Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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o
GIFT OF
Lewis Bealer
THE STAMPS
OF THE
GERMAN STATES
By Bertram W. H. Poole
PART I
"Stamps of the German Empire"
BADEN MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN
BAVARIA MECKLENBURG-STREUTZ
BERGEDORF OLDENBURG
BREMEN PRUSSIA
BRUNSWICK SAXONY
HAMBURG SCHLESWIG-HOISTEIN
HANOVER LUBECK
WURTEMBERG
HANDBOOK NUMBER 6
Price 35c
PUBLISHED BY
MEKEEL-SEVERN-WYLIE CO.
BOSTON, MASS.
i"
THE STAMPS
OF THE
GERMAN EMPIRE
BY
BERTRAM W. H. POOLE
AUTHOR OF
MEKEEL-SEVERN-WYLIE CO.
HANDBOOK No. 6
PUBLISHED BY
MEKEEL-SEVERN-WYLIE CO.
BOSTON, MASS.
GIFT OF
FOREWORD.
In beginning this series of articles
little isrequired in the way of an intro-
ductory note for the title is lucid
enough. I may, however, point out that
these articles are written solely for the
guidance of the general collector, in
which category, of course, all our boy
readers are included. While all im-
portant philatelic facts will be recorded
but little attention will be paid to minor
varieties. Special stress will be laid on
a study of the various designs and all
necessary explanations will be given so
that the lists of varieties appearing in
the catalogues will be plain to the most
inexperienced collector. In the "refer-
ence list," which will conclude each
f >e in-
chapter, only s.ucji s. arfif>s; Hifl
>
BADEN.
The grand-duchy of Baden is a com- in the hands of the house of Thurn
paratively small territory, having an and Taxis but the wars of the French
;
area of 5,821 square miles and a popu- Revolution, followed by those of the
lation of about two millions. It is First Empire, so dislocated the service
bordered by the Rhine on the south and that Baden, in common with some of
west, Wurtemberg on the east, and the other German States, withdrew
Bavaria on the north. Until the early from the Thurn and Taxis monopoly,
part of the 19th century it played an in- and established an independent postal
significant part in European politics, but administration. Since December 31st,
when Austria and Prussia were at war 1871, the separate administration of
it sided with Austria. The results were Baden has ceased to exist, and the
disastrous, for when the tide of battle Post Office is now under the control
turned in favor of Prussia it found it- of the general postal administration
self burdened with a huge war indem- of the German Empire.
nity. It was forced to remodel its army So long as it continued to issue post-
on Prussian lines and join the North age stamps of its own the currency of
German Confederation. In the Franco- Baden was the florin, equal to about 40c,
German war its troops fought on the divided into 60 kreuzer.
German side, and in due time it be-
came a part of the new German Em-
pire. The grand-duchy has three votes
in the Federal Council, and elects four-
teen deputies to the Imperial Diet. The
THE FIRST ISSUE.
M80838
authorities were in a position to pro- sheets of fifty and the other values in
ceed with the manufacture of suitable sheets of one hundred. The additional
labels. It was decided to issue four electrotypes were so added that the
values Ikr, 3kr, 6kr, and 9kr and Mr. horizontal rows contained ten instead
C. Naumann, of Frankfort, was com- of nine specimens.
missioned to engrave the dies while the A well authenticated error of the 9kr
paper was obtained from a local paper- is known this being printed on the
maker. It was decided that the most bluish green paper of the 6kr. It is
economical method would be to print an exceedingly rare stamp and it is pre-
all values in black but use paper of a sumed that only one sheet was printed.
different color for each. Mr. Westoby Reprints of the Ikr, 3kr, and 6kr
states that "the ,die&s were engraved on were made in 1867 and, except to an
copper ui ^relief,- antt ^oheisied of two expert, these are very difficult to dis-
parts: thk numeral of J value; was in the tinguish from originals. The shades
centr^ on,a circular ground, the pattern differ the paper for the Ikr
slightly,
of \wjiifrirJ varfcit 1h; each value; while and 3kr is thicker and the gum is white
the rectangular, frame: was tfyi same for and smooth instead of being brown and
all the values." crackly like the gum on the originals.
At the top we find "Baden" in German Care should, therefore, be exercised in
capitals; at the bottom is "Freimarke", the purchase of unused specimens.
meaning "Free stamp"; at the left is
"Deutsch: Oestr Postverein", signify-
:
ready in August and the paper used Youare hereby informed of a new
for the 3kr and 6kr differed in tint impression of the postage stamps
from that originally used. The color which will be sent you in a few days
of that for the 3kr was yellow and that from the Grand Ducal General Post-
for the 6kr yellow-green. The plates office, in which the colours are
differed also, the reserve cliches being changed, for the 6kr yellow, for the
added, so that the Ikr was printed in 3kr green, and white for the Ikr. All
the Postoffices are informed of these Government was also considering the
changes, in order to render mistakes advisability of replacing its plain nu-
impossible. The new stamps are meral stamps something more
with
not to be sold to the public till the striking. As new were required
plates
stock of the old ones is entirely anyway the time was opportune for a
exhausted. change. In an excellent article appear-
From this notice it is plain that the ing in the Philatelic Record for 1894
new stamps could not have been issued we read
prior to June 3rd, 1853 and as a matter The Postal Administration sent in
of fact none of the values were used its report to the Government of the
until 1854. The Ikr was issued in Jan- Grand Duchy on 21st June, 1859, set-
uary of that year while the other ting forth the necessity of having
values were placed on sale in the fol- fresh plates provided for printing
lowing month. the stamps, as those in use were worn
Later printings were made in 1854, out, and that the question had arisen
1855, and 1857 the colors remaining the whether the design should not be
same. Before the printing of 1857 changed; that the present design was
took place complaint was made of the antiquated; that the printing on col-
difficulty experienced in gumming the ored paper was not clear, nor were
3kr value. The manufacturers attrib- the stamps safe from imitation; that
uted this difficulty to the color of the it would be better that the stamps
paper and recommended paper of a new should be printed on white paper in
tint be used, blue being the color sug- colors according to their values, and,
gested. As, however, a large quantity as was then done elsewhere, the
of the green paper remained in stock country should be denoted by the
and the paper maker would only take head of its Sovereign or its Arms ;
this back as "waste" it was decided to and that in order to render the
use this up before making any change. stamps perfect, secure from imitation,
In 1858 another printing was made and their separation readier, they
and the suggested change of color then should be perforated as in England
took place. No notice of this change and France.
of paper to either public or officials has
report was approved by the Min-
The
been found but from a study of dated and on June 29th, 1859 the Postal
istry
specimens it seems proved that the blue administration was authorised to obtain
3kr was issued in December, 1858.
the necessary dies for the new issue;
All four varieties were reprinted in
1867 and, like the reprints of the 1851
to purchase white paper for printing
the stamps; "to furnish the outer edges
issue made at the same time, their de-
of the stamps with perforation, so as
tection is a difficult matter only possible
to facilitate their separation," and not
to one who has made a special study
to print any more stamps in the old
of the stamps. The paper of the Ikr
and 3kr is thicker than that used for designs but to use up all existing
the originals, the shades of all four supplies.
are slightly different, and the gum is
From motives of economy it was de-
white and smooth. cided to join with Wurtemberg in the
purchase of a perforating machine.
Reference List.
This was obtained from Vienna at a
1854-58. Imperforate. cost of 1200 florins ($480.00) and set up
5. Ikr black, Scott's No. 6. at Carlsruhe for the joint use of both
6. 3kr black on green, Scott's No. 7.
7. 3kr black on blue, Scott's No. 9. States.
8. 6kr black on yellow, Scott's No. 8. Immediate steps were taken to pro-
cure suitable dies for the new issue
and a specification detailing what was
THE THIRD ISSUE. required was sent to two engravers
Ludwig Kurz, of Frankfort, and Fried-
After the last printing of the numeral erich Eckard, of Carlsruhe. According
stamps, which took place in 1859, the to this specification the design was to
electrotypes had become so worn that l
be a square of 7 /2 Baden lines, or 23^2
it was evident new sets would have to
mm., there was to be one original die
be made for all values before further on steel or copper for each value, and
printing could take place. The neigh- from each of these 110 electrotypes
bouring kingdom of Wurtemberg had were to be made "of the thickness of
adopted a new design showing the a Baden copper kreutzer" and mounted
Arms of the State and as other on metal. It was stipulated that proofs
countries were contemplating the should be sent and that the engraving
adoption of more elaborate designs it should be corrected if required. The
is hardly surprising that the Baden engravers were desired to specify the
price at which they would undertake formed that the following colors had
the work. With each specification a been chosen: "For the Ikr, good Eng-
carefully executed drawing of the pro- lish black printer's ink; for the 3kr,
posed design in Indian ink was en- Berlin blue; for the 6kr, dark chrome
closed. Quoting from the article in the yellow; and for the 9kr, light Munich
Philatelic Record again we read: cochineal lake. He was directed to
The engraver Eckard declined to make special efforts to keep the tints
in the various printings quite uniform
undertake the order under the con-
but on the 15th July, an order to which he paid no particu-
ditions,' Ludwig Plain white wove paper
lar attention.
Kurz, of Frankfort, offered to under-
take the work at the price of 10 was used for this issue and, the question
florins for each die, and 48kr for of gumming being under consideration,
each of the 110 electro-casts of each half of the first supply was gummed
value. The cost of the whole would with an Austrian adhesive matter made
therefore be 392 florins ($156.80)'. of bone-glue, and the other half was
The order was given to Kurz on 24th gummed with the mucilage used in Sax-
August, 1859, and in October follow- ony a mixture of Syriac gum and
ing he sent in a proof of the 3kr glycerine. The latter was found the
Some alterations were ordered most satisfactory and it was used for
stamp.
to be made, and on 8th November all subsequent supplies. The perforat-
he was informed that he might pro- ing machine gave a gauge of 13 2 and
l
/
ceed with the other original dies. was so constructed that an entire sheet
On the 23rd November he sent proofs of 100 stamps could be perforated at
of the 1, 3, 6, and 9kr, and he then once.
with the The Ikr and 3kr were the first values
proceeded electro-casts,
which he delivered by the 23rd Decem- to be printed and these appear to have
ber 111 of each value, except that been in use as early as June 1860,
of the 3kr, of which he delivered 110. though the catalogues give the date of
issue as 1861. As there were large
Kurz states that he engraved the stocks of the old 6kr and 9kr numeral
original dies on copper in relief with
the aid of aquafortis and that the draw-
stamps, which it was decided to use up,
the corresponding values of the Arms
ing from which he worked was fur-
type were not in use until fairly late
nished by Herr Klimsch, of Frankfort. in 1861 while they were not in general
circulation throughout the grand-duchy
until the following year. There were
several printings of all values resulting
in several strikingly different shades for
the 3kr and 6kr. Of the former a print-
ing in Prussian blue is distinctly rare
unused.
In 1862 the perforating machine was
overhauled and fitted with a new set
of punches which gave a gauge of 10
The design shows the Arms of Baden 1
in place of the previous IS /^. The ex-
with supporters within a square frame act date at which this took place is not
on a horizontally lined ground. In the known but it was sometime between
upper border "BADEN" is shown; in March and June. Supplies of all stamps
the lower "KREUZER" preceded by a printed in June or later are, therefore,
numeral appears at the left reading
; perforated 10.
upwards is "FREIMARKE" (Free In March 1861 the Prussian Postal
stamp) and at the right reading down-
; Administration addressed a circular to
wards is "POSTVEREIN" (Postal the various States forming the German
Union). All the inscriptions are in un- Austrian Postal Union proposing that
colored Egyptian capitals on a solid uniform colors should be adopted for
ground, and the angles are filled with stamps of the same or corresponding
rosaces. The plates consisted of 100 values. This applied only to the stamps
electrotypes arranged in ten horizontal in use for the three rates of postage
rows of ten, the extra cliches being equivalent to 1, 2, and 3sgr, and so far
held in reserve in case any of the others as Baden was concerned this affected
became worn or damaged. all but the Ikr. The colors decided on
In February, 1860, the printer, Has- were rose for the 3kr, blue for the 6kr,
per, was asked to submit color trials of and brown for the 9kr. Baden agreed
the various denominations. This order to the proposition which came into ef-
he complied with and, as they were not fect just prior to the alteration of the
approved, he submitted further ones gauge of the perforating machine.
later on. On March 22nd, he was in- About this period, too, some modifica-
tion of the design was under discussion. ready for use early in August 1861 but
Following the many changes round as only the 3kr was immediately neces-
about this date in strict chronological sary Hasper was instructed to prepare
order is likely to result in confusion 110 cliches for the new plate for this
and it will, therefore, be simpler to denomination. A first printing of the
deal, first of all, with the changes as 3kr in the new type was ordered late
they affected the stamps of the type in 1861 and a first delivery of 2000
with lined background. None of the sheets was made in March 1862. These
3kr stamps in the new rose color were stamps arrived at the period when the
printed in this type for reasons we shall overhauling of the perforating machine
detail later on. Although supplies of had been decided on but there was such
the 6kr and 9kr in the new colors of urgent need for 3kr stamps that this
blue and brown respectively were or- supply was perforated before the new
dered in December 1861, none appear punches were fitted. We thus find the
to have been delivered until the sum- 3kr of this issue perforated 13^ as
mer of 1862. Notwithstanding this well as 10 like the other values. With
1
fact an official notification of the change the 13 /2 gauge the stamp is quite a
of colors was made to postmasters on rarity unused and fairly scarce used.
