Determine Value and
Provide Assurance
The Köhler card-index archive of the Old German States is considered the most extensive and best-known archive of its kind — and the one most frequently cited.
The consistent further development of the Köhler card-index archive in the digital age is “ProFi,” the digital “Provenance Finder.” This unique database was likewise developed and built exclusively at Heinrich Köhler and contains millions of digitized data points.
A Knowledge Advantage Only the Heinrich Köhler Auction House Can Offer
Its initiator gave the archive its name: Heinrich Köhler. The history of a piece can be traced through the archive: When and where has it been offered before? In which collections was it once included? From this, provenances — and even family trees — can be reconstructed, which, the further they reach back, distinguish the item as a particularly desirable collectible.
The card-index archive complements the knowledge and experience of our philatelists, enabling them to make reliable assessments of the stamps and covers consigned to us: their rarity, significance, and price development, as well as any alterations or repairs — a knowledge advantage that only the Heinrich Köhler auction house can provide.
Philatelic Expertise in Seconds with Artificial Intelligence
This system has been perfected through “ProFi,” for which data on philatelic single lots from around the world has been — and continues to be — collected and consolidated from a wide range of sources. These include, for example, information from numerous international auction catalogues. The result is a unique web-based database that the Heinrich Köhler auction house continuously expands. Artificial intelligence turns “ProFi” into a learning system that can create additional connections with every new entry.
With each query, the philatelists of the Global Philatelic Network auction houses can quickly and conveniently access meticulously gathered images, descriptions, starting prices, hammer prices, and the complete auction histories of highly sought-after and valuable stamps and covers from all over the world.
The information can be retrieved via search requests, keyword searches, or image recognition. “ProFi” then analyzes the database and delivers results within seconds — specifically in two seconds for keyword searches and 2.5 seconds for image recognition.
The Quality Seal for Every Examined Item
What Heinrich Köhler began is still maintained and expanded by the auction house to this day using state-of-the-art methods. The Köhler card-index archive comprises more than 100,000 index cards containing images, descriptions, starting prices, hammer prices, and complete auction histories of stamps and covers spanning over 100 years — essentially, since auctions have existed. “ProFi” surpasses this already impressive number many times over.
With the help of these meticulously collected data points, it is possible to determine the essential parameters needed to assess the value of an item, thereby offering collectors the highest level of assurance.
What happens next? The choice is yours.
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