Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

I agree completely with that approach. This is how we advance the frontiers of philately - even if nine times out of ten, that speculative buy turns out to be nothing.

_________________
'First I'll steal all the money, then I'll kill everybody, and then I'll go away', Père Ubu

1949 Advertising Cover from CF Lücke trading as "Schaubek Verlag", manufacturers of Schaubek Albums.

This cover is rated as 6pfg which was the "printed matter" rate in effect at the time, so presumably originally contained a price list or something similar.

The machine-cancel with different slogans is typical of the German style cancels which date back to pre-war times. The slogans are (i) to promote the Saxony State Lottery and (ii) to warn about Colorado Beetles.

Another CF Lücke / Schaubek advertising cover.

Although the date on the postmark is unclear, I believe it to be slightly later than the previous example (see the date "9.50" = September 1950 at bottom left of the cover with the printer's details). That puts it into the DDR period, but the DDR re-issue of this set of stamps with different watermark was not until 1952-53, so this is franked with the Soviet Zone stamps.

The cover is rated at 24pfg which was the "Regional Letter" rate at the time.

The reverse includes a "Schaubek Album" cinderella/label.

Another (slightly scruffy!) example of the "Colorado Beetle" slogan cancel, this one slightly earlier (July 1948).

The stamps are Currency Reform Handstamped Overprints from OPD 14, office of Bautzen 3a.

Assuming the fragment contained the full franking, the 48pfg rate suggests a regional overweight (20g - 250g) letter.

Very interesting postmark with the Colorado Beetle warning. It must have been a real problem since the potato is a large part of the German diet.
Quote below is from Wikipedia. I wonder if there is any truth to it but we will probably never know. Then again when one reads about the dirty tricks and covert actions of the CIA, I wouldn't put it past them.

During World War II, the Nazi regime in Germany, and many satellite states of Soviet Union used them for propaganda, claiming that the beetles had been dropped by the United States Army Air Forces. The Americans were also blamed by regime propaganda when after World War II, in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, almost half of all potato fields were infested by the beetle by 1950.

As mentioned previously in this thread, the Currency Reform Provisionals (Hand Overprints/"HOPS", or in German, "Bezirksstempelaufdruckmarken") had a very limited period of validity.

The overprints were produced locally as an emergency control measure pending issue of the centrally overprinted stamps. There are, in total, over 1,900 different handstamped overprints from around 1,100 Postal Districts.

The overprints were only valid for 17 days, from 24 June 1948 to 10 July 1948.

So what happened if one attempted to use these overprints after they were invalidated

I've only seen four examples of this - the one in this post and the three following...



The stamp was to be "isolated" and postage due would be charged.

This example was used two dates after the stamps were invalidated; the postmark being dated 12 July 1948.

It is a 20 Dessau 1f overprint, isolated from the postmark by blue pencil as was standard practice for "illegal" stamps.

The large blue pencil 24 indicates postage due of 24pfg.

Second example of Late Usage of HOPs:

This one was sent on the same date as the previous example - 12 July 1948, and hence 2 days after the stamp was invalidated.

Overprint for 41 Crimmitschau

Again, the stamp is "isolated" from the postmark, this time with black pencil.

The blue pencil is used to indicate a fee of 36pfg due, and there is also a small red "Nachgebühr" postage due marking.

Why is the fee due 36pfg on this against 24pfg on the previous example? Was it local policy? Is the use of the red boxed marking significant? I don't know, so any information would be most welcome...

A later example, from 30 July 1948, 20 days after the stamps were invalidated.

Overprint for 16 Sömmerda, in the Erfurt OPD/Region.

The postmark is in celebration of German Unity, the dates "1848 / 1948" reflecting the centenary of the "Year of Revolution" in Europe, which would have been a theme close to the Soviet Authorities' hearts.

The usage of the cover is very similar to the previous example, with a blue pencil "36" and a small "Nachgebühr" postage due marking. The only difference is that the stamp has also been postmarked - most likely in error.

The fact that this one is also rated at 36pfg due, or 1½ times the postal rate suggests to me that the Nachgebühr marking was signficant in calculating the amount due.

My final example of a Late Usage of the Hand Overprints.

This one is slightly more complicated, although the basic elements of an "isolated" stamp and a manuscript due fee are still present.

The overprinted stamp (right-most stamp) is for 14 Dresden 24 (District Office 24 within Dresden).

The unoverprinted stamps were valid at one-tenth of their face value. Tthis was the devaluation of the "Ostmark" [Mark Deutsche Notenbank] relative to the earlier Reichsmark.

So the cover was franked at 24pfg as follows:

(24+8+24+84)/10 = 140/10 = 14pfg of Unoverprinted stamps
10pfg Handoverprinted stamp.