Jan. 29th, 1862, and this has thus We have already referred to the fact
(though erroniously) been frequently that the dies for the Ikr, 6kr and 9kr
stated as the date of issue. As a matter had the background removed in 1861
of fact the 6kr could not have been but it was not until the close of the year
used earlier than August, 1862, while 1863 that Hasper found it necessary to
the 9kr does not appear to have been construct plates from the altered dies.
in general circulation until the follow- He now made 110 cliches of each value
ing year. .to be ready for the printing of 1864
Reference List. though none of the new 6kr were de-
1860-63. No Watermark. Perf. 13% or 10. livered until April of that year while
9. Ikr black, Scott's No. 10 or 15. the Ikr and 9kr were not supplied un-
10. 3kr
6kr
blue, Scott's No. 11 or No. 12. til June. On the 17th of June, 1864,
11. orange, Scott's No. 13 or 13a. a circular was sent to the various post-
12. 6kr blue, Scott's No. 16.
13. 9kr rose, Scott's No. 14. offices stating that the new postage
14. 9kr brown, Scott's No. 17 or 17a. stamps of 6 and 9 kreuzer, with plain
background, would be supplied from the
General Post Store in the next quarter,
and the Ikr stamps of similar design
THE FOURTH ISSUE. in the following quarter. From this
order it is evident the 6kr and 9kr could
After the printing of the 3kr stamps not have been in use prior to July or
in June 1861 it was found that, although the Ikr until October 1864. Other print-
little more than 60,000 sheets had been
ings took place later on and as the
supplied from first to last, the cliches printer apparently made no special en-
had become too badly worn to be of deavor to keep the colors of the print-
further use. As a new set was neces-
ing inks uniform quite a wide range of
sary advantage was taken of this fact shades may be found in all except the
to ascertain whether a modification of Ikr denomination. Of these the rarest
the design would not improve the ap- is the 6kr in a Prussian blue like that
pearance of the stamps. Kurz was sup- of the similar tint found in connection
plied with two of the cliches to see with the 3kr of the preceding issue.
what he could do and from one of these The 3kr is known imperforate while
he removed every alternate line of the the 9kr in the bistre shade has been
background and from the other he found printed on both sides.
erased the lines entirely so that the We now retrace our steps a little to
Arms stood out on a plain rectangle. 1861 when the alteration of design and
The latter was considered such an im- change of colors was under discussion.
provement that the original dies of all In the same year a desire was expressed
four values were returned to Kurz for for stamps of a higher value than 9kr,
attention. The renovated dies were the first step being taken by the Cham-
ber of Commerce of Mannheim, who
proposed to the Baden Ministry of
Commerce that 18kr and 30kr stamps
should be created. Although the use of
the then current 12kr and 18kr en-
velopes had been very restricted the
Ministry decided to introduce 18kr and
30kr labels and Kurz was commissioned
to supply the necessary dies for these
values. The dies, which were in the stock of the 18kr was, therefore, with-
design with plain background, were de- drawn and destroyed as we have already
livered on October, 28th, 1861, and Has- stated. It was decided to issue a 7kr
per at once proceeded to make the stamp as recommended and Maier an
cliches for the printing plates. The engraver of Carlsruhe was entrusted
colors decided on were green for the with the task of preparing the die. As
18kr and cinnabar-red for the 30kr. the inscription "POSTVEREIN," on
After a small number of sheets of the the right-hand side of the frame, no
higher value had been printed Hasper longer applied, the word "FREI-
reported that "the cinnabar-red was not MARKE" was subsituted. It will be
fit for printing from galvano-plastic noted that the inscriptions are in thicker
plates, as the quicksilver acted injuri- type than before (especially as regards
ously on the copper." He was conse- "BADEN") and the value at foot is
quently ordered to print this value in contracted to "KR". The work is al-
orange for the future. Whether the together much inferior to that of Kurz.
stamps in cinnabar-red were placed in At the same time it was decided to
use or not is not certain. Westoby alter the designs of the Ikr and 3kr to
lists it as
haying been issued and if correspond with the new 7kr. It would
his statement is correct the stamps in appear that Maier only engraved one
this color must be of extreme rarity. matrix, with the numerals of value
Other printings were made from time omitted, and from this the three sec-
to time though neither of the values ondary dies required were constructed.
seems to have been in very great de- Although the new rates were effective
mand. The total quantity of 18kr printed as and from January 1st, 1868, the 7kr
was 315,200 and of these 151,012 were de- stamps were not ready for issue until
stroyed in July, 1870 as the new postal October and the modified Ikr and 3kr
rates made the value absolutely useless. were issued about the same time. An
The total supply of the 30kr stamps official notice, dated September 1868,
numbered 430,400 and though compara- was circulated to the post-masters inti-
tivelyfew were used, and the stamp mating them of the change of design,
viz
is rare in this condition, it is common :
BAVARIA.
Bavaria, or Bayern, is a kingdom of Rhaetia, Vindelicia, and Noricum. On
the German Empire, consisting of two the breakup of the Roman power, the
detached portions the smaller being country, occupied by the Teutonic tribe
west of the Rhine, between Alsace- of Baguwarians (Bavarians) at the
Lorraine, Rhineland and Hesse-Darm- close of the 5th century, was ruled
stadt; and the larger east of the Rhine, by dukes, first elective, then hereditary.
between, Bohemia, Austria, Switzerland, After a struggle of two hundred .
treaty of Utrecht (1713) the elector 1. From the 1st November next
was re-instated in his dominions. There- the prepayment matter
of sent
after Bavaria oscillated between the by post in the interior of Ba-
French and German alliance, being in- varia must be effected exclusive-
vaded (1796) by Moreau, who occu- ly by stamps, which the Postal
pied Munich; siding with Napoleon I., Administration is entitled to sell
who created Maximilian Joseph I. a according to Art. VII of the
king (1805-6) and, subsequently, se-
; Royal Ordinance of June 5th; and
cured in her new dignity by the allies, for the correspondence, the marking
helping to overthrow her benefactor of the postage on the seal-side of the
(1813). In 1866 Bavaria sided with letter, prescribed up till now, must
Austria in the Austro-Prussian war, be stopped.
and had to pay the penalty of its choice 2. The stamps intended for the
in the shape of an indemnity and the prepayment bear the figures of the
cession of territory to Prussia. single rates, according to the new
In 1886 the throne of Bavaria passed tariff for the interior of Bavaria, of
to Otto Wilhelm Luitpold who, how- 1 kreuzer in black, of 3 kreuzer in
ever, owing to mental incapacity has blue, and of 6 kreuzer in brown-red
never taken any active part in the gov- colors. Each stamp of the last two
ernment of his kingdom. His uncle, kinds carries in itself a red silk
Prince Leopold, was appointed Regent thread running from top to bottom,
and was virtually ruler until the time as evidence of its genuineness.
of his death a few months ago at the The design, common to all three
advanced age of 90 years.
values, shows a double lined numeral,
Although Bavaria became a member ornamented with arabesques, within a
of the German Empire in 1870, she re-
square frame. In the top border is
tained certain independent privileges, "BAYERN" (Bavaria), in. the bottom
amongst them being the sole control of one is "FRANCO" (Free), at the right
her postal system. Bavaria is the only
own
is "KREUZER", and at the left the
German State to still issue its dis-
value in words "EIN", "DREI", or
tinctive stamps for Wurtem-
postage "SECHS". In the small squares in the
berg, which for a long period also is-
angles the value is denoted in figures on
sued its own stamps, relinquished the a checkered ground. The large central
privilege on April 1st, 1902.
numeral on the Ikr is on a ground of
Bavaria was the first of the German mazework which occupies the whole of
States to adopt adhesive postage stamps, the interior square. In the case of the
its pioneer labels appearing in 1849. 3kr and 6kr the numerals are on a circu-
From that date until 1876 the currency lar ground of solid color, this circle be-
of the kingdom was the florin of 60
ing flattened where it meets the inner
kreuzer worth about 40c in United lines of the border, thus causing the
States money. In 1876 the Imperial
type generally known as "broken circle."
currency of pfennige and marks was The spandrels, or spaces in the angles,
adopted. are filled with arabesque ornamentation.
The designs were drawn by Mr. P.
Haseney, and the dies were engraved
THE FIRST ISSUE. on steel by Mr. F. J. Seitz, of Munich.
The printing plates were constructed of
An ordinance of King Maximilian, separate blocks or cliches struck from
dated June 5th, authorised the
1849, the original dies and clamped together
issue of postage stamps and fixed the in a printer's chase. For the plate of
rates of postage. Local letters and the Ikr the casts were taken in ordinary
10
type-metal there being ninety of these Gibbons prices it at $30. The Ikr is
in all, arranged in ten horizontal rows recorded as existing in a tete-beche
of nine. The printing plates for the pair but whether this is a true tete-
3kr and 6kr also consisted of ninety beche, caused by the inversion of one
impressions but these were arranged in of the cliches on the plate, or due to
two panes of 45 each (nine rows of two impressions (one upside down in
five) placed side by side. The cliches relation to the other) being printed on
for these values were struck in brass the same sheet of paper, I cannot say.
at the Mint and these impressions were The 6kr stamp of this issue is an ex-
soldered on to bars of iron in rows of ceedingly rare variety unused. The 3kr
five. The stamps were printed by Mr. may be found in a number of distinctive
J. G. Weiss, of Munich. shades of which the deeper tints are
The Ikr was printed on ordinary much the rarer.
white wove paper, but for the other two There are no reprints of these stamps.
denominations a special greyish-white
paper was employed, in the fabric of i BAYERN I
Jtheninety stamps arranged in two panes The die was probably engraved by
of forty-five each. Only 2000 sheets Seitz and the plate was constructed by
were printed from this new plate when the ordinary electrotype process. It
it was decided to alter the color and consisted of two panes placed side by
also to adopt a design conforming to side. Each pane was composed of 45
that of the other denominations. These casts arranged in nine rows of five,
later impressions of the Ikr taken from with vertical and horizontal lines be-
the brass plate can be distinguished by tween them, and a single line around
the greater sharpness and clearness of the whole. The plate was backed with
the design. The color is also a more type metal so as to render it quite solid.
intense black than that used for the The color chosen was yellow green but
earlier printings. a printing was made in a pale blue
The Ikr is known with silk thread in green a shade that is of considerable
the paper. This variety is a proof or rarity unused. The stamps were im-
essay but that it is of considerable perforate and printed on the paper with
rarity may be judged from the fact that silk threads.
11
Anofficial notice, dated October 1st, groschen, will be printed in blue in-
1850, announced that the color of the stead of brown.
1 kreuzer stamp would be changed from The 9 kreuzer, equivalent to 15
black to rose. But not only was the Austrian neugroschen or 3 silber-
color changed but the design was groschen, will be printed in light
altered to conform with that of the brown instead of green.
other denominations. It was similar to The colors of the remaining values
that of the 9kr; the circle being com- will be altered from the same date as
plete and not intercepted by the inner follows :
lines of the inscribed border. The The 1 kreuzer, from rose to yellow.
plate was made by the same process, The 12 kreuzer, from red to green.
the sheets consisted of ninety stamps The 18 kreuzer, from yellow to
in two panes as in the case of the 9kr, vermilion red.
and the same silk-thread paper was The change in the colors of the 3, 6,
used. and 9 kreuzer was made so that these
A
new plate was also constructed for denominations would correspond to
the 6kr, this likewise having the circu- those of the other signatories to the
lar ground complete. At what date German-Austrian postal union and this,
this was brought into use is uncertain of course, necessitated the changes in
but probably some time in 1851. the other values to prevent confusion.
On July 19th, 1854, a Government The exact dates of issue of the new
notice was
issued intimating that a varieties is not known. All we know
stamp of higher value than 9kr would is that the stamps in the new colors
be issued for the general convenience were placed on sale as the stocks in
of the public, and on August 1st fol- the former tints became exhausted.
lowing, an 18kr stamp made its ap- The stamps were printed from the
pearance. In design, method of manu- same plates as before and in most of
facture, etc., this value corresponds to them considerable variation of shade
those already described.
may be found. The 6kr in ultramarine
A postal convention between Bavaria is a rare shade worth looking for.
and France came into operation on This completes the history of the
July 1st, 1858, it being mutually agreed "numeral" stamps of Bavaria but be-
that the postage on a letter not exceed- fore dealing with the later issues it will
ing 10 grammes in weight should be be as well to refer to certain varieties,
12kr. A
new stamp representing this
printed in black on colored paper, so
rate was placed on sale in Bavaria on that there may be no misunderstanding
the day the new convention came into as to their status should any of our
force, the design corresponding to readers come across them. We can best
that of the other values then current.
do this by reprinting the following para-
The 3kr underwent no change either
graph from the Philatelic Record:
of design or color so this denomination
It was the custom in Bavaria to
does not exist with completed circle.
As it was in use from 1849 until 1862 make up the stamps for the supply of
be found a wide range of the post-offices into packets of fifty
it may in
shades. sheets, and these were placed in cov-
ers of various colored paper, on which
Reference* List. a copy of the stamp, with the number
1850-58. A silk thread in the paper. Imperf. of sheets and stamps in the packet,
4. Ikr rose, Scott's No. 5.
5. 6kr brown, Scott's No. 3.
was printed in black. No order for
6. 9kr green, Scott's No. 6, or No. 6a. this is found among the official docu-
7. 12kr red, Scott's No. 7. ments relating to the earlier issues,
8. 18kr yellow, Scott's No. 8.
but the system continued in use till
the close of the numeral issues.
