The Official Catalogue of Belgian stamps (COB) does not provide quotes for 1918 Red Cross stamps on covers, leaving the philatelist to conclude that the covers are rare and commanding high prices.

In an attempt to fill that gap, I have followed for several years the market on various auction sites (ebay.com, delcampe.com and the Stamp Auction Network), noted the selling prices, as well as which types of covers were more common and which ones were more rare. Compiling these observations, I arrived at the following conclusions and a rule for the estimation of a cover with the aforementioned stamps:

General Observations:

1. Covers with the 1918 Red Cross stamps are far less common than those with the earlier war-issued Red Cross stamps of 1914-15.
2. Covers with the intermediate stamps 25c + 25c, 35c + 35c, 40c + 40c and/or 50c + 50c (the blue Albert and the 3 stamps featuring the Belgian cities of Ieper, Dinant and Leuven) are about 3 times more rare than covers with stamps up to 20c + 20c (the 6 lowest values, with the portrait of King Albert 1st). And, covers featuring any of the higher-value stamps (2F + 2F to 10F + 10F) are very rare, and, not surprisingly, the higher the stamp value, the rarer the cover.

Estimation of value of a cover:

A practical rule to estimate the value of a cover with one or several 1918 Red Cross stamps consists in two steps.

STEP 1: Add the stamp values

1. Start with $40.
2. Then, add the following value for each of 1918 Red Cross stamps present on the cover
   

    1c +  1c   (King Albert 1st)                4
    2c +  2c   (King Albert 1st)                4
    5c +  5C   (King Albert 1st)                5
   10c + 10c   (King Albert 1st)                6
   15c + 15c   (King Albert 1st)                8
   20c + 20c   (King Albert 1st)                8
   25c + 25c   (King Albert 1st)               10
   35c + 35c   (Market Hall in Ieper)          20
   40c + 40c   (Bridge in Dinant)              25
   50c + 50c   (Library in Leuven)             25
    1F +  1F   (Schelde River in Antwerp)      35
    2F +  2F   (Anti-slavery propaganda)       50
    5F +  5F   (King Albert 1st in Veurne)    170
   10F + 10F   (First three Belgian kings)    265
   

3. Value a block of four at 6 times the value of one stamp.
4. If stamps from other issues are included, add their respective on-cover market value.

STEP 2: Make adjustments for the following attributes:

1. If registered cover, multiply by 1.10 (= add 10%);
2. For a foreign destination, multiply by 1.20 (= add 20%);
3. If there is a cancel of arrival proving that the cover has actually traveled, multiply by 1.10 (= add 10%);
4. If the cover appears not to have traveled, multiply by 0.80 (= subtract 20%);
5. If the cover was censored ("Censure Militaire" strip on one edge), multiply by 1.60 (= add 60%);
6. If the cover has creases, tears or folds, multiply by 0.90 (= subtract 10%) for each fold, tear or crease;
7. If the cover is faded or soiled, multiply by 0.90 to 0.75 (subtract 10% to 25%) depending on the severity of the defect.

Caution: The preceding formula is only offered as a guide and is subject to revisions as I accumulate more market data.

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