The unoverprinted stamps were valid until 31 July 1948, hence these were postmarked and accepted. I find it ironic that the unoverprinted stamps were valid longer than the overprinted ones, and cannot think of a "logical" reason why this was the case (but it was!)

The overprinted stamp was 4 days "late" (invalidated 10 July; used 14 July), therefore isolated and postage due of 18pfg was charged.

Again, there is a question mark over the amount of postage due charged. In this case it is 1.8 times the amount of the invalid stamp (compare to the 1x or 1½x of the previous examples). Was there a "minimum" fee or maybe a "premium" for part-postage due as calculation took more time/effort?

Paradoxically, even though these are considerably less common than "legitmate usage" covers of the HOPs, in each case they have cost less than I would expect. Perhaps dealers only see a stamp that has "missed" the postmark and assume they could be later additions. As Glen is fond of saying, "Knowledge is Power"...

A few "recent additions" tonight...

...although the first is not a recent addition to my collection; only a recent addition insofar as my old PC had such a weedy memory I could never upload the scan

Strausberg issued a number of "Rebuilding" stamps and sheets which I previously showed, and this one really completes the story.

This large (149mm x 210mm) souvenir sheet was issued in May 1946 and was not authorised for postal use.

The design of the stamps and the size was as of the previous issues, but the paper is whiter in colour (glazed and unglazed papers were used) and the sheets were ungummed.

This one and the next three were picked up at London 2010 last weekend....

Großräschen - first issue used on cover with "Grube Ilse" emergency handstamp postmark.

The Grube Ilse mark was almost always used with the "gebühr bezahlt" (= "sender pays") marking.

This cover is correctly franked at the 42pfg Registered rate, and from the markings and usage, I would say this is clearly commercially used (ie not "Philatelic" which makes it quite unusual for these issues.

Fortunately for me, the seller did not add a premium either for the cancel (which rates at +80 Eur) or for commercial usage (which rates "significantly higher" than philatelic).

Netzschkau-Reichenbach local issues on a small cover.

I've said previously that these are very rare commercially used (non-philatelic), but this one has a better-than-even chance of being commercial imho (albeit maybe slightly contrived).

The usage is "in period" - 10 days after issue, and the rate of 12 pfg (3+4+5) is correct.

Also, the sender and recipient are not major dealers (and are not,apparently, one and the same person), which is always a dead give-away with these.

In the Currency Reform period, the old unoverprinted "Trizone" stamps were valid at one-tenth face value.

Covers bearing these were known as "Zehnfacher" covers.

These are commonly seen with the Pfennig values of the "workers" issue, but much less common are Mark values used as "Zehnfacher".

This cover is rated correctly at the 84pfg Registered rate, made up of 8 x 1RM and 4 x 10pfg (with the one-tenth rate acting as 8 x 10pfg and 4 x 1pfg).

Philatelic? Very probably, but still unusual.

Last one for now.

A couple of weeks ago I showed some Late Usage (invalidated) Currency Reform Handstamped Overprints (HOPs).

This is another variation on that theme.

In this case, the non-overprints were also out of time. The unoverprinted stamps were valid at one-tenth of face value until 31 July 1948; the HOPs only until 10 July.

The sender has attempted to pay the 24pfg rate using a 12pfg 27 Chemnitz 1 HOP and a variety of unoverprinted stamps. The cover would have been slightly overpaid at 25.3pfg if it was in period.

The stamps are "isolated" from the 9 August postmark with blue pencil; a red "Nachgebühr 12b" mark has been applied, and the large blue pencil "36" indicates postage due of 36 pfg.

Hello. My name is Jay Carrigan and I just joined Stampboards.

I really enjoyed reading this thread since it is one of my collecting specialities (although I did note a few forgeries along the way).

I have a web site http://www.jaypex.com/ where you can see my exhibits of East Saxony, the Mecklenburg Antifa issue, Netzschkau and Postmaster Provisionals. I have also started to mount and scan my locals collection. So far I'm only up to the letter F, and I have no idea when I'll ever find time to finish this project. See http://www.jaypex.com/Germany/Locals/. (There are also some locals in the East Saxony exhibit.)

Also on my site is reference information about forgeries from Fredersdorf, Großrâschen, Löbau, Ravensberg and Schwarzenberg. And a few items for sale.

_________________
Jay Carrigan
http://www.jaypex.com

_________________
If it erupts, don't blame me!!

This thread and Jay's great website are awesome. I am getting interested in pulling out some old material I have laying around.

