Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

Any info on these gratefully received.

Stuttgart Möbelmesse - some sites seem to think they're to do with a Furniture Fair, but that seem unlikely. But they are very attractive.









And these appear to be local revenues, like stamp duty?

Yes, these are furniture tax revenues from the Stuttgart furniture fair. They first appeared in 1883, but only a handful exist for the first issues. They become more common about 1897, when remainders were sold to collectors. They were issued in May and December of each year from May 1890 to May 1914. Each issue is a different color to protect against reuse. Two major designs were used. On occasion, the perforation gauge also changed.

The "Regulations for the Furniture Fair" published in 1885, specified how much tax was to be charged on each piece of furniture. For example, 3 pf. for a kitchen chair, 5 pf. for a spitting box, 6 pf. for a reed work chair, 10 pf. for a cradle, 20 pf. for a bedside table, 30 pf. for a bed, 40 pf. for a desk, 50 pf. for an armoire with two doors and 60 pf. for an elaborate bookcase. If a piece of furniture sold for more than 200 Marks, it was taxed at the rate of 1 Mark. A combination of the pfennig values was placed on the piece to make up this rate. Only the values specified here, along with 15 pf. and 25 pf. values, were ever issued. Therefore, it can be surmised that sold pieces valued over 200 Marks were rare.

The colors are difficult to tell apart and assign to a year, since the only reference is from 1983 and only in black and white. I am making an attempt to publish examples of each issue on the web soon.

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German, German State and Saar Revenues Wanted...

The second group of stamps are weighing fee stamps. The weighing of commerce, such as wheat, was important to the buyer and seller to reach a proper settlement. A weighing machine, capable of weights up to 20,000 lbs, was installed in October 1865. The fee was 1/2 kreuzer per hundred pounds. If a weight receipt was needed, an extra 2 kr. was charged. Over the years, the scales changed from lbs. to kg.s (1872) and the currency changed from kr. to pfennig (1875). These revenues come in various colors, currencies, perforated and impeforated. The inflation issues of the early 1920's are very rare, with values going up to 10,000 Marks. They stopped being issued in 1923.

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German, German State and Saar Revenues Wanted...

Awesome reply, thank heaps!

Adam.

I've managed to figure out jablum, and have now published my collection of these items on the web. This link should help you with colors, rarity, year of issue, etc. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for this site:
http://www.valbums.com/StuttgartFurnitureTax/

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German, German State and Saar Revenues Wanted...