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Earlier in this thread, I posted this image of a cover from Grossraeschen featuring one of the "Provisional" cancels used in that city. That one was the Type "c" cancel, in use from 17 October to 23 October 1945; this example being the last day of use of that cancel.

I have recently acquired a full set on 6 covers featuring the Type "f" cancel which was used from 27 October to 4 November 1945.

Read on...

Grossraeschen - Type "f" provisional cancel.

Postcard rated at 10pfg. Not addressed/postally used, hence "cancelled to favour".

The stamp is applied over a pre-printed Hitler Head on this card.

The Type "f" cancel was used for a period of 9 days (27 October to 4 November 1945), in conjunction with a separate date-stamp.

Grossraeschen - Type "f" cancel.

Postally used cover slightly overrated at 25pfg (against a regional rate of 24pfg).

Standing alone, you might get away with this as a "commercial cover", but this and the next four are all addressed to Herr Lehmann (albeit some in different handwriting) and posted on the same date, so I'll grudgingly admit to them being "philatelic"

Grossraeschen - Type "f" cancel

Registered cover correctly rated at 60pfg with Registration label and rubberstamped "Einschreiben" cachet.

Herr Lehmann (or his "agent") was smart enough to realise that Grossraeschen was using different cancels every few days, and was able to mail the full set of stamps in various combinations

Grossraeschen - Type "f" cancel

This example is rated at 42pfg, which according to my rate-chart is below the basic 60pfg registered rate.

However, it is backstamped with a Kirchhaim arrival mark which suggests it was delivered using the registered service.

Grossraeschen - Type "f" cancel

This time, rated at 43pfg, which suggests that a "local" 42pfg registered rate was in use at that stage.

The registration label is numbered in sequence with the other registered covers I am showing here.

Grossraeschen - Type "f" cancel.

Last one in this sequence, again franked at the 42pfg registered rate...

I was fortunate in picking this lot up as they were sold as basic "used on cover", without a premium being applied for the rare cancel (another example of "knowledge is power")

Just posted this up on the "Smallest Stamps" thread, and thought it was worth adding here as well:





German local issue - 1945

Issued by the Postmaster in the town of Fredersdorf bei Berlin.

The "design" measures 14mm x 9mm (apologies for poor quality of the second scan).

The stamps were initialled by the Postmaster or "counter agent" at the point of sale, so are "theoretically" impossible to acquire without the signature.

So Herr Lehmann was not only a master tailor (Schneidermeister) but also a stamp collector. Very interesting.

Fantastic material Gavin.

It is a shame you're not just around the corner instead of the other side of the world. The only other serious German area collector that I knew at our club passed away suddenly in his 60s of a heart attack. He was the one that got me interested in the area.

It is great to be able to share your collection with others that can appreciate the rarity and the difficulty involved in obtaining a lot of this post war material. As you have said the catalogue just doesn't reflect the rarity in the pricing. Hopefully with more information available in English with the release of the second specialised catalogue it will spur on other collectors. I have obtained some digitised copies of reference material and have now been able to solve a couple of mysteries that have been sitting in the front of an album for some time.



This is one of my best items from the Russian zone. Thuringia, block released December 18 1945. Christmas with an anti fascism message. This card was cancelled 24/12/1945. Two different paper types were printed, 12,840 of type t (white to yellowish-grey paper with a fine network structure, 0.06 - 0.08mm) and 32,220 of type x (white to yellowish shaded wood free carton paper (0.09 - 0.11mm): white horizontally applied gum. I think this is type x.

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Always interested in trading German material especially post war period.

Darren,

That's a fantastic item - and clearly NOT one of those 5 Euro fakes that are flooding the market at the moment. I am extremely jealous

From your scan, I think you've identified it correctly as Paper Type x. A "close up" of the detail of one corner of the sheetlet would hopefully be able to confirm that

Storkow Local issue.

Set of 8 Berlin/Brandenburg stamps (7 perforated values + 5pfg rouletted) with mesh overprint/surcharge "+10" [pfg] for the Rebuilding fund.

Storkow

Marginal block of 10 of the 20(+10)pfg value, showing the extent of the net overprint into the margins of the sheet.

Storkow

"Proof" copy of the overprint on white "chrome" paper.

Michel lists proof copies of the overprint in black ink on 4 values of the stamps, and mentions this as follows (my emphasis):



...but it doesn't say what they are, so I'm continuing to call it a "proof" for want of a better description

Moving on to a few more recent acquisitions (did I say I'd been to Stampex and Philatex recently)...

Loebau

Stamp and "partial" gutter (second stamp missing...)

This is clearly identified as a Reprint ("ND") - this combination is known in the original printing but is very rare.

The reprints of these issues are more-or-less contemporary with the "originals", and were done by the postmaster on request from members of the public submitting their unoverprinted stamps.

Meissen

Double Print of the 6pfg value of the "Germany's Destroyer" overprint on Hitler Head definitive.

Detail showing the extent of the double print.

The "normal" overprint is relatively common for these local overprints - 425,000 were issued - but only a small number of sheets show the double overprint.