During the period which commenced
subsequently to the issue of the 1
THE THIRD ISSUE. kreuzer, type II, down to October,
1862, the color of the paper for the
An official notice, dated July 6th, 1 kreuzer was gray, that for the 3
1862, announced that on October 1st kreuzer was blue, that for the 6
following, various changes would be kreuzer was brown, that for the 9
made in the colors of the different kreuzer was green, that for the 12
values, viz.
kreuzer was red, and that for the
The
3 kreuzer, taken as equivalent 18 kreuzer was yellow. The stamps
to Austrian neugroschen or 1 sil-
5 impressed on the covers had no postal
bergroschen, will for the future be value whatever, and were simply
printed in rose instead of blue. printed on the covers as an indication
The 6 kreuzer, equivalent to 10 of the particular value of the stamps
Austrian neugroschen or 2 silber- contained in them.
12
Reference List. The substitution of an elegant de-
1862. A silk thread in the paper. Imperf. sign like this for the existing prosaic
9. Ikr yellow, Scott's No. 9. figure, is matter for congratulation.
10. 3kr rose, Scott's No. 10. That a stamp may be ornamental as
11. 6kr blue, Scott's No. 11. well as useful, is a proposition which
1 9kr bistre, Scott's No. 12.
13. 12kr green, Scott's No. 13.
most postal administrations now show
14. 18kr red, Scott's No. 14, or No. 14a. their acquiescence in. Economic rea-
sons are, we fear, too much in favor
of armorial bearings as a device for
stamps; but for our part, while ac-
THE FOURTH ISSUE. knowledging the excellence of the
change from figures to arms, we must
The adoption of a new design for the
confess we should prefer to see the
of Bavaria evidently involved
stamps features of foreign sovereigns on a
much serious consideration for, though larger number of stamps than at
the idea was mooted in the early part of
present bear them. The objection to
1865 and proofs were actually existent the employment of our own Queen's
twelve months later, it was not until
effigy on her colonial stamps, that
January 1st, 1867, that the stamps were the frequent repetition is monotonous
really issued. The approaching change and tiresome, would not hold good in
was 'announced by means of a Govern-
respect to continental monarchs, over
ment Notice dated December 14th, 1866, whose dominions the sun sets in the
the salient provisions of which were as
ordinary course of nature.
follows :
13
to avoid confusion with the 7kr. These would be made and issued as soon as
new varieties were placed on sale on existing stocks of the old series were
October 1st and a month later the 9kr exhausted. It was stated that the paper
was withdrawn from use and the 6kr would no longer contain the red silk
in the old color of blue was demonetised. threads and that the stamps would have
The new 7kr value was similar in de- the edges indented, but no mention was
sign, impression, and paper to the other made of the watermark. The stamps
denominations of the series. were ready for issue on July 1st, and
All values of this issue are said to were placed on sale just as quickly as
exist on laid paper and as such are re- the corresponding values of the im-
corded in Scott's catalogue. M. Moens, perforate series were sold out. The
in a note in his catalogue observed same plates were used, and the same
that "the paper is found with fine lines colors were retained, the differences be-
resembling laid paper." It seems quite ing confined to the watermark and per-
certain that J:he variety is not a true foration. The watermark consisted of
laid paper but is merely due to some a number of crossed lines forming a dia-
slight imperfection in manufacture. mond pattern generally known as
The and "wove" varieties may
"laid" "lozenges." There are two varieties of
be found on the same sheet and the this watermark in one of which the
former is generally considered of such diamonds or lozenges are 17 mm. wide,
minor importance as to be hardly while in the other they are narrower
worthy the attention of even an ex- and only measure 14 mm. in width.
treme specialist. It would, therefore, Gibbons catalogues both varieties in
appear that the "laid" paper varieties
full applying much higher prices to the
are hardly worthy of catalogue rank. variety with narrower lozenges. Both,
Most of the stamps of this issue pro- however, occurred on the same sheet
vide considerable variation in shade. so that the philatelic importance of the
differences is not particularly great. The
paper was intended to be horizontally
laid but on the majority of specimens
it is exceedingly difficult to find any
trace of the laid lines, though they are
generally quite plain on the margins of
the sheets. This appears to be due to
the fact that the intersecting lines form-
ing the lattice watermark were so much
heavier than the "laid" lines on the
ference List. dandy roll that they received most of
1867-68. Embossed. Silk thread in paper.
the pressure and, consequently, while
Imperf. they were deeply indented into the paper
15. Ikr green, Scott's No. 15 or 15a. the horizontal lines of wire to which
16. 3kr rose, Scott's No. 16. they were stitched made no impression
17. 6kr blue, Scott's No. 17.
18. 6kr bistre, Scott's No. 21. at all. The paper is, therefore, best de-
19. 7kr blue, Scott's No. 22. scribed as wove.
20. 9kr bistre, Scott's No. 18. As the same"" plates were used as for
21. 12kr mauve, Scott's No. 19.
the 1867-68 series it follows that the
22. 18kr red, Scott's No. 20.
stamps were printed in sheets of sixty
divided into two panes of thirty each.
The perforating machine was so con-
THE FIFTH ISSUE. structed that an entire pane of thirty
stamps was perforated at one opera-
Although, as we have previously ob- tion, the gauge being 11^2.
served, Bavaria was the first of the Ger- In 1872 certain revisions were made
man States to issue postage stamps it in the postal tariff a Post-office Notice
was the last to make use of any provi- dated November 30th, stating that for
sion for their easy separation. This was the future the rate on single letters to
apparently due to the fact that the silk- France, Great Britain, Norway, Portu-
thread paper was considered such an ex- gal, Spain, Constantinople, and the
cellent safeguard against counterfeiting United States via Bremen or Hamburg,
that the authorities were
to give loth would be 9 kreuzer and that the rate
;
All these articles, which were with- resting on a scroll pattern base. Above
drawn from use on January 1st, 1876, the crown is "BAYERN" in a curve,
have been stamped with an oblitera- and under the base "MARK" in large
tion dated June 30th of that year; no capitals, the whole being embossed on a
reprints will be made; offers may be ground of solid color. In each of the
submitted for the whole stock, for the four corners the value is expressed
whole of one or more kinds, or for by a large "1" embossed in white on a
fixed quantities of different kinds disc of horizontal lines.
separately. Offers must be sent in The plate was constructed in the
by January 1st, 1867, after which the same way as those for the other values
Government will announce its deci- but consisted of fifty stamps arranged in
sion. Preference will be given to the five horizontal rows of ten. The same
largest offers. watermarked paper was used but as
Xo account will be taken of tenders the stamps were of extra large size
submitted by firms or individuals who (measuring 25 mm. by 21 mm.) the im-
have no domicile in Germany or Aus- pression fell very irregularly over the
tria-Hungary, unless they are vouched watermark, the paper, of course, being
for by some firm domiciled in Bavaria, originally intended for stamps of much
and of sufficiently high standing. smaller size.
The entire lot was purchased by Mr. The stamp was at first issued imper-
G. Zedmeyer, of Nuremberg, though forate as the only perforating machine
the price paid was not made public. available was not adapted for use on
The lot included the following remain- such large stamps. A new machine was
ders of the issue we are now discuss- ordered capable of perforating an entire
ing: sheet of fifty stamps at a time and on
6kr bistre, 171,600 April 1st, 1875, the perforated stamps
9kr pale brown, 174,000
made their appearance. The gauge is
12kr mauve, similar to that of the lower values, viz.
3,000
15
THE SEVENTH ISSUE. "The stamps will be issued:
Value of 3 pfennige in light green.
Towards the close of the year 1875 5 dark green.
a change was made in the watermark 10
'
carmine red.
of the paper, the crossed lines being 20 blue.
superseded by a uniform pattern of un- 25 red-brown.
dulating lines (placed horizontally) set
'
50 vermilion red.
8^2 mm. apart. The paper was hori- 1 mark in violet.
zontally laid but as the watermark made 2 marks in orange yellow.
such a heavy impression the laid lines
of the paper are frequently impossible
The new stamps, like that of 1 mark,
will be embossed with the Royal Arms
to detect. The same paper was used
in oval shields, with the supporters
for the envelopes and wrappers which
up to that time had been printed on
and crown, and the name BAYERN
above the crown in white on a colored
plain paper. The same plates were used
as for printing issue five and the colors ground. The value of the stamps will
be expressed in figures in relief in the
and perforation also correspond to that
four angles, and the denomination
series. The 1, 3, 7, 10, and 18 kreuzer
values were printed on this paper and
PFENNIG or MARK in relief under
the Arm?
were placed on sale some time in No-
The postage stamps with value in
vember, 1875. They had but a short
life, for on January 1st, 1876, they were
pfennig are of the same size as those
of the former issue in kreuzer, and
withdrawn and replaced by a new series
will be delivered to the Post-offices in
with values in Imperial currency.
sheets of 60. Those of 2 marks are
Among the remainders sold in 1876 of the same size as those of 1 mark,
the following quantities of the stamps
of the issue under notice were included:
and will be delivered in sheets of 50."
Ikr green, 942,000 The original dies for the new series
3kr rose, 1,470,000 were engraved on steel by Herr P.
7kr blue, 321,000 Reiss at the Mint of Munich and the de-
lOkr yellow, 120,000 sign of the lower values, as will be un-
18kr red, 99,000 derstood from the above description, is
very similar to that of the 1 mark of
1874 but on a smaller scale. The die
for the 2 marks was a subsidiary one
made by taking an impression from the
1 mark and altering the corner numerals.
The plates were of similar size to those
of the preceding issue and they were
constructed in a similar manner.
The paper was watermarked with the
undulating lines placed %y2 mm. apart
Reference List. as in the case of the stamps of 1875 and,
1875. Wmk. undulating horizontal lines. while it was apparently intended to be
Perf. \\yz .
laid, the "laid" lines are very faint or
33. Ikr green, Scott's No. 33. fail to show at all. This, as already ex-
34. 3kr rose, Scott's No. 34.
7kr No. plained, was due to the greater pressure
35. blue, Scott's 35.
36. lOkr yellow, Scott's No. 3G.
exerted on the pulp by the watermarked
37. 18kr red, Scott's No. 37. lines sewn on the dandy-roll. There was
such a large supply of the 1 mark stamps
on hand that it was not until 1879 it was
THE EIGHTH ISSUE. necessary to print this value on the paper
watermarked with wavy lines.
Until the close of the year 1875 all In consequence of the similarity of
the stamps issued in Bavaria, with the color of the 3pf and 5pf it was decided
single exception of the 1 mark value to change the latter and on December
issued in 1874, had the values expressed 4th, 1878, a Post-office Notice was pub-
in South German currency but, with the lished announcing the issue of the 5
idea of creating greater uniformity, the pfennige stamp in violet and at the same
Imperial currency of marks and pfennige time it was stated that the color of the 50
was introduced on January 1st, 1876. pfennige would be changed from ver-
This, of course, necessitated the issue of milion to dark brown. The new stamps
new stamps and particulars of the new were ready on January 1st following and
series were announced in a Post-office they were sold as the stocks of the old
Notice dated December 9th, 1875. We colors were used up.
take the following summary of its con- The same perforating machines one
tents from the Philatelic Record: for the pfennig and one for the mark
16
values were used as before, both 51. 20pf blue, Scott's No. 51.
52. 25pf bistre-brown, Scott's No. 52.
gauging ll /2
l
.
53. 50pf brown, Scott's No. 53.
The 1 mark stamp of this series is an 54. 1 mark mauve, Scott's No. 54.
.">. 2 mark orange, Scott's No. 55.
extremely rare variety unused, though
in used condition it is comparatively
common.
'
various denominations and it also gave
48. 3pf green, Scott's No. 48.
49. 5pf mauve, Scott's No. 40. the 5pf its proper Postal Union tint.
50. lOpf carmine, Scott's No. 50. These new varieties were placed on sale
17
as the stocks of the old ones were used Reference List.
in- 1903. Wmk. vertical zig-zag lines close to-
up. Their actual date of issue is gether. Perf. Iiy2 .
ready shown the 14 l/2 and 11^ machines 3pf brown on drab, Scott's No. 77.
used from 1888 and 1881 respectively 78. 5pf green on green, Scott's No. 78.
were of the harrow kind and could, 79. lOpf carmine on buff, Scott's No. 79.
80. 20pf blue on blue, Scott's No. 80.
therefore, only be used for stamps and 81. 25pf chocolate on buff, Scott's No. 81.
sheets of the size for which they were Wmk. vertical zig-zag lines. Perf. 11 l/^.
constructed. The values from 3 to 25pf 82. 30pforange on buff, Scott's No. 82.
are of the same size as the lower values 83. 40pfolive on buff, Scott's No. 83.
of the preceding issue and it is evident 84. 50pfmarone on drab, Scott's No. 84.
the 14 /2 harrow machine was used for
l 85. GOpfdeep green on buff.
86. 80pfviolet on drab, Scott's No. 85.
these; the 30pf to 80pf stamps are of 87. 1m brown on drab, Scott's No. 86.
the same size as the mark stamps of the 88. 2m green on green, Scott's No. 87.
Arms design and doubtless the old 11^2 89. 3m crimson on buff, Scott's No. 88.
