The masses of 15 stable nuclides in the rare-earth region have been measured with the Penningtrap mass spectrometer TRIGA-TRAP. This is the first series of absolute mass measurements linking these nuclides to the atomic-mass standard, 12 C. Previously, nuclear reaction studies almost exclusively determined the literature values of these masses in the Atomic-Mass Evaluation. The TRIGA-TRAP results show deviations on the order of 3-4 standard deviations from the latest published values by the Atomic-Mass Evaluation 2003 for some cases. However, the binding energy differences important for nuclear structure studies have been confirmed and improved. The new masses are discussed in the context of valence proton-neutron interactions using double differences of binding energies, δVpn(Z, N ).