Netzschkau-Reichenbach - marginal used example of the 8pfg value with Type I overprint.

Finally for tonight, two 15pfg "Trizone" numeral definitives with mis-perforated margins.

Clearly these two stamps came from the same sheet, but one is used (apparently postally, not cto) and the other is unmounted mint.

I suspect a collector has deliberately split the pair, posted one to him/herself and then kept them together as a curio (the alternative is that these co-incidentally ended up in the same dealer's book 50+ years down the track, and that to me is rather too far-fetched). Either way, they've got to be more collectable together than one on it's own would be

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Wolfgang
Papua New Guinea stamps and postal history: http://www.i-ng.org

They do look rather weird don't they!

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My blog, if you're interested: petitmondemoi.blogspot.com

Last night I showed some Storkow Overprints. Just to complete the story from Storkow...

Storkow "definitive" issue.

Issued on 31 January 1946. This issue is notoriously poorly centred and "spectacular perf errors" are more common that well-centred copies (I showed some perf errors earlier in the thread).

These are about as good as they get (which isn't really saying a lot...); clearly the collector chose good examples to get the special cancel.

On the same date (31 January 1946), Storkow also issued a "Souvenir Sheet" for the Victims of Fascism.

This is the first type, on unwatermarked Grey-White coated paper.

Storkow also issued the same Souvenir Sheet on greenish watermarked paper.

This type exists with the points of the triangles in the watermark pointing upwards or downwards.

My example is points downwards ("Watermark X" in Michel-speak)

By an association of ideas, Wittenberg-Lutherstadt was another city which issued a sheet on both white and green papers.

This sheet was issued in September 1946 with a premium for the rebuilding funds, and also to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther.

This issue was classed as a "private creation" and was not authorised for postal use.

This White-Ochre paper version was on gummed paper.

(edit - the sheet is not torn part way down the r.h. side - on examination, it is a coarse wood-fibre in the paper)

The Wittenberg-Lutherstadt Sheet on Blue-Green paper.

This version was issued without gum.

As I said previously, the Wittenberg-Lutherstadt Sheets were not authorised for postage...

...so here's one on cover

They are known with a commemorative cancel / cto, but this one is unusual in that it is cancelled in Oberwiesenthal, the cancel is not Luther-related, and it is Registered.

The "addressee" is a stamp-dealer and there is no backstamp / arrival mark (also the envelope is unopened), so I suspect that this has never been through the post and was a connivance between Herr Hernecek and Herr Postmeister

That's a nice looking cover Gavin. Even if the sheet had been valid in Wittenberg would that validity have extended as far away as Oberwiesenthal on the Czech border?

By the way did you know that Oberwiesenthal is the highest town in Germany?

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Nigel

It never ceases to amaze me what you have in your collection!

I have never come across that last mini sheet cancelled and even the sheets themselves are hard to obtain. The interesting thing is that often these sell for high prices on EBay (well above catalogue value) while you can sometimes pick them up from dealers at a reasonable price as they will work off a percentage of the catalogue value to decide their sell price.

I am at work and now I have to remove the drowl from my keyboard

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Always interested in trading German material especially post war period.

Have you ever considered entering your collection as one of the displays at a stamp fair? If not, there's a suggestion....

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My blog, if you're interested: petitmondemoi.blogspot.com

Nigel,

It possibly would have had equal validity in both places - even though they are about 250-300km apart, I think they would both have been in the same OPD at the time

I hadn't realised how close to the Czech border Oberwiesenthal was until I looked on the map just now, but I guess the Czech-sounding name of the addressee should have been a bit of a clue to me

Darren,

That one came from a continental dealer at the recent London Stampex at a very reasonable price relative to catalogue. I think catalogue values have risen considerably since re-unification for this sort of thing, and a dealer who priced his/her stock a few years ago will always have bargains to be found.

If I recall correctly, the mint Wittenberg sheets were quite inexpensive when I bought them in the 1980s, but catalogue values now are waaaay higher.

Hi, Catweazle,

I've thought about it, but there are a couple of reasons why I've not done it (yet...).

Firstly, most of my collection is kept in Stockbooks, and mounting for display would be a major operation for me and right now I just don't have the time.

Secondly, many exhibitions and competitions would not accept many of these items (for which read ALL the Local Posts, most of the Postmaster Perforations/Roulettes and ALL the Currency Reform Handstamped Overprints) as they are unlisted in many of the major catalogues (eg Gibbons and Scott), and therefore not recognised by organisers as "postage stamps", but classed effectively as "Cinderellas".

That said, I have taken some of this to "Show and Tell" evenings at my local club and generally the reaction there has been positive.

Tonight I want to show a selection of the Hand Overprint issues (Currency Reform, June 1948), which do not meet the "normal" criteria for these issues.

For the history of these issues, see earlier in this thread.

