myself, but that is only because most of my trading partners are in Spain and France and they don't want to hear about anything else. I think illustrations are the weak part in Yvert & Tellier, because they are often messy and lack many individual designs, ie. only one design of a set may be shown and the rest are described in small print. Annoyingly, often the descriptions of nature themes include Latin names only when they don't appear in the stamp, or French names when the Latin names appear etc. Of the three European catalogs mentioned thus far I think Zumstein is the best in illustration clarity, but MICHEL is best in detailed information. I'm sorry I cannot make any comparison to Scott catalogs, I've never even seen one :-). From a European point of view they seem practically non-existing.

Stein Langorgen writes: From personal experience I know that neither Scott nor Gibbons depict all items in a set - most of the time they only depict one stamp and describe the designs of the others. This is also done in the Gibbons Commonwealth (Vol. 1, Part 1--2) catalogue. Combined with Marrti Tolvanen's statement, this means that MICHEL is the only world catalog that actually depicts all items in a set, and this, of course, makes the choice of a world catalog for me relatively easy....


Section 3.1 Scott

The 1996 edition will split Volume I into two pieces. The first will have the US,UN and the British Commonwealth in the Americas. The second part will have the UK and the rest of the British Commonwealth.
                        Scott Ed. 1995                        
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|    | Title                                         | Price |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  1 | USA and possessions, UN, British Commonwealth |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  2 | Rest of the world, A-C                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  3 | Rest of the world, D-I                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  4 | Rest of the world, J-Q                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  5 | Rest of the world, R-Z                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|    | Topics: Mushrooms and Space                   |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  6 | ``Classic'', Issues 1840-1940                 |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
| US | USA, Possessions, locals, revenues, incl. UN  |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
                        Scott Ed. 1994                        
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|    | Title                                         | Price |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  1 | USA and possessions, UN, British Commonwealth |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  2 | Rest of the world, A-C                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  3 | Rest of the world, D-I                         |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  4 | Rest of the world, J-Q                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  5 | Rest of the world, R-Z                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|    | Topics: Butterflies and Ships                 |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
| US | USA, Possessions, locals, revenues, incl. UN  |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
                        Scott Ed. 1993                        
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|    | Title                                         | Price |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  1 | USA and possessions, UN, British Commonwealth |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  2 | Rest of the world, A-F                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  3 | Rest of the world, G-O                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|  5 | Rest of the world, P-Z                        |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
|    | Topics: No topical listings                   |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
| US | USA, Possessions, locals, revenues,           |    32 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+
From the 1994 edition onwards, the catalogues (will) include a topical chapter; in 1994 the topics featured are butterflies and ships. From the advertisement:

The topical chapter is organized by country, and includes a brief description after each catalogue number of the butterfly species or type of boat pictured on the stamp. Each year two new topics are selected.

Scott Publishing Company, P.O. Box 828, Sidney, OH 45365.

Steven G. Anderson writes: Scott has been adding previously unlisted (by catalog number) issues and even the Carribean rocks so it is a more complete catalog. Another change that is not as noticeable is that they are completely reevaluating a number of countries and are changing numbering drastically. This is particularly true of long definitive sets that have been issued over decades. They are consolidating these into more logical units. I had a heck of time with Belgium and ended up recataloging the entire country. I buy a new volume each year and over the course of 4 years I get a new set. It works just fine for me. But I will not part with my 1990 complete set since I use that to price any minimum valued stamps.

Jon Lodeesen writes: Scott not only changed its policy on listing issues of Third World countries which were never really available in those countries for sending mail, it also went back in time and changed its mind about issues of other countries which had been produced for purely philatelic purposes.