90. 5m deep blue on buff, Scott's No. 89.
harrow machine was utilised for these ; 91. 10m orange on yellow, Scott's No. 90.
but the mark stamps were too large for 92. 20m chocolate on yellow, Scott's No. 91.
either of the existing perforating ma-
chines and a new one, possibly a single
line machine was used. We are not
THE FIFTEENTH ISSUE.
quite positive on the point as we have
only single stamps to refer to but a In June, 1911, two stamps were issued
single-line machine was certainly used for use in the kingdom of Bavaria com-
for the next issue in which the stamps
memorative of the twenty-fifth anni-
are of the same large size.
versary of the Regency of Prince Leo-
A 60pf value in the same design as pold. The portrait is somewhat simi-
the others was added to the series in
lar to that of the pfennig values of the
October, 1911, Bavaria, in accordance
birthday set this being enclosed by a
with its usual policy following Ger-
large wreath held on each side by cupids.
many's lead in the issue of new values. The dates "1886-1911" are shown on the
The 5pf and^ lOpf values are known in wreath and in the lower angles are the
tete-beche pairs these being from sheets
figures "5" or "10" to denote the value.
printed for binding in book form. The The name "BAYERN" is shown on a
same values may also be found with ad-
straight tablet between the figures. Each
vertisements attached, these also being value is printed in three colors and they
from sheets intended for binding into
aresomewhat extraordinary productions.
stamp booklets. Most of the values The background is black, the ribbons
exist in several pronounced shades.
binding the wreath are yellow, and the
Prince Leopold died in the closing
rest of the design is green for the opf
weeks of 1912 and was succeeded as Re- and red for the lOpf. They have a
gent by his son, Prince Ludwig. So far crude cheap-looking appearance that is
19
all the more marked on comparison 1. All letters to be considered as
with the delicate workmanship charac- local correspondence which either:
terising the contemporary birthday (a) are to be delivered in the town
series. of the distributing office itself, or in
The stamps are said to have been in the Rural post district belonging
use only a limited time. They were thereto, or
printed on unwatermarked paper and (b) are dispatched from a place
l
perf. lI 2 /
These two labels conclude
.
in the Rural post district to the post
Bavaria's philatelic history to date. town itself, or to another place in
the said Rural post district.
2. The stamps to be used for such
unfranked correspondence, instead of
marking the amount in writing, bear
the value 3kr (the single duty for de-
livery in the Local or Rural post dis-
trict), printed in black, on white
paper, with a red silk thread running
through it sideways.
For correspondence which exceeds
the weight payable by a single Tax
Stamp, as many Postage Due stamps
List.
must be used to make up the amount
Reference
which pays for that weight according
June, 1911, No. wmk. Perf
to the tariff.
93. 5pf green, yellow and black, Scott's
No. 92. 3. In the case of letters posted in
94. lOpf carmine, yellow and black, Scott's the post town the Postage Due stamps
No. 93. shall be affixed by the distributing of-
ficer, in the case of letters handed to
the postman in the Rural post district
THE POSTAGE DUE STAMPS. for delivery, by the postman; in all
The first postage due stamps for cases on the side bearing the address,
Bavaria were set up from ordinary after the manner of postage stamps.
printer's type; the next issue was Omission to use the stamps not only
printed from plates made by the stereo- gives every recipient of local corre-
type process from "dies" set from type; spondence the right to refuse the de-
and since 1876 stamps of the Arms type, mand for payment, but will also be
printed in grey or greenish-grey, have followed by commensurate penal pro-
been overprinted for this purpose. All ceedings against the distributing offi-
are distinguished by the peculiar in- cer or postman concerned.
scription "Vom Empfanger Zahlbar", 4. The Postage Due stamps will be
meaning "To be paid by the recipient", issued to the post offices from the
which is quite different from that found Royal District Treasury in sheets of
on the postage due stamps of any other ninety stamps, and the same regula-
country. The first "set" consisted of tions hold good for their issue and
but one value 3 kreuzer and the issue use as in the case of postage stamps.
of this was announced by means of an 5. For other unpaid correspond-
Official Notice dated September 22nd, ence which, not being part of the local
1862. This decree is of considerable deliveries, has to be dispatched from
interest, as it explains in detail the the distributing office to another post
method of using the stamps, so we ap- office, the method of marking the
pend a translation supplied to Gibbons amount of tax by hand remains
Stamp Weekly by Dr. Erich Stenger: unaltered.
Re the introduction of Postage Due MUNICH, September 22nd, 1862.
stamps for Unfranked Local Cor- GENERAL DIREKTION
respondence.
DER K. VERKEHRS ANSTALTEN.
IN THE NAME OF His MAJESTY It will thus be seen from the forego-
THE KING OF BAVARIA! ing notice that the stamps were purely
On the 1st October of the current for local use and this system has re-
year the present system of marking mained practically unaltered to the
by hand the amount of duty to be present day. The stamps were printed
paid by the addressee on unfranked in black on white paper, and were is-
local correspondence will cease, and sued imperforate. The design is sim-
instead special Tax tokens (Postage ple in the extreme. In the centre is a
Due stamps) will come into use, large numeral "3" and in the rectangu-
which must be affixed to the letter and lar frame around this we find "Bayer.
which alone give a right to demand a Posttaxe" (Bavarian Post Tax), at the
tax on delivery. top; "Vom Empfanger Zahlbar", at the
bottom; and "3 kreuzer" reading up- merals were inserted. From these suffi-
wards at the left, and downwards at cient casts were taken in type-metal to
the right. All the inscriptions are in compose the printing plates. The same
Gothic lettering. As we have already perforating machine was used as was
stated the design was set up from or- employed to perforate the postage
dinary printer's type, the sheet consist- stamps. The use of the 3kr value has
ing of ninety stamps arranged in two already been explained. The Ikr value
panes of forty-five each (five horizontal was introduced to denote the sum to
rows of nine), placed one above the be paid by the recipient of certain offi-
other. Aspace equal to about half the cial letters which had not been prepaid.
height of a stamp divides the panes and While most official correspondence was
between the vertical rows lengths of carried free certain official local cor-
printers' rule are inserted. The paper respondence was subject to postage but
was the silk-thread variety used for the at a reduced fee, and it was for the
contemporary postage stamps but in collection of deficient postage on the
these labels it is horizontal instead of latter that the Ikr stamp was necessary.
vertical as in the postal issues. This is The change to the Imperial currency
due to the different arrangement of the of pfennige and marks in 1876 led to
stamps the vertical rows of the Postage the issue of new Postage Due labels.
Dues occupying about the same area as In the Post-pfnce Notice of December,
the horizontal rows of the ordinary 1875, referring to the new postage
stamps. stamps the issue of new 3pf, 5pf, and
Naturally, as the plate for this 3kr lOpf, Dues is also recorded. The lOpf
stamp was set from type minor varie- took the place of the 3kr and was for
ties abound. The only one of particular use on unfranked private letters, while
importance occurs on the fourth stamp the 3pf and 5pf were intended to indi-
of the second row of the upper pane. cate the amount payable on unfranked
On this the final "r" of "Empfanger" is dutiable official correspondence. The
omitted. This, as the catalogue quota- new stamps were formed by printing
tions indicate, is an exceedingly scarce the ordinary postage stamps in
^grey
variety. Those of our readers who and then overprinting them "Vom
wish to study this issue more deeply Empfanger Zahlbar" in two lines in
cannot do better than refer to the ex- red. They were, of course, like the
cellent article in Gibbons Stamp Weekly contemporary postage stamps printed
(Vol. XI, pages 492 and 588) by Dr. on the paper watermarked with zig-zag
Erich Stenger. lines set horizontally and wide apart.
We have already shown that the In 1883 all three values appeared on
use of the silk thread paper was dis- the paper watermarked with vertical
continued, so far as the postage stamps zig-zag lines close together, which had
were concerned, about July, 1870, and been introduced for the ordinary
in its stead paper watermarked with stamps about two years before. The
crossed diagonal lines was used. At lOpf provides three errors in the over-
the same time perforation was intro- print viz. "Empfang", "Empfanper",
duced. This change affected the Post- and "Zahlhar".
age Due stamps in the following year In 1889, again following the lead of
a Royal Proclamation, dated March 30th, the postage stamps, we find the Postage
1871, announcing that new Ikr and 3kr Due labels perforated 14 V and water-
Postage Due stamps would be issued marked horizontal zig-zag lines placed
and that they would be printed in black close together. These, as a reference
on watermarked paper and be per- to the history of the contemporary
forated like the contemporary postage .postage stamps will show, were printed
stamps. Like the stamps of the Arms in sheets of 100. The 3pf of this series
type they were printed in sheets of six- is known with overprint inverted. In
ty divided into two panes of thirty each July, 1895, it was reported that a 2pf
(five rows of six) placed side by side. stamp was to be added to the set but
It is evident one original die (probably this was not actually issued until some
set up from type) served for both months later. The fear that this value
values. The design is similar to that would not be ready in time led to the
of the first 3kr but with "Bayer" ab- issue of Bavaria's only provisional.
breviated to "Bayr" and with larger On September 4th a small quantity of
lettering. The shape of the large num- the 3pf value was surcharged in red
eral "3", too, is quite different from that with a "2" in each corner. As this
of the type-set variety. The matrix variety is of some rarity its use must
die, consisting of frame only, formed have been very limited. Since 1895
the foundation for the two necessary Bavaria has issued nothing new in the
subsiduary dies in which the large nu- way of Postage Due stamps.
Reference List. quently found in collections and, conse-
1862. Silkthread in paper. Imperf. quently, are often a source of mystifi-
Type-set.
cation to the tyro. These stamps are
95. 3kr black, Scott's No. 101.
Wmk. crossed lines. not postage stamps in any sense of the
1871. Typographed.
[ypographed
Perl: Iiy2 .
term but are labels which only relate
96. Ikr black, Scott's No. 102. to the internal economy of the post-
97. 3kr black, Scott's No. 103. office. We grant, however, that they
are at least as collectible as "officially
sealed" or the numbered labels used in
connection with registered letters in
many countries nowadays.
When letters were unable to be de-
livered they were sent to the chief
office of the postal district. In 1865
there were six of these offices;
viz. Augsburg, Bamberg, Miinchen
1876. Wmk. horizontal zig-zag lines wide (Munich), Niirnberg, Speyer, and
apart. Perf. 11^. Wiirzburg. The letters were opened to
98.3pf grey, Scott's No. 104. discover the name of the sender and
99.5pf grey, Scott's- No. 105. then returned, these return letter labels
100. lOpf grey, Scott's No. 106.
1883. Wmk. vertical zig-zag lines close to- being used as seals to close the missives
gether. Perf. \\yz . with. The labels were all printed in
101. 3pf grey, Scott's No. 107. black on white paper and show the
102. 5pf "rey, Scott's No. 108. Royal Arms within an oval inscribed
103. lOpf grey, Scott's No. 109. FUR RETOUR-
1888-95. Wmk. horizontal zig-zag lines close
"COMMISSION
together. Perf. 14^. BRIEFE" (Returned Letter Depart-
104. "2" in red on 2pf grey, Scott's No. 114. ment) and the name of the district
105 2pf grey, Scott's No. 110. chief office. This oval was enclosed in
106 3pf grey, Scott's No. 111. an upright rectangular frame with or-
107 5pf grey, Scott's No. 112. The labels were
108 lOpf grey, Scott's No. 113.
namented spandrels.
printed by lithography in sheets of 84
and those for each office differ slightly
from the others, while for
except all,
RAILWAY OFFICIAL STAMPS. Bamberg, there were two
three or
The only official stamps issued by printings showing slight differences of
the Kingdom of Bavaria is an unpre- design. In the case of the labels for
tentious set issued in 1908 for the use Niirnberg two types exist on the same
sheet.
of the Railway Department (Eisen-
bahn). This consisted of the con-
temporary 3, 5, 10, 20, and 50 pfennig
postage stamps overprinted with a large (Sommijfion
capital "E". The overprint is in green fur
on the lOpf and 50pf, and in red on the Hiicf brief e
23
gedorf, with its appanages; and for more stamps would be necessary for Berge-
than four hundred years has it remained dorf, of the following values:
under the joint protection of those (a) */2 schilling
cities, each claiming the alternate nomi- (b) 1 schilling
nation of a bailiff, or governor of sena- (c) \y2 schilling
torial rank at first appointed for four, (d) 3 schilling
afterwards for six years and supply- (e) 4 schilling
ing an equal number of soldiers to gar- The cost of manufacture by Ch.
rison the castle." Fuchs, of Hamburg, including printing,
Hamburg purchased the exclusive own- paper, and gumming, for lithographed
ership of Bergedorf on August 8th, 1867, stamps, like those introduced at Lu-
the price paid being 200,000 thalers beck, with the arms of the two towns,
about $150,000 in United States cur- would amount :
/
those of the l 2 and 3sch were rejected.
The printer was then ordered to print
the ^sch in black on blue paper, and
the 3sch in blue on rose paper. Herr
Paalzow asserts that his father's letter,
written in German, did not convey the
meaning construed by M. Moens that
they were issued in a postal sense, but
rather that they had been made as
proofs or experiments.
These "stamps" are therefore only es-
says though we are perfectly willing to
concede they are rare essays and real-
ly have no right in a catalogue of is-
sued postage stamps.