Typically, these issues, of which there are in total over 1,900 different overprints, show the following characteristics:

1. A large two-digit number representing the OPD (Head Post Office)

2. A single-line town name

3. Black, oily ink

4. Gothic script

5. Each overprint on a single stamp

6. Overprint runs diagonally from bottom-left to top-right of the stamp

All the stamps which follow deviate from this norm in one of the following ways:

1. No town name

2. Town name over two lines

3. OPD number smaller than normal

4. Different colour or type of ink is used

5. A single overprint is larger than one stamp

6. Orientation of overprint is not correct.

7. Overprint is not in Gothic script.



First up, a registered cover from Magdeburg. This shows the OPD number "20", but the town name is omitted.

Magdeburg was the largest city to produce an overprint without the town name; this occurred in only a small number of other towns where the handstamp did not include these details.

Set of 16 mint stamps with Magdeburg overprint showing:

1. Purple ink - Over 90% of the Hand Overprints used black, oily ink, though a number of other colours and types of ink exist.

2. No town name (as previous post)

On-piece overprints: 36 (Petershagen) Fredersdorf a

1. Purple ink (see previous post)

2. Two-line town name. Some post offices had a town and sub-district name, such as this one, which meant the Handstamp was configured with an extra line for the second part of the name. Typically (as in this case), the bracketed part of the name was the sub-district and the unbracketed part the main town.

Three mint stamps overprinted 16 Meiningen

The town name in this example uses a smaller script than normal. This was one of the ways in which some of the longer place-names were fitted on the handstamp, thus the overprint would fit on a single stamp.

It should be noted at this point, that the handstamps were NOT produced specifically for this purpose. They existed for many years, certainly pre-war, and their original purpose was for putting the district/office name on documents such as parcel cards. The use of the handstamps to overprint stamps was purely an expedient to re-value the stamps in the Soviet Zone immediately following the announcement of the currency reform.

Overprint for 37 Neubrandenburg c

This is an over-sized overprint that would not fit a single stamp. The diagonal angle is steeper than normal and the full overprint still streches across two stamps.

The typeface is also thicker than the usual format.

Overprint for 16 Poessneck

When I first saw this one, my first instinct was that it was a crude forgery. But on closer examination, the characteristic of this stamp is that the overprint uses "Indian" ink rather than the normal oily post-office ink of these.

I've never seen another like this, but the shape and size of the overprint is absolutely as it should be for this office; my conclusion is that while it may be a forgery it is more likely that the office ran out of post-office ink and the postmaster used what was available (with only a limited degree of success!!!).

Overprint for 14 Rathewalde a

Another oddity - the "14" is bold as expected, but the town name is much fainter than it should be. Possibly caused a worn handstamp - I haven't seen other examples of the Rathewalde overprint to compare. Or possibly a shortage of ink led to the postmaster only inking the number. Or possibly a forgery - we might never know...

Overprint for 14 Dresden 20

An unusual type in a couple of respects:

1. Purple ink - this is a paler purple than the purples usually seen ("usual" being a relative term here...) - compare it to the Magdeburg ones earlier.

2. Use of a Latin script rather than Gothic. Around 90% of types used Gothic, with around 10% Latin.

Overprint for 14 Dresden A19 c

Another shade of purple and another, more "modern" style of Latin script on this one. Also the proportions are different - the OPD number and the town/office name are similar sizes.

Overprint for 27 Chemnitz 1

Corner/marginal example showing dark purple, Latin script overprint. This is more typical of the Latin scripts used than either of the previous Dresden examples.

Overprint for 37 Loecknitz a

1. Large, bold modern Latin typeface.

2. Ink is more charictaristic of newspaper ink than the normal oily post-office inks.

Overprint for 29 (Borne) Schoenebeck

2 line town name with smaller font for second line. Also, the spacing between the OPD and the town name has been reduced compared to the standard.

Two used stamps from 41 Hohenstein-Ernstthal

This is a more typical layout for an overprint with a two-line town name in terms of spacing and sizing.

Obviously these two came off the same envelope (and no, it wasn't me!!!)

Overprint for 16 Camburg a

Horizontal orientation of overprint instead of the normal diagonal.

The diagonal orientation was decreed by the postal administration, but was not always followed, either for practical reasons of fitting the overprint onto the stamp or, more often human error.

As every stamp had to be individually overprinted, there was always likely to be variation caused by inattention, tiredness, boredom, laziness or sheer bloody-mindedness

This one is just plain sloppy - perhaps the postmaster had nipped off for a cup of (probably ersatz) coffee and his junior just couldn't be bothered

Overprint for 3 Berlin 4a

Inverted overprint.

Human error, or a cynical forgery to part the gullible philatelist from his hard-earned

I think this one is genuine - the overprint is right in every characteristic (except that it's inverted...).

2 stamps overprinted 14 Dippoldiswalde

One of the few red overprints seen - after black, purple is the most common colour, with a few red and blue examples known.

Overprint for 14 Freiberg 1

A double strike of the overprint - another example of "human error", either because of an initial under-inking or just caused by the monotonous repetitive nature of the work.

Overprint for 14 Goerlitz 1a

Vertical orientation instead of diagonal; also a good example of a Latin script overprint