Can anyone tell me what this is? I thought it was a ticket to the 1945 Liepzig Fair, but looking at this thread and doing an online translation it looks like some kind of reconstruction contribution of 1 Reichsmark: "contribution for the reconstruction of city Leipzig"

It has the two 1945 Leipzig Fair stamps of Saxony with the "LEIPZIG C 1 / REICHSMESSESTADT" postmark seen earlier in this thread. I take it to be non-postal favor cancellations.

Here's one of the admission tickets.



And here's an unused reconstruction card.



Both cards were sold at the fair Oct. 18-23. The reconstruction card was
also sold after the fair in 3 Leipzig post offices (C1, C4 and W7). Purchase
of either card entitled you to also buy up to 5 sets of the stamps.

Cards from the C4 office may have the good X watermark.

_________________
Jay Carrigan
http://www.jaypex.com

Great information.

So the only way to buy the stamps was to contribute to the reconstruction fund (buy cards)? Fascinating. Thank you.

Does this 24 pfg "Sowjetische / Besatzungs / Zone" invert cover look legitimate? From what I can see, 24 pfg was the letter rate in 1948.

It's probably good, but I'd need to see a 600 dpi scan of just the overprint
to be certain. Deschler was a stamp dealer (that's his correct address).
He probably mailed a bunch of these to himself.

FYI, W8 was in East Berlin and W15 was in West Berlin.

_________________
Jay Carrigan
http://www.jaypex.com

Thank you for your kind offer.

Just out of curiosity what do the letters kk at the bottom of the cancel stand for ?

The invert passes all the tests. I'm confident it's genuine.

Berlin W8 was a large office and had many different postmarking devices.
Each one had its own identifying letter or letters. Except for really small
towns, the same is true for most other mid-century German postmarks.

_________________
Jay Carrigan
http://www.jaypex.com

Thank you for your expertise. I appreciate it.

The lead-in to the curerncy reform that has been shown earlier was marked with a number of attempts to produce commemorative material, and a number of privately or semi-privately produced items sprung up.

This one is a postcard franked during the last hour of use of the Reichsmark in Oldenburg.

Note the hour "-24" on the Postmark.

From the following hour, these stamps unoverprinted were only valid at one-tenth of their face value.

I picked up this (and the next item to be shown) recently from Jay Corrigan

This registered cover has two different handstamped overprints, both from the same city, Naumburg.

The 80pfg stamp is overprinted "20 Naumburg", while the 6pfg is "20 Naumburg (Saale) 1".

It was not uncommon for this to hapen, as each Post Office would have their own handstamp. Larger cities may have had dozens of different cancels - for example Berlin had over 100, Dresden 50+, etc.

Cottbus local issue used on Printed Matter postcard.

Initially I had hoped that this was a rare commercial usage from Cottbus, but when I turned the card over, I saw that it was from the Cottbus Post Office.

The message translates as:



I like the irony that one of the "out of print" stamps is used to send the message that the stamps cannot be supplied

I suppose there's an argument to be made (weakly!) that this is at least a pseudo-commercial usage

I was just going through this thread again and want to bring it to the attention of any new members who signed up since June who might not know it's there.

I guess Gavin has either run out of material or is too busy otherwise.

A bit of both, really - I've got quite a bit of "unsorted" material, and I don't really want to bore people to death by indulging in a bit of "flyspecking" with the numerous minor plate varieties on these things.

There will be more to come, but I don't want to commit myself to a timescale.

Thanks for the "BUMP".

If anyone else has anything to show, please do...

Soviet Zone 1945-46 is one of my specialties. In a few days I
should have some time to scan some interesting material. In the
meantime, there are some things on my web site that would be of
interest -

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Victims of Fascism issue - 1 frame exhibit
http://www.jaypex.com/Exhibits/Antifa.html

East Saxony - 8 frame exhibit
http://www.jaypex.com/Exhibits/OS5.html

Netzschkau-Reichenbach local issue - one frame exhibit
http://www.jaypex.com/Exhibits/Netz.html

Tutorial on censorship in the Soviet Zone
http://www.jaypex.com/Germany/SBZ/censor.html

Tutorial on the Fredersdorf local overprints
http://www.jaypex.com/Germany/Locals/fred.htm

Tutorial on the Löbau local overprint
http://www.jaypex.com/Germany/Locals/lobau.htm

Tutorial on the Schwarzenberg cork overprints
http://www.jaypex.com/Germany/Locals/Schwarz.htm

I also just finished adding this to my sales page. It's a full
sheet of the Thüringen bridge issue, from my friend's estate.
It's been folded twice, so available at a reasonable price.
(I have an unfolded sheet in my collection.)

_________________
Jay Carrigan
http://www.jaypex.com

Time for a few "recent additions" from me:



A selection of "Saxony Blacks" on piece.