Section 3.2 Stanley Gibbons

                      Stanley Gibbons comprehensive                       
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  # | Title                                         |   Year   | Pounds |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  1 | Commonwealth GB+A--J  (Annual, ed. 1994)      | 26-08-94 | 24.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|    | Commonwealth    K--Z  (Annual, ed. 1994)      | 26-08-94 | 24.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  2 | Austria/Hungary                               |     1994 | 14.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  3 | Balkans                                       |     1987 | OutPrt |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  4 | Benelux                                       |     1993 | 14.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  5 | Czechoslovakia and Poland                     |     1994 | 15.95     |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  6 | France                                        |     1993 | 18.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  7 | Germany                                       |     1992 | 15.00  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  8 | Italy and Switzerland                         |     1993 | 16.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  9 | Portugal and Spain                            |     1991 | 14.50  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
|  9 | Portugal and Spain                            |     1995 | DueOct |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 10 | Russia                                        |     1991 | OutPrt |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 11 | Scandinavia                                   |     1994 | 14.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 12 | Africa since Independence A-E                 |     1983 |  9.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 13 | Africa since Independence F-M                 |     1981 | OutPrt |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 14 | Africa since Independence N-Z                 |     1981 | 10.50  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 15 | Central America                               |     1984 | OutPrt |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 16 | Central Asia                                  |     1992 | 17.50  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 17 | China                                         |     1995 | 16.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 18 | Japan and Korea                               |     1991 | 15.00  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 19 | Middle East                                   | Summer95 | PBTA   |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 20 | South America                                 |     1989 | OutPrt |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 21 | South East Asia                               | Spring95 | PBTA   |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
| 22 | United States                                 |     1994 | 12.95  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+----------+--------+
Remarks & changes since last Edition:

Part 1: All countries are now listed under their current name (i.e. Ceylon comes under ``S'' for Sri Lanka) and present day countries made up of more than one former stamps issuing territory are brought together in one section (i.e. all Australian States are now listed under ``A'').

Part 1 (both volumes) is A4 format, all others are A5.

                          Stanley Gibbons simplified                          
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+
| #  | Title                                         | Year  |   pp. | List  |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+
|  1 | Commonwealth                                  |       |  743  |       |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+
|  2 | Other countries A--J                          |       | 1075  |       |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+
|  3 | Other countries K--Z                          |       | 1074  |       |
+----+-----------------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+

Section 3.3 MICHEL

MICHEL catalogues are published by Schwaneberger Verlag, Muthmannstrasse 4, M"unchen. As it says in the front of their catalogues: ``Wenn Sie noch eine philatelistische Frage haben zum MICHEL-Deutschland- Katalog, rufen Sie uns bitte an (das ist der einfachste und schnellste Weg): Telefon 0 89/32 39 33 33.''

The Europa catalogues are issued every year; the overseas are issued in series.

Monthly updates to the MICHEL-Kataloge appear in the MICHEL-Rundschau magazine published by the Schwaneberger Verlag. From time to time the magazine also has lists of stamps with particular topics, so the magazine would also be useful for topical collectors.

The price for a year's subscription (12 issues) in 1996 is 39,60 DM plus postage (Postage to foreign countries (in Europe) meant an extra cost of 34 DM for 1994).

Single issues are available in stamp shops etc. for 4,50 DM each.

                           MICHEL Europa-Kataloge                           
+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| Teil                                        | Jahre   | Seiten | DM      |
+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| Deutschland                                 | 96/97   |    720 | 29,80   |
+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| Europa-Katalog West (ohne BRD)              | 96/97   |   2600 | 69,80   |
+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| Europa-Katalog Ost (ohne DDR)               | 96/97   |   1600 | 56,--   |
+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
                           MICHEL Übersee-Kataloge                            
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| Band | Teil                                        | Jahre   | Seiten | DM      |
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
|  1   | Mittel- und Nordamerika                     | 1991    |        | 84,--   |
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
|  2   | Süd Amerika                            | 1992    |        | 68,--   |
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
|  3   | Afrika (2 Teile)                            | 1993    |        | 98,--   |
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
|  4   | Australien und Oceanien                     | 1994    |        | 68,--   |
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
|  5   | Asien I (2 Teile)                           | 1994    |        | 98,--   |
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
| 5/II | Asien II (Scheichtümer)                | 1989/90 |        | 48,--   |
+------+---------------------------------------------+---------+--------+---------+
When the new Michel Overseas series starts, the catalogs will be reorganized into 10 parts. Middle and North America will be splitted in two new parts (1-2). Africa is divided in 3 new parts (4-6). Asia, which currently is in three volumes, is divided into three new parts (8-10). The Persian Gulf States (the 'Scheichtümer' in part 5/II) are integrated in the new part 8. The Falkland Islands and Antartic territories are moved from South America to Australia, and Malaysia is moved from the Australia part to the new part 10.