On January 1st, 1901, all the docu-
ments bearing on the dual ownership of rHCOOir-OlrHrHCOOlr OirH
Bergedorf by Lubeck and Hamburg and
lying in the archives at Lubeck were
transferred to Hamburg. While sort-
rHCOOt-CirHrHCOlOt-OirH
ing the various papers a block of twelve
of each of these essays was found with
the documents relating to the issue of
postage stamps. Beyond, however, prov- It would hardly be possible to identify
ing that they were officially prepared each of the twelve varieties composing
a fact that has never been disputed the the transfer block though numbers 1, 2,
discovery of these stamps threw no fur- 3 and 10 may be distinguished by small
ther light on their status. peculiarities.
26
Much has been made of the so-called ment of the sheet was, therefore, as
secret marks of the stamps of Bergedorf. follows :
THE 1 SCHILLING.
312121212
2 11
434343434
12 11 12 11 12 11 12
rency and the balance of 43,000 was in-
cluded in the parcel of remainders pur-
56565656
78787878
chased by M. Moens.
9 10 9 10 9 10 9 10
11 12 11 12 11 12 11 12 THE 4 SCHILLINGE.
The additional stamps were all in- The value on the 4sch was expressed
verted in relation to the others so we by the word "VIER," the design
find eight tete-beche pairs in each sheet. measuring 21^ by 21 mm. These
The secret marks consist of a dot in stamps were printed in black on brown
the link under the second E of BERGE- paper in sheets of eighty arranged in
DORF, and another in the link over the
first L of SCHILLING. Of the twelve
impressions forming the transfer block QBERCEDORFC
only No. 7 seems to provide a mark by
means of which it can be identified.
Of this denomination 100,000 were
printed and as only 32,000 were sold
while the issue was in use the re-
mainders handed over to M. Moens
consisted of no less than 68,000.
28
block
ten rows of eight. The transfer
used in making the lithographic stone
in two
consisted of eight impressions
horizontal rows of four each
These
were arranged in the sheet as follows:
1
article in the "Postage Stamp" men- second issue (1887) can be identified by
tioned in our introductory notes. It the same characteristic and the size of
will suffice for our purpose to point the labels is also different the measure-
out the little peculiarities by which these ments being 19% by 20 mm. The up-
imitations can be told from the genuine per part of the shield is solid and the
stamps. To start with the 1^2 schilling lines of the background are hardly
was never imitated for, as the original visible. The third issue (1888) may
design on the "die stone" bore the spell- also be distinguished from the originals
ing "SCHILLINGE" all the imita- by the worn background and the ab-
tions show the same "error." Speak- sence of shading on the eagle's head.
ing generally the impressions of all The first imitation of the 4sch, made
values are less sharp than those of the in 1872, can be told by the presence of
originals and the shades of the papers a short line slanting upwards in the
are not the same. circle opposite the I of VIER. The
The first imitations of the ^sch, wavy lines of the background, too, are
made in 1872, measure 15by 15^ mm. regular by the top of the tower and the
The H of SCHILLING isalways minus labelsmeasure 21 by 20% mm. A sec-
the cross bar and one (sometimes ond supply was printed in 1874 these
both) of the A's in the inscription are being distinguished by a vertical line
also without the cross stroke. In the on the head of the eagle and numerous
second supply, made in 1887, the labels breaks in the wavy lines of the back-
measure 15J/2 mm. square. None of ground. In the third supply, made in
the letters A
have bars and the bar on 1887, the oblique line by the I of VIER
the H
is either missing or very indis- again appears. The letters of BERGE-
tinct. DORF are very irregular and the back-
In the first edition of the Isch (1872) ground is very rough. These imitations
the numerals in the corners are quite measure 21% by 21 y2 mm.
different from those on the originals Moens also possessed the original
and generally have erifs at foot. They obliterating stamp so that he was able
measure 16 mm. square like the origi- to oblige with "used" imitations if de-
nals. In the second imitation (1887) sired. In 1895 this obliterator together
the numerals are all much too thick with the "die stone" was sold to the
being 1 mm. wide instead of the ^ mm. Berlin Post Office Museum so that
of the originals. The size of the label fear of any further imitations is ob-
is 16J/2 by 1634 mm. and none of the viated.
letters A
are provided with a cross Anumber of counterfeits have also
bar. In the third supply (1888) the cor- been made from time to time some of
ner numerals are thin but this imita- these dating from so long ago as 1864.
"
(the legislative). In 1810 it was an- part of Northern Germany, it was split
nexed by France, but three years later up into 72 grote in Bremen, and into 24
recovered its independence and joined gutegroschen of 12 pfennige each in
the Germanic Confederation, subsequent- Brunswick and Hanover. Eleven grote
ly the North German Confederation, and was considered equivalent to 5 silber-
finally was merged in the German groschen of Prussia so that the stamp of
Empire. lowest denomination, the 2 grote, was
worth a little less than 1 silbergroschen.
The reichsthaler was worth about 78c at
that period so that 1 grote was equiva-
ITS PHILATELIC HISTORY. lent to a fraction over Ic.
covered regarding the make-up of the within the town, including Bremerhaven
sheets, the dates of issue of the many and Vegesack. The stamps were litho-
31
graphed in Bremen, the design showing
the Arms (a key) on a shield sur-
mounted by a crown, with "STADT
POST AMT." (town post administra-
tion) above, and "BREMEN" below. On
each side of the shield is a large numeral
"3", in shaded figures within an oval,
richly ornamented with scroll work, and
in each of the angles is a small un-
colored "3" on a solid colored ground.
The key is emblematic of the indepen-
dence of the once free city for as Mr.
Overy Taylor wrote in the Stamp Col-
lector's Magazine (vol. IX p. 164) "The :
1 2
readily distinguished by the disposition on an oval of solid color with a richly
of the zig-zag lines of the background. ornamented border. The rectangular
In type I the lines immediately to the frame, which is also very ornate, con-
left of the word "fiinf" are V
shaped, tains the name "BREMEN" at the top,
and there are eleven zig-zags at the bot- and the value "5 Sgr" at the base be-
tom of the design with about half of tween small circles containing the
Reference List.
1856. Lithographed. Imperf.
2. ogr black on rose, Scott's No. 2. THE FIFTH ISSUE.
On the same day that the 5sgr stamp
THE THIRD ISSUE.
was issued a 10 grote stamp was placed
in circulation for prepayment of the
It was not
until July 10th, 1860, that single letter rate to the Netherlands.
another value was issued. This was the This stamp was lithographed in black on
7 grote issued for defraying the rate white wove paper, the design showing
of postage to Lubeck and Mecklenburg- the "key" on a vertically lined oval with-
Schwerin. Correspondence in this di- in a double framing, the inner one resem-
rection could not have been very large bling engine turned work, and the outer
for the 7gr used is a very scarce variety. one, containing the inscriptions, being
The design is very similar to that of the composed of lines crossing each other
5gr with the value at base expressed as
"Sieben Grote." There is but one type
of this value and, like the 5gr, there are
dividing lines between the stamps on
the sheet. Asmall mark, evidently
quite accidental in origin though it was
at one time dignified by the term "secret-
dot," appears on all the genuine stamps.
This is a small colored dot which ap-
pears just below the center of the up-
right stroke of the "k" of "Marke."
List.
diagonally, the frame making an irregu-
Reference The
larly shaped oval. inscriptions con-
I860. Lithographed. Imperf. sist of"BREMEN" in the upper part
3. 7gr black on yellow, Scott's No. 3.
and "ZEHN GROTE" in the lower.
In each of the four angles are the
numerals "10" on small flat ovals of
THE FOURTH ISSUE. solid color. It is interesting to note
On December 13th, 1861, a stamp of that in all genuine specimens there is an
5sgr was issued to prepay the ship rate error of engraving in the upper left
to Great Britain. In design, color, and corner, the lines of the ground of the
workmanship this is certainly the best outer frame extending over the exterior
of all the Bremen issues. In the center white lines of the frame. It is curious
is the usual key (but without the crown) that this stamp is not known imperfor-
33
ate, though issued on the same day as Reference List.
the 5sgr, but was rouletted in the style 1863. Lithographed. Wove paper. Perces en
known as perces en scie, which made scie 16.
incisions something like the teeth of a t>. 2gr orange, Scott's No. 5 or No. 5a.
saw in shape, gauging 16. There was
only one type for this value and the
stamps had dividing lines between them
on the sheet. THE EIGHTH ISSUE.
BRUNSWICK.
Brunswick, or Braunschweig to give ground of vertical lines. On each side
it its Teutonic name, is a sovereign are small upright uncolored ovals con-
duchy of the German Empire situated taining the numerals of value, and above
between Hanover, Saxony, and West- and below are scrolls the upper one
phalia. It has an area of 1424 square containing the name, "BRAUN-
miles and a population a little in excess SCHWEIG," and the lower one the
of half a million. The duchy has two value, "EIN (ZWEI or DRIE) SILB.
votes in the Imperial Council and sends GR." The whole is enclosed within
three representatives to the Imperial a double-lined rectangular frame, one
Diet. Originally Brunswick formed a line being thick and the other thin.
part of the duchy of Saxony, but in
1235 the independent duchy of Bruns-
wick was created. Subsequently, along
with Hanover, Luneburg, Celle and
other territories, it was transferred and
reconveyed several times as the various
Brunswick dynasties were founded and
died out. The duchy suffered severely
during the Seven Years War. It was
occupied by the French in 1806, an-
nexed to the kingdom of Westphalia in The stamps were designed and en-
the following year, and restored to its graved by Herr K. Petersen, and
duke in 1813. The direct Guelf line printed bv Herr J. H. Meyer, in Bruns-
became extinct in 1884, on the death wick. That separate dies were en-
of the childless Duke William, and since graved for each of the three values is
1885 the duchy has been governed by proved by slight differences in the de-
a regent. signs, especially noticeable in the num-
The town of Brunswick, capital of ber and arrangement of the stones be-
the duchy, is of ancient origin, its cath- low the horse. They were printed on
edral, for instance, dating from 1172.
a fairly thick white wove paper and
Here is found the tomb of Henry the the gum used was either reddish-brown
Lion, Duke of Saxony, whose de- or white with a brownish tinge similar
scendants created the independent duchy. to that used for the stamps of Hanover.
The currency was the same as that They were issued imperforate. Accord-
of Hanover being the reichsthaler, ing to Mr. Ehrenbach (London Phi-
worth about 78c, divided into 24 gute- latelist vol. Ill, p. 162) the stamps were
Prussia, issued stamps in 1850, Bruns- Type I. With no dots on the figures
wick did not follow suit until January of value.
1st, 1852, when a series of three values Type II. With a dot on the figure
was issued. All three values are of at right.
similar design, the centerpiece showing Type III. With a dot on the figure at
the horse of Brunswick galloping to the 'left.
left, with a ducal coronet above, the Mr. Ehrenbach further states that
whole being on a transverse oval with there is an error of lettering in type I
35
with the word "SILBG" reading "SIL. shade as there were several printings
3." The stamps were only in use about during the period the stamps were cur-
fourteen months and unused specimens, rent.
with original gum, are among the rarest Reference List.
of German stamps. Indeed, many au- 1853. Typographed. Wmk. Posthorn. Imperf.
thorities consider the Isgr unused as 4. ISPT black on orange, Scott's Nos. 4 or 5.
the rarest European stamp.
5. 2sgr black on blue, Scott's No. 6.
6. 3sgr black on rose, Scott's No. 7.
When the stamps were first placed
on sale considerable interest was evinced
in their issue by the public. It is said
that a huge crowd awaited the opening THE THIRD ISSUE.
of the chief post-office in the town of
Brunswick. At first only strips of ten Two low values were added to the
series on March 1st, 1856, 3 pfennig^
stamps were sold to purchasers but this
order was rescinded in 1853. Unfor- 54ggr, and4pfennig=%ggr. The former
no documents are
official
had "54" in the ovals at the sides and
tunately
known any bearing on
to exist having "DRIE PFENNIG" in the scroll below ;
the history of these stamps as one of while the latter had "%" in the ovals
the Postmasters-General, who had a and was inscribed "VIER SILBR. GR."
terrible aversion to the accumulation These stamps were also printed on the
of papers and records, had ordered watermarked paper the %sgr being on
everything to be burned. brown, and the %sgr on white.
Reference List.
Reference List.
1856. Typographed. Wmk. Posthorn. Imperf.
1852. Typographed. Imperf. 7. Aggr
l
(3pf) black on brown, Scott's No. 8.
1. Isgr rose, Scott's No. 1. 8. Xggr (4pf) black, Scott's No. 9.
2. 2sgr blue, Scott's No. 2.
3. 3sgr vermilion. Scott's No. 3.
36
3sgr rose on white were all issued with
this roulette, some of them being ex-
tremely rare. The ^2 sgr black on green,
Isgr black on yellow, and 3sgr rose on
white are also known rouletted in line
but there seems considerable doubt as
to whether these varieties were issued
officially. The ^sgr is also known perf.
12 but this is known to be an unofficial
production. To a note
regarding this
Reference List. Mr. Westoby adds "nor is there any
1857. Typographed. Wmk. Posthorn. Imperf. doubt that some rouletted specimens
0. 4/4ggr black on brown, Scott's No. 10. have been manufactured by the purvey-
ors of varieties."
In the list below we only include those
THE FIFTH ISSUE. varieties regarding which there are no
doubts as to their official origin.
The 3sgr resumed its original color
Reference List.
of rose on white paper in September, 1864. Wmk. Posthorn. Rouletted 12.
1862, though, as the watermarked paper 12. Isgr yellow, Scott's No. 19.
was used, it cannot be confused with Perces en arc 16*4 to 1754.
the rare stamp of 1852. 13. i^ggr black, Scott's No. 13.
On January 1st, 1863, another value 14. J^sgr black on green, Scott's No. 14. _
was added to the series by the issue of 15. Isgr black on yellow, Scott's No. 15.
a stamp of ^sgr, printed in black _on
16. Isgr yellow, Scott's No. 17.
17. 2sgr black on blue, Scott's No. 16.
green watermarked paper. The design 18. 3sgr rose, Scott's No. 18.
is similar to that of the other values
but the value in numerals on the small
ovals at the sides is in uncolored figures
on a ground of solid color. The value
THE SEVENTH ISSUE.
in words on the lower scroll is expressed In October, 1865, stamps of a new de-
as "FUNF PFENNIG."
sign were introduced. The colors were
Reference List. also changed so as to make them more
1862-63. Typographed. Wmk. Posthorn. Imperf. in conformity with those adopted by
10. J^sgr black on green, Scott's No. 11. the Thurn and Taxis post-office and the
11. sgr rose, Scott's No. 12. German States.The dies, which were
engraved on steel at Berlin, were com-
mon to adhesives and a series of enve-
lopes. The design consists of the usual
THE SIXTH ISSUE.
galloping horse surmounted by a ducal
Up to 1864 none of the stamps had crown, this being in white on an oval
been issued other than imperforate but ;
of solid color. Around this is an oval
in July of that year the Isgr was changed band on which the name "BRAUN-
in color, being printed in yellow on SCHWEIG" appears at the top and
white paper, and the opportunity was "GROSCHEN" at the base on an en-
taken of experimenting with a roulette. gine-turned ground. In the center of
The the band at each side of the horse is a
rouletting was done in line and
had a gauge of 12. Whether the cuts disc for the numerals of value. Four
were made by a rouletting wheel or on values were issued, %gr, Igr, 2gr and
the printing press with ordinary notched Sgr all being embossed in color on
rule does not appear to be known. The plain white wove machine made paper.
roulette is always very indistinct owing They were rouletted perces en arc like
to the thickness of the paper. It was the set they superseded. The stamps
not particularly satisfactory and in the were printed in sheets of 100 arranged
in ten rows of ten.
following month other stamps appeared
with the rouletted cuts arranged in a Mr. Westoby gives an excellent ac-
series of short curves giving a scallop count of the method employed in the
effect to the edges of severed stamps. manufacture of these stamps and other
This is the style known as perces en arc embossed stamps of a similar nature is-
and it had a gauge of 16^2 to 17^2. This sued about the same time for Lubeck,
rouletting, Mr. Westoby tells us, was Prussia, and Oldenburg viz :
HAMBURG.
Hamburg, a seaport town in Ger- northern Europe. After frequent pil-
many, the capital of the independent
is lages and burnings from Northmen,
state of the same name and the most Danes, and Slavs the town began to be
important seaport on the continent of frequented as a trade centre and by
Europe. It is situated on the right the end of the twelfth century it was
bank of the river Elbe, 75 miles above not only prosperous but, though under
its outflow into the North Sea, and it the domination of the Duke of Hoi-
is 178 miles by rail from Berlin. independent. Towards
stein, practically
On the site now occupied by this im- the middle of
the thirteenth century
portant city there were but a few Hamburg was united to Bremen (to
scattered fishermen's cottages before the which the archiepiscopal see was trans-
time of Charlemagne. Then a few ferred in 1223) and Lubeck in the
merchants settled in the vicinity and by formation of the Hanseatic league.
808 the place had attained sufficient im- This league or Hansa (from the old
portance for Charlemagne to erect a Teutonic word Aan.fitt=partnership)
fortified castle to protect his subjects was an association of trading towns
from the depredations of the Normans which had considerable political power
and Danes. This castle, or "burg," until the sixteenth century. Most of
took its name from the neighbouring the important seaports from London to
forest of Hamme, and the original Novgorod, in Russia, belonged to the
spelling of Hammeburg was, later, cor- league and their ships carried one com-
rupted to Hamburg. About the middle mon flag that of the Hansa. In 1619
of the ninth century the town, under the Bank of Hamburg was founded and
Archbishop Ansgar, became the dis- this imparted an enormous impulse to
seminator of Christianity throughout its commercial importance, and about
the same time a number of English one of the chief points of embarkation
merchant adventurers and numerous for emigrants from the middle and east
Jews expelled from Spain and Portu- of Europe, the greater number of which
gal settled in the town. In the early proceed to the United States.
years of the nineteenth century it ex- The industry of Hamburg is a. long
perienced hard times being occupied by way inferior to its commerce, yet the
the Danes in 1801 and by the French in town possesses large tobacco, chemical,
1806. The latter, under Devout, treated india-rubber, and furniture factories,
the inhabitants very harshly and also engineering works, shipbuilding yards,
seized the treasure of the Bank amount- printing offices, breweries, distilleries,
ing to about seven million marks. A etc.
return to its old prosperity began with The State of Hamburg has an area of
the fall of Napoleon and even the de- 160 square miles and a population just
structive fire of 1842, which burned about equalling that of its capital, i. e.
nearly half the town, failed to have 900,000. Over ninety per cent, of its in-
any serious drawback on its progress. habitants are Evangelical Protestants.
In consequence of this disastrous fire The State retains its ancient independ-
Hamburg is a very modern town in ence, the legislative power being vested
appearance and most of its important in a Senate of eighteen members and a
public buildings and institutions date House of Burgesses numbering 160
only from 1842. Among the more note- members. The executive power is almost
worthy of these are the churches of entirely in the hands of the Senate.
St. Michael, St. Peter, and St. Nicholas, The State has one vote in the Federal
the town hall, marine office or See- Council of the Empire and sends three
u'arte, the museums of fine art, arts members to the Imperial Diet.
and crafts, botany, and natural history,
the commercial and municipal libraries
(the latter of considerable value), the ITS PHILATELIC HISTORY.
hygenic and a fine hospital.
institute,
Hamburg occupies a distinguished Of the three Free and Hanseatic
place in the history of German litera- towns Bremen was the first to issue
ture and drama, having been the home postage stamps, its first labels being on
of Lessing, Heine, Hageborn, Klop- sale in 1855, and it was not until Janu-
stock, Voss, Reimarus, Claudius, and ary 1st, 1859, that Hamburg and Lubeck
Schroeder. joined the ranks of stamp issuing towns
During the last century its popula- and states. The stamps of Hamburg
tion has increased tenfold. from had a somewhat restricted use, being
106,983 in 1811 to over a million at the only used on local letters for the city
present time it is thus the second and its suburbs, and for franking cor-
largest city in the German Empire. respondence to the neighbouring states
During the second half of the nine- and to the Netherlands, while they were
teenth century Hamburg's trade de- also available on "ship-letters" sent to
veloped in an extraordinary manner, Great Britain. This seeming reluctance
this increasing from about a hundred to issue postage stamps, considering the
and fifty million dollars in 1851 to over commercial importance of the port, was
twelve hundred million dollars in 1904. probably due to the fact that Thurn and
But this only represented its sea trade Taxis, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden and
and in addition its rail and river borne Norway, Hanover and Mecklenburg, all
trade with the interior of Germany in- had offices in the city and it was through
creased to a proportionate extent dur- these that the general continental letters
ing the same period. As further were forwarded. The Thurn and Taxis
evidence of its prosperity we find that office seems to have had the major por-
while in 1871 it owned 448 seagoing tion of the postal trade and practically
vessels with an aggregate tonnage of all foreign letters went through this
214,280, in 1904 the port possessed 1009 agency. The first set of stamps con-
seagoing vessels with a total tonnage of sisted of seven values ^, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7
1,256,640. It is the headquarters of the and 9 schilling and in 1864 these were
famous Hamburg-American line which augmented by the addition of 1*4 and
owns one of the finest fleets of pas- 2^sch stamps, all of these being im-
senger steamships in the world. perforate. In September, 1864, several
The greater part of the harbour con- of the values appeared perforated and
stitutes a free port, which was con- by April of the following year all had
structed in 1883-8 at an approximate been issued in this condition. In Feb-
cost of thirty-five million dollars. Its ruary, 1865, the color of the 7sch was
total area is2570 acres, of which 1750 changed from orange to lilac, pre-
acres are land surface. The port is sumably to prevent confusion with the
9sch. In 1866 a l^sch stamp was for the first time on February 29th.
issued, and at the same time the design This value, then, served for the letter
of the IJ^sch label was altered. The rate to Schleswig-Holstein and to
North German Confederation came into Denmark. Denmark immediately re-
being on January 1st, 1868, and Ham- taliated by raising the letter rate from
burg, having joined this, ceased to issue Denmark to Hamburg to 8 skilling ;
stamps a knowledge of the postal tariffs printed matter to the Duchies from
obtaining at the time of their use is March 1st, 1865. On January 1st,
necessary, and in this connection the 1865, the rate on
letters within the
from Mr. R. R. city of Hamburg was reduced to /2
l
following extract
Thiele's excellent article, "The and Why schilling, so that the
l
/
2 schilling in its
Wherefore of Various Stamps," which perforated state is comparatively com-
appeared in the Philatelic Record for mon. This is also the reason why the
July, 1906, is particularly interesting: North German Confederation after-
/2 schilling stamp was intended
The l
wards issued a special stamp of the
to cover the rate on printed matter value l
of /2 schilling for Hamburg.
per lot (= ounce) to Ritzebuttel (a The /2 schilling rate was extended to
l
40
thereafter also used for money orders name of Johann Friedrich Rex Ziesen-
to Schleswig-Holstein up to 62 mark ist. He may
also have been responsible
courant. From May
1866, the
14th, for the design but regarding this there
same stamp was permitted to be used appears to be no record. From each die
for the registration fee for Hamburg ninety-six casts were taken in ordinary
and territory, which theretofore was type metal, and these, arranged in
paid in cash; for July 1st, 1866, the twelve horizontal rows of eight, formed
letter rate to Heligoland was lowered the printing plates. There was a space
to 2 schilling. The 3 schilling stamp of 3^2 mm. between the vertical rows
. . was used from July 1st, 186G,
. and of 1^ mm. between the horizontal
for the registration fee to Heligoland rows. Aline of printer's rule was
and from November 1st, 1866, for the inserted between each of the vertical
registration fee to the Netherlands. rows, and as these were the same height
On November 1st, 1866, the letter rate as the cliches they show at the sides of
to the entire Netherlands was reduced the stamps. Each horizontal row was
to 4 schilling. numbered in the margin at each end, and
The letter rate to Lubeck was re- at the top of each sheet the inscription
duced to 1^ schilling on October 1st, "Hamburgische Postmarken" were
1865, and the printed matter rate to shown. The plates were made and the
the Netherlands to the same on July stamps printed by Th. G. Meissner,
1st, 1865 hence a stamp of that value
; printer to the State of Hamburg.
became desirable, and was issued on Whether by accident or design we
April 1st, 1866. cannot say but on all stamps engraved
by Ziesenist there are so-called "secret
marks." As these are of considerable
value in distinguishing originals from
the many forgeries that exist, we give a
THE FIRST ISSUE. list of these as follows:
The first postage stamps for Hamburg Y-2. schilling. There is a small dash in
were placed on sale on January the space between the base of the right
1st, 1859,
the set consisting of seven different val- hand tower and the line above "Schil-
ues. The design, which is the same for ling."
all denominations, consisted of the Arms i schilling. The serif at the foot of
of partially covered by large
Hamburg, the "T" of "POSTMARKE" ends with
open numerals denoting the value, as a a dot at the left hand side.
centerpiece. The Arms are composed <? There is a tiny dot under
schilling.
of a castle with three towers, the cen- the of "Schilling," and, in clear-
first "1"
tral one being surmounted by a dome ly printed specimens, a small dash above
and the others by battlements. Above the "ng" of the same word.
the middle tower is a cross, while large
j schilling. There is a dot on the left
stars are shown above the side turrets.
On a ribbon scroll at the top is "HAM- side of the "H" of "HAMBURG" near
the top of the letter, and, in most cases,
BURG," and on a similar scroll at the another dot is shown under the "r" of
base is "POSTMARKE," i. e. "post
"Drie."
stamp." On the left, reading upwards,
the value is shown in words, and on the 4 schilling. There is a dot between
As the in- the letters "Sc" of "Schilling"
right "Schilling" appears.
scriptions on the left hand side varied in / schilling. There is a dot in the
length, according to the value which had space at the right of the Arms opposite
to be expressed, small ornaments were the top of the "S" of "Schilling."
introduced to fill the vacant spaces be-
9 schilling. There is a tiny dot after
fore and after the shorter words. the "P" of "POSTMARKE"level with
the bottom of that letter.
In an article by M. Georges Brunei,
translated in the Postage Stamp, Vol.
VIII, numerous other little peculiarities
are detailed but as most of these only
show on certain stamps they evidently
did not appear on the original die but
were caused in making the type-metal
casts.
The stamps were all printed on white
There was a separate die for each wove paper, each sheet being water-
value, and these were engraved by a marked with twelve horizontal undula-
gentleman rejoicing in the euphonious ting lines (each undulation being about
41
15 mm. deep) bounded by a single line label the retaliatory tactics pursued by
frame. It was intended that these lines Hamburg and Denmark resulted in the
should correspond with the twelve rows issue of a 2^sch stamp. Both of these
of stamps, but owing to some sheets not values were produced by lithography,
being carefully "fed" into the printing presumably owing to the fact that they
press an outside row was occasionally were wanted in a hurry.
printed on the plain portion of the paper, The central design on the 1% sch is
and these stamps were thus entirely very similar to that of the series of 1859
without watermark. Other varieties, but with a netted background. The
caused by irregular feeding of the paper, name "HAMBURG" is arched at the
show vertical line watermark. top. "POSTMARKS" is on a straight
label which extends right across the
foot of the stamp and the value is
shown in words on the side tablets.