These are from Crimmitschau, Type "C" obliterations

The different types of these obliterators are:

Type "A" - formless obliterations (blobs of colour, thub-prints etc);
Type "B" - roughly circular obliterations (corks, gum-stamps etc);
Type "C" - "Postmaster" obliterations (shapes, emblems etc)

Saxony Blacks - Crimmitschau Type "B" obliterations.

The 10pfg was clearly applied AFTER the stamp was affixed to the envelope, as it overlaps onto the envelope. This is quite legitimate, as the Postmaster was under instructions to obliterate any images of Hitler or Nazi emblems which were presented.

Saxony Blacks - Type "B" obliterations.

A few examples from other towns, showing the near-uniform application of the rule across the Regions.

Not religious= pedagogical

_________________
Truth is the daughter of time

Saxony Black - Small cover from Pappritz with Type "C" obliteration in the form of a "Star of David".

I don't know, but the choice of a Jewish emblem may be significant in this case

_________________
Truth is the daughter of time

THis one is "not quite" a Saxony Black - when I first looked at it I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing, but on closer examination it is a bisect of a 20Pfg Hitler Head with 2 x 1Pfg stamps, clearly intended to pay the 12Pfg.

The Postmark is Vikiring, 23 April 1945, putting this right at the end of the war, at the time the Russians were in Berlin itself.

I think the chances are it is a complete fabrication, but for a couple of quid, I had to grab it to have a closer look

Asmodeus, thank you - I realised this shortly after my original post; there should be a post thereabouts correcting it, and I have now edited my original post

Dear gavin-h,

could you help me? Are these surcharges genuine? I have got no clue!

_________________
Truth is the daughter of time

Asmodeus, Jena was one of the few cities which did legitimately overprint the Hanover Fair issue, but I have my doubts about these two.

My main suspicion is because the postmark can be seen clearly from the back, but the overprint can't - typically the ink on these overprints was "oily" and an impression can clearly be seen from the back. The ink on these two look too "modern" and surface-printed to me.

Thank you for your opinion. So I will put them into my fake stamp album.

_________________
Truth is the daughter of time

Cover from Löbau, with block of 4 x 3pfg overprints, paying the correct local letter rate of 12pfg.

Postcard with Löbau 6pfg and 12pfg overprints.

Used at Neugersdorf, Saxony.

Löbau overprints postmarked at other post offices are quite legitimate - these are quoted at +100% by Michel.

This issue was valid for use until the end of June, so the usage is "in period"

Großräschen cover.

20pfg first issue in mixed franking with "trizone" and Berlin Bear issues, paying the 76pfg local registered rate.

Almost certainly a contrived philatelic franking - but try and find one that isn't

Großräschen "favour-cancelled" card, with full set of first issue.

The Type F cancel looks completely correct, with the "weak" G of Großräschen being the determining characteristic.

However...

...this cancel was only in use from 27 October to 6 November 1945, so the 3 September cancel is wrong.

If you look closely at a number of the stamps, especially the 4pfg, the cancel was clearly applied (possibly as a "cto") before the stamps were put on the cover.

The 3 September date stamp was, however, clearly applied after the stamps were affixed to the card.

So, there are two possibilities:

1. The cto stamps were affixed to the cover after cancelling, then back-dated as a favour cancel.

2. The whole thing is a fake...

Gavin,

Unfortunately, I note a couple of problems with your Löbau covers.

The cover with the block of 4 appears to be cancelled 20.5.45 - but
the stamps were only issued on 30.5.45. Also, the name Willi Haase
is suspicious. Fabricated covers are known addressed to about a
dozen different people with the surname Haase. So far, Willi has not
been recorded, but I would bet that this is part of that same group.
Finally, as far as I can determine, there was no postal connection
between Löbau and Meißen before 13.6.

The cancel on the Neugersdorf cover has the Kennbuchstabe (KB) h,
but the only recorded KBs are a, b and c (and a and b are only
known on favor cancelled covers).

_________________
Jay Carrigan
http://www.jaypex.com

After seeing your Großräschen "Satzbrief" I decided to take a closer
look at mine. I have a 3. Sept. cover virtually identical to yours, plus
a 14. Okt. cover with the next issue which is also earlier than the
accepted period of use for this cancel.

_________________
Jay Carrigan
http://www.jaypex.com

Jay,

Thanks for your comments - pretty much confirmed my suspicions re the Löbau covers. Do you think these are complete fabrications, or genuine "ND" stamps and faked usage?

Interesting that you have such a similar Großräschen cover. I will put both the "3 Sept" covers on a single post to compare.