The new overseas catalogs have not been issued according to the original schedules presented in Michel Rundschau 4/94 and 11/94, but the new parts are:

                                        MICHEL                                        
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
| Band  | Teil                                     | Erscheint  | Seiten   | DM      |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  1    |  North / Middle America 1995             | Dez 1994   | 1008     | 62,--   |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  2    |  Karibische Inseln 1995                  | Apr 1994   | 1128     | 68,--   |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  3    |  Süd Amerika                        | Mar 1996   | 1332     | 74,--   |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  4    |  Nord- und Ostafrika                     | Dez 1996   | 1008     | 74,--   |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  5    |  Westafrika                              |  1997?     |          |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  6    |  Südliches Afrika                   |  1997?     |        ## |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  7    |  Australien, Ozeanien, Antarktis         |  1998?     |        ## |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  8    |  Naher Osten                             |  1998?     |        ## |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
|  9    |  Mittel- und Ostasien                    |  1999?     |        ## |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
| 10    |  Süd und Südostasien           |   1999?     |        ## |
+-------+------------------------------------------+------------+----------+---------+
Extensive descriptions

MICHEL Europa-Katalog West 1990/91 (CEPT-L"ander), 2604 Seiten in 2 B"anden, ca. 30000 Abbildungen und 156000 Preisnotierungen, 56,-- DM. FDC-Bewertungen f"ur all L"ander, f"ur ungestempelte Marken des Zeitraumes 1920--1945 sind bei den Postfrisch-Notierungen auch Satzpreise f"ur Marke mit Falz angegeben. Mit Jahrgangswerttabellen. Inhalt: Aeg"aische Inseln, Andorra, Belgien, Bosnien-Herzegowina, Campione, D"anemark, Epirus, Finnland, Fiume, Frankreich, Gibraltar, Griechenland, Grossbritannien, Ikarien, Ionische Inseln, Irland, Island, Italien, Jugoslawien, Kreta, Kroatien, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Malta, Mazedonien, Monako, Montenegro, Niederlande, Norwegen, "Osterreich, Portugal, Samos, San Marino, Schweden, Schweiz, Serbien, Spanien, Tanger, Thrazien, Triest, T"urkei, Vatikanstaat, Vereinte Nationen (Genf und Wien), Zypern.

MICHEL Europa-Katalog Ost 1990/91, 1576 Seiten, ca. 18000 Abb. und 78000 Preisnotierungen, 44,-- DM. Inhalt: Albanien, Armenien, Aserbeidschan, Batum, Bulgarien, Estland, Georgien, Karelien, Karpaten-Ukraine, Lettland, Litauen, Mittellitauen, Nordingermanland, Ostrumelien, Polen, Rum"anien, Russland (Sowjet-Union), Slowakei, Transkaukasien, Tschechoslowakei, Ukraine, Ungarn, Westukraine, Westungarn.

MICHEL CEPT/UNO Katalog 1990/91,

MICHEL Skandinavien-Katalog 1990/91, see Country-catalogues chapter.


Section 3.4 Yvert & Tellier

                           Yvert & Tellier catalogue                           
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| Tome | Titre                                    | Year      | pp.   | List  |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 1    | France                                   | 1993      |   300 |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 1bis | Monaco, Andorre, CEPT, NU                | 1993      |   216 |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 2    | Pays d'expression francaise              | 1991      |       |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 3    | Europe de l'Ouest                        | 1992      |       |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 4    | Europe de l'Est                          | 1992      |       |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 5    | Outre-Mer (A-E)                          | 1994 (89) |       |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 6    | Outre-Mer (F-N)                          | 1991      |       |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 7    | Outre-Mer (O-Z)                          | 1993      |       |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+
| 8    | Addenda                                  | 1990      |       |       |
+------+------------------------------------------+-----------+-------+-------+

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