In each of the upper angles an uncol-
ored* Maltese cross is shown on a
ground of solid color.
Although the letter rate to Lubeck The figures "1" are formed of
(a).
was reduced to l^sch on October 1st, ernbossed cross-hatching which runs
1865, and the printed matter rate to the diagonally from top to bottom and
Netherlands was fixed at the same fig- from right to left.
ure on July 1st, 1865, it was not until (b). In the 1J4 schilling, under the
April, 1866, that the postal authorities "1," the second line (forming the
troubled to issue a stamp of this value. background of stonework of the tow-
In this month a series of envelopes ers; is broken.
with embossed stamps of the values of
/
l
/
2 1%, l 2 2, 3, 4 and 7sch was issued,
l (c). /
In the \ l 2 schilling the first
, ,
and second "i" of the indication of
these being manufactured in Berlin by
value (at left) are joined to the bot-
the Prussian State Printing Office. The
tom of the following "n" (more visi-
die for the l^sch envelope stamp was
ble in the case of the first than of the
made use of in the construction of a
second), likewise the letters of the
plate for printing the adhesive stamp last word "halb."
of corresponding value. The plate con-
sisted of one hundred impressions ar- (d). The "K" of "POSTMARKS"
ranged in ten horizontal rows of ten, has the base smaller than the upper
and the stamps were embossed in color part.
on plain white wove paper. These These values show practically no
stamps were rouletted 10 instead of be- variation of shade.
ing perforated.
Reference List.
1866. Embossed. No wmk. Rouletted 10.
.HAMBURG 22. l^sch mauve, Scott's No. 25 or 25a.
23. l^sch rose, Scott's No. 26.
44
These stamps were manufactured by Though the design was the same as the
Th. G. Meissner, of Hamburg and it is originals the stones were laid down in
probable the die was engraved by J. F. a different fashion. For the lJ4sch a
R. Ziesenist, who was responsible for block of sixteen transfers was made (in
the other dies of the same type. The four rows of four) and this was re-
"secret mark" on this value corresponds transferred to the stone six times mak-
with that found on the 2sch of the 1859 ing sheets of 96 stamps. These types
1
series that is, there is a small colored all show little peculiarities differing
dot under the first "1" of "Schilling." from the issued stamps, these being de-
tailed in full in Mr. Brunei's article in
the "Postage Stamp," already alluded
to. The "plate" for the 2^sch also
consisted of 96 stamps but in this in-
stance the transfers were applied in
blocks of four.
These reprints appear to have been
made in 1872. At first unwatermarked
paper was used and then a quantity of
the original watermarked paper being
The stamps were printed on the paper discovered this was used. These "re-
watermarked with undulating lines, and iprints" are known imperforate, perf.
they were perforated by the 13*/2 ma- and perf. 13^. Those on unwater-
l
ll /2,
chine. There are a number of distinct marked paper or perf. 11^ can easily
shades, and the variety is known im- be distinguished for there were no
perforate and also imperforate horizon- originals of this sort; and those on
tally. watermarked paper, perf. 13^, may be
Compared with the other typographed told by the roughness of the perfora-
stamps this value was produced in a tions compared with the originals.
very inferior manner, this being due, Though the official perforating ma-
probably, to the fact that it had to be chines were used the pins had become
manufactured in somewhat of a hurry. worn causing the "rough" effect.
Reference List. About the same period reprints, or
1867. Typographed. Wmk. Undulating lines. rather imitations, of the 1J4 and l^sch
stamps of 1866 were made. These were
1M. 2^sch green. Scott's No. 24. printed on white wove unwatermarked
(a) Imperf.
(b) Imperf. horizontally. paper and are found rouletted 8J^ as
well as the 10 of the originals. The
"reprint" of the l%sch is from a re-
touched die and it differs from the
THE UNOFFICIAL REPRINTS. originals in having the small circles in
the center of the four rosettes, which
In shortly after the stamps
1868,
were replaced by the issue for the North separate the inscriptions, filled in with
color. There is also no line in the up-
German Confederation, the remainders
were offered for sale and found a pur-
per part of the "g" of "Schilling." The
chaser in the late Mr. J. Goldner, a l^sch was reprinted from the envelope
die, and has a longer line in the upper
well-known stamp dealer of Hamburg.
How many stamps were included in this part of the "g" of "Schilling," while the
corner stars also have solid centers.
lot is a matter regarding which no in- The paper is thicker and the color of
formation has been published that we
the impression does not show through
know of. would appear that these
It
as in the case of the originals. Both
remainders were all specially printed
for sale if we can place any reliance on "reprints" exist with forged postmarks.
a statement that when the stamps were
demonetised "only one sheet of the 154
and 2*/2 schilling remained over, some
imperforate sheets of the second issue CONCLUDING NOTES.
of the 1^4 schilling, and some defective
sheets." If this were the case then the The few reprints, as we have already
fact that the remainders had no gum pointed out, were made privately some
is easily accounted for. years after the stamps had become obso-
Having very few of the lithographed lete, and these should present no diffi-
V/4 and 2^sch Mr. Goldner ap- culties to the collector. Forgeries of
proached the lithographer, Mr. C. most of the values are very common,
Adler, and finding the original draw- but as most of these are very roughly
ings were available commissioned him executed they should hardly deceive the
to make new stones of these values. collector exercising ordinary care.
As Hamburg stamps
the majority of Equally common is a postmark com-
are used than unused, genuine
rarer posed of four parallel lines, either thick
or thin, 20 mm. long and about 5mm.
stamps with counterfeit postmarks are
The forgeries of this usually
by no means uncommon. A very usual
apart.
have the lines too short, more than
form of cancellation consists of a circle
four, irregularly spaced, or thickened at
containing the name of the town and the ends. There is also a cancellation
the date, and readers should take note composed of four wavy lines, but the
of the fact that such marks with a star use of this seems to have been confined
or floret before and after the name to the first issue only, and it is rarely
"HAMBURG" are undoubtedly bad. met with.
HANOVER.
Hanover, or Hannover, as our Teu- that date until 1837 the Hanoverian
tonicfriends spell was formerly a
it,
electors sat on the English throne.
kingdom of Northern Germany, but When Queen Victoria ascended the
throne Hanover passed to her uncle
since 1866 it has formed a province- of
the Duke of Cumberland. On his death
Prussia. It stretches eastwards from
(November 18th, 1851) his son, the
the Netherlands to the Elbe, and from blind George V, succeeded to the king-
the North Sea southwards to Hesse- dom, and he, siding with Austria in
Nassau, and includes the former duchy 1866, took up arms against Prussia, was
of East Friesland, the Liineburg Heath defeated, driven from his throne, 'and
(55 miles long), part of the Harz Moun- Hanover was annexed to Prussia.
tains, and outliers of the' Weser Moun- The capital of the province bears the
tains. Its total area is 14,833 square same name, Hanover, and is situated on
miles and it has a population well in ex- a sub-tributary of the Weser, 78 miles
cess of two and a half millions. Ex- south-east of Bremen, and 158 miles
cept in the South, where the Harz west of Berlin. It consists of the old
Mountains attain a height of 3037 feet, town, with narrow streets and mediaeval
the surface belongs to the great North houses, and the handsome modern town
German plain, with immense stretches which lies on the north, east, and south-
of moor and heath. Large areas of the east of the older portion. During the
moorlands have been drained and re- last quarter of the nineteenth century
claimed within recent years. Hanover the town grew at an enormous rate, and
is watered by the Elbe, Weser, Ems and at the present time its population ex-
their tributaries, and the soil near the ceeds a quarter of a million. The old
rivers is very fertile. One sixth of the town possesses several fourteenth, fif-
total area is covered with forest. teenth, and seventeenth century build-
The people of the north-eastern and ings, such as the former royal palace,
central provinces are mostly Saxons; the town hall (1439), the chancellery of
those on the coast are of Friscian origin; justice, and the house of Leibnitz, now
those on the west of the Ems, Dutch; converted into an industrial art museum.
and those in the southern provinces, Intermingled with these are a number
Thuringians and Franconians. Platt- of quite new structures (1876 to 1911),
Deutsch, or Low German, is commonly such as the magnificent railway station;
spoken in the rural districts, but High the royal library (containing 200,000
German is the language of the educated volumes and 4,000 MSS) the royal
;
classes, and is spoken with -more purity playhouse, one of the largest theatres
than in any other part of the Empire. in Germany; the museum, with natural
Cattle are bred and grazed on the history and art collections; the Kestner
marshes next the North Sea. Ironware Museum, with antiquities and 120,000 en-
and steel goods, textiles, sugar, machin- gravings ;
the post office; and 'the
ery, gutta-percha and india-rubber, Reichsbank. Hanover has a famous
chemicals, scientific instruments, beer polytechnic, housed in the Welf (Guelph)
and spirits, are the more important pro- Castle, and attended by over 1,500 stu-
ducts of Hanover's manufacturing in- dents. Close by is the Heddenhausen
dustry, while Geeseemunde is one of the Castle (1698) the favorite residence of
most important fishing ports in Ger- Kings George I, II, and V, whose beau-
many. Coal, iron, zinc, lead, copper and tiful grounds are open to the public.
salt are mined in the Harz Mountains. The Duke of Celle chose Hanover for
The second elector of Hanover became his residence in 1636, and it has re-
George I of England in 1714, and from mained the capital city from that date.
Hanover is the headquarters of the two, Scotland; three, Ireland; with, on
10th German Army Corps, and is an an escutcheon of pretence, Brunswick,
important centre of the North German Luneberg, and Westphalia, and over all,
railway system. (in the centre), the golden crown of
Charlemagne, the mark of the dignity of
arch-treasurer of the Holy Roman Em-
pire,which belonged to the house of
ITS PHILATELIC HISTORY.
Brunswick. The supporters are the lion
and unicorn, and beneath is the motto
The philatelic history of Hanover
dates from 1850 the .year before the "SUSCIPERE ET FINIRE," meaning
death of King Ernest (Duke of Cum- "To undertake and to finish." There is
when a single stamp bearing a scroll at the foot, with the ends run-
berland)
the face value of one gutengroschen was ning up by the sides of the shield, on
issued. In 1851 Hanover joined the which is "HANNOVER" at the top,
47
To a certain extent this stamp was ex- Over 20 German miles 3sgr (l/10th).
perimental, for it could not be used on As blue was the color chosen for the
foreign correspondence, but prepaid the l/15th the color of the paper for the
single letter rate within the kingdom it- Iggr was changed to grey-green.
self, and also to Bremen, Hamburg, The dies for the three new values
Bremerhaven, Ritzebiittel, and Vegesack were by Herr Fickenscher,
engraved
in each of which towns the Hanoverian while the plates were made and the
authorities maintained a post office. stamps printed at Senator Culemann's
At this period the thaler was worth works as was the case with the first
about 78c so the facial value of this stamp issued. Though we can trace no
stamp in United States currency was positive information on the point it is
about 3c. extremely probable that the plates were
Reference List. uniform in size and were composed of
December, 1850. Wmk. a Rectangle. Imperf. 120 type metal casts clamped together in
1. Iggr black on grey blue, Scott's No. 1. twelve horizontal rows of ten. There
are numerous minor varieties in all
three values caused by slight imperfec-
tions in making the casts. These con-
THE SECOND ISSUE. sist of flaws, broken lines, and defective
letters and they are so numerous that
Presumably the experiment of issuing it would probably be far from an im-
postage stamps soon proved quite sat- possibility for an enthusiastic specialist
isfactory, for in 1851 Hanover joined to plate these stamps.
the German-Austrian Postal Union, and All three values were printed in black
on July 21st, three new stamps were is- on hand-made colored wove paper which
sued with values expressed in fractions was watermarked with a device consist-
of a thaler. The stamps were all of
similar design, closely resembling that
of the Iggr but having the groundwork
of the shield in solid color. The l/30th
was inscribed "EIN SGR." (i. e. Isgr)
in that portion of the scroll by the right-
hand side of the shield, and the l/15th
and l/10th were inscribed "ZWEI
SGR." and "DREI SGR." respectively,
while at the bases the numerals "1", "2",
or "3" appeared, to correspond with
these inscriptions.
50
The die was, presumably, engraved l
/
2 gr of the sixth issue and the 1, 2 and
by Herr Brehmer, and the stamps were Sgr of the fifth issue. The lOgr had up
printed typographically by Senator to this date been in so little demand
Culemann. As is so frequently the case that none of them were rouletted.
with electrotyped stamps, this value The stamps were the same as before
shows many small defects in the shape in all other respects, but before the end
of broken lines and letters, and the ap- of 1864 the color of the gum was
pearance of tiny dots in various parts changed to yellowish or white and so
of the design. continued until .late in 1866, when, Han-
This stamp was printed on white, over having been absorbed by Prussia
wove, umvatermarked paper, and was is- as explained in our introductory notes,
sued with rose gum, imperforate. A the stamps were no longer available
later printing appeared with white gum. for postal purposes. The 2gr with rose
Reference List. gum is not known rouletted.
I860. No wmk. Imperf. Reference List.
20. ^gr rose gum, Scott's No. 18a. 1864. No. wmk. Rose on white gum. Perces
21. /2 gr
l
white gum, Scott's No. 18. en arc. 16.
23. 3pf green, Scott's No. 25 or 25a.
24. Y2 gr black, Scott's No. 26 or 26a.
25. Igr rose, Scott's No. 27 or 27a.
26. 2gr blue, Scott's No. 28.
27. Sgr brown, Scott's No. 29 or 29a.
THE SEVENTH ISSUE.
Lubeca, was probably founded as early life members, and a council of 120 citi-
as 1060 and, though small, it was rich zens. Lubeck is represented in the Reichs-
and consequently excited the cupidity of tag by one delegate.
some of its larger neighbours. In 1138
it was entirely devastated by the Rugians
by France in 1810 and became the capi- a l^sch stamp. In 1867 the color of
tal of the Department of Les Benches the Isch value was slightly changed and
de 1'Elbe, but it regained its liberty in thiscompleted the separate postal exist-
1813 after the battle of Leipzig. In ence of Lubeck for, having joined the
August 1866, it joined the North Ger- North German Confederation, the
man Confederation, and in 1870 became stamps of that Confederation were used
one of the states of the new Empire. on and after January 1st, 1868.
It has a population of over 90,000. The status of these stamps was similar
Lubeck, like many other Continental to those of Hamburg, save that none
towns, presents a curious mixture of an- of the values singly were able to frank
cient and modern architecture. Opposite a letter beyond the confines of Germany.
the railway station, on the main In the "Why and Wherefore of Various
approach to the city, is the famous Hol- Stamps," published in the Philatelic
stenthor, a 15th centruy brick-built gate- Record in 1906, Mr. R. R. Thiele gives
way, which was renovated in 1870. Of some interesting and valuable informa-
its numerous churches the Marienkirche tion regarding the postal rates, etc.,
founded in 1170, contains valuable which we cannot do better than repro-
works of art. Its dome, enlarged dur- duce in his own words :
ing the 13th century, has an altar paint- The issue did not make its ap-
first
ing by Hans Memling. Another ancient pearance until 1859. At that time Lue-
edifice is the town hall (1250) which is beck had three post offices that of
:
built of black glazed bricks in the style the city itself, one of Thurn and
of the Renaissance oeriod. and one of Denmark. The
Taxis,
Lubeck has achieved some little re- two had been using stamps for
latter
turn to its former prosperity since it several years and the force of public
joined the Customs Union in 1868. The opinion finally prevailed upon the
principal shipping trade is with Den- postal authorities of the Free City to
mark, Sweden, Russia, and Finland, issue stamps also. The values of the
chiefly in chemicals, machinery, linen first issue were selected for the rates
goods, preserved food, and cigars. most in use. The one-half schilling
Lubeck is the capital of the small stamp representd the rate on city let-
state of the same name, which has an ters for local delivery, and also on lo-
area of 115 square miles and a popula- cal printed matter. The one schilling
tion of a little over 100,000. The coun-
stamp was intended for the other city
try is fertile and well wooded and pro- (there is only one, Travemuende)
52
and villages within the territory of the and one-fourth schilling stamp was
Free City, as well as those post-offices then discontinued.
in the neighbouring Duchy of Meck- As above mentioned the rate to
lenburg-Schwerin which lay within Hamburg and Bergedorf was two
three German miles of Luebeck. Two schillings. In 1865 this rate was low-
schillings was the rate to Hamburg ered to one and one-half schillings
and Bergedorf, stamp of
hence the and a stamp of this value was issued.
this value. To most
of the post-offices It was again printed at Berlin, but it
within the two Duchies of Mecklen- was not ready on the date when the
burg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Stre- reduced rate went into effect and the
litz the single letter rate was two and officialnotice, with charming simplicity,
one-half schillings, and hence a stamp points out that the postage might,
of this value was found necessary. nevertheless, be made up by means of
Finally the four schilling stamp repre- the one schilling and the half schill-
sented the single rate on letters des- ing stamps.
tined to points in the territory of the
German-Austria postal union more
than twenty German miles from Lue-
beck (about ninety statute miles).
The rate to certain offices in Mecklen- THE FIRST ISSUE.
burg-Schwerin was one and one-half
Lubeck issued its first series of ad-
schilling and that to other offices be-
tween ten and twenty German miles hesive postage stamps on January 1st,
distant was three schillings, but for 1859, the values being ^, 1, 2, 2,y2 and
some reason stamps of these values 4 schilling. Their use was entirely op-
tional but when used the public were
were not issued.
In 1862 or 1863 the postal authori- requested to affix them to the left upper
ties received word from London that
corner of the face of the letter and this
the stamps of Luebeck had been coun- continued to be the recognised mode of
terfeited there. This was, perhaps, affixing the stamps until 1864. Official
not very difficult, considering their proof of this is found in the stamped
lithographic production. At all events envelopes those issued in 1863 shew
the authorities decided to discontinue the stamp in the upper left hand corner,
their lithographed stamps and to make
while those issued in 1864 have the label
in the right upper angle.
use of steel engraving in the future.
They, therefore, ordered the next set,
that of 1863, from the Royal Prussian
Printing Establishment at Berlin. It
is related that the price of the die and
55
the demand for this- was somewhat ur-
gent it was decided to produce it locally
by lithography rather than wait for a
supply from Berlin. H. G. Rahtgens,
who produced the first series, was en-
trusted with the manufacture of this
l^sch label. The design is a palpable
copy of the embossed stamps and shows
the Arms of Lubeck on a dotted ground
within an upright oval band inscribed in
a similar manner to the stamps of the Reference List.
1863 series. The stamps were litho- 1867. Embossed. No wmk. Roul. 11 JA.
graphed in sheets of 100 and there were 15. IJ^sch mauve, Scott's No 13.
two printings. The first of .these took
place in March, 1864, when 525 sheets
(52,500 stamps) were printed and the
second was made in November of the
same year when 517 sheets, or 51,700 THE REMAINDERS.
stamps were prepared. They were is-
sued imperforate and a number of dif- At the time the Lubeck Post-office
ferent shades may be found. went out of business as a distinctive
stamp issuing establishment quite a con-
siderable number of stamps remained on
hand and these were sold in December,
1868, to M. Ch. Pelletreau, of Paris, for
about $450.00. The lot comprised the
following :
1859. y2 sch
72,500 stamps.
Isch 29,500 stamps,
2sch 79,500 stamps.
26,500 stamps.
4sch 107,500 stamps.
Reference List.
1864. No wmk.
1863. l
/
2 sch 23,968 stamps.
Imperf. Isch 7,228 stamps.
1(4. I'^sch brown, Scott's No. 14. 2sch 50,828 stamps.
28,951 stamps.
4sch 17,851 stamps.
1864. l*4sch 30,652 stamps.
1865. l^sch 97,071 stamps.
THE FIFTH ISSUE.
Those of the first issue were all with-
On October 1st, 1865, the postage be- out gum and the two lowest values were
tween Lubeck and Travemund on the the varieties on unwatermarked paper.
one side, and Hamburg, Bergedorf and Of the 2sch, 1590 were the errors in-
Geestacht on the other was reduced to scribed "Zwei ein HALB."
\ l/2 schilling, and a stamp to provide for
the new rate was ordered from Berlin
together with an envelope of similar
value. The first supply of 202 sheets
(20,200 stamps) was sent in November, REPRINTS.
1865. and a second supply of 200 sheets
(20,000 stamps) was despatched in May, In 1871 Herr Kirchner, a soldier who
1867, these being printed in a brighter had been wounded in the Franco-Ger-
tint. The design is similar to that of man war, obtained the permission of
1863 except that the inscribed band is the authorities to make reprints of all
octagonal instead of oval while the rec- the stamps of Lubeck excepting the
tangular form is obtained by the filling lJ4sch of 1864 for which, apparently,
of the angles with engine-turning. no die had been made, or; if made, had
These were rouletted 11^ in line like been lost. These reprints were made
the emission of 1863. forHerr Kirchner by H. G. Rahtgens
This was the last special stamp issued who charged the modest sum of $7.50
by the Lubeck administration (though for the work. Of the 1859 issue 250
there was a later printing of the Isch of each value were reprinted with an
as we have already shown) before its additional 250 of the Isch on thick
absorption by the North German Con- paper. As the original stones were not
federation on January 1st, 1868. available new ones had to be made and
these were small ones of 25 impressions stamps they are not likely to worry the
in five rows of five. These
varieties average collector.
are, therefore, not true reprints but imi- At the same time reprints of the 1863
tations made with official sanction. The issue were made and also of the l^sch
paper is thin (with the exception of the of 1865. There were only 250 of these
extra lot of Isch already referred to) likewise, but as they were neither em-
and unwatermarked, the gum smooth bossed nor rouletted, and printed in
and evenly applied, instead of thick and colors widely differing from the origi-
yellowish as in the originals, and the nals their identification should be a
colors are also different. As these re- simple matter. These are, of course, as
prints are far rarer than the original rare as the reprints of the 1859 set.
MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin is a grand- bers of the Union. The thaler, equal to
duchy of the German Empire
lying about ?2c in United States currency, was
south of the Baltic Sea. The surface is divided into 48 schillinge, while the
generally flat but diversified by the thaler of the Postal Union (also worth
Baltic ridge of the North German plain. about 72c) was equal to 30 North Ger-
Its area, including that of its sister man silber-groschen. After some dis-
duchy, Mecklenburg- Strelitz, is 6,266 cussion it was agreed that 1 silbergro-
square miles and the combined popula- schen should be represented by 1^4
tion of both is not far in excess of 800,- schillinge, 2 silbergroschen by 3^4 schit-
000. Agriculture, the most important linge, and 3 silbergroschen by 5 schil-
industry in the duchy, has reached a linge.
high state of development. Sugar and The letter rates within the boundaries
starch factories, breweries and distil- of the duchy were 1 schilling up to three
leries,and the making of machinery and German miles, 1 schilling 6 pfennige (or
bricks are the other industries of mo- \ l/2 schilling) from three to six miles,
ment. Salt and gypsium are extracted. and 3 schillinge for distances over six
The capitol of Mecklenburg-Schwerin is miles. The rate on printed matter
Schwerin. The town of next importance weighing under 1 loth was /2
l
schilling,
is Rostock at which a well-known uni- regardless of distance, and for heavier
versity is established. The population packages the rate was one-fourth that
of the towns and land-owning classes charged for letters. The rates for let-
are of lower Saxon descent, while the ters sent to other countries within the
rural population are mostly of Slav de- Postal Union were 1 schilling for dis-
scent. The current language is Platt- tances up to 10 miles, 3*4 schilling for
Deutsch or Low German. The duchy distances of 10 to 20 miles, and 5 schil-
dates from 1710, while the title of grand ling for distances over 20 miles. These
duke dates from 1815. During the time rates would have necessitated quite a
its postage stamps were in use the reign- number of different denominations but
ing Grand Duke was Frederick Francis the difficulty was surmounted by the in-
II. Alecklenburg-Schwerin has two genious expedient of issuing a divisible
votes in the Imperial Federal Council 1 schilling stamp (so constructed that it
and sends six members to the Imperial could be cut up into four parts of Y
Diet. schilling each) and 3 and 5 schillinge
values. In 1864 the 4/4 schilling stamp
was issued rouletted and almost immedi-
ately after it was changed somewhat in
design. At the same time the color of
ITS PHILATELIC HISTORY. the 5sch was changed from blue to
bistre. In September, 1865, the 3sch ap-
Thegrand-duchy of Mecklenburg- peared rouletted.
Schwerin did not issue its first postage In 1863 the postal rates were revised
stamps until July 1st, 1856, though it ap- as regards inland letters the new sched-
pears to have joined the German-Aus- ule being 1 schilling for distances up to
trian Postal Union some years previous- five miles, from five to ten
2 schilling
ly and to have been desirous of issuing miles, and above ten miles.
3 schilling
stamps. Its currency, however, seems For printed matter distance was disre-
to have been a stumbling block for be- garded and the rates were fixed by
ing in thalers and schillinge some diffi- weight at y2 schilling up to 1 loth, 1
culty was experienced in arriving at schilling from 1 to 4 loth, and 2 schilling
equivalents acceptable to the other mem- from 4 loth to eight ounces. It will'
thus be seen that there was considerable It will be
noted that the total supply
necessity for a 2 schilling stamp but a of the
5sch consisted of only 72,000
label of this value was not issued until stamps so that it is rather surprising its
October, 1866. In the following year it catalogue value is not higher. The only
underwent a change of color and on denomination that varies in shade is the
January 1st, 1868, the separate series of 2sch which is found in yellow and
stamps for Mecklenburg- Schwerin was orange-yellow.
dispensed with on the formation of the
North German Confederation.
MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ.
The grand-duchyof Mecklenburg- the confines of the duchy was charged
Strelitz adjoins that of Mecklenburg at the rate of %
silbergroschen per loth,
Schwerin. Its industries, people, and while for other places within the Ger-
geographical formation are similar to man-Austrian Postal Union the rate
that of its sister duchy, while its capital was Yz silbergroschen. The computa-
is Neu-Strelitz. It has but one vote in tion of the postal charges must have
the Imperial Federal Council and sends been difficult at times for some of the
only one member to the Imperial Diet. rates were expressed in schillinge and
The existing duchy dates from 1701, some in silbergroschen and, as we have
the title of grand-duke being acquired shown in the case of Mecklenburg-
in 1815. At the time its postage stamps Schwerin, the two currencies were
were issued its ruler was the Grand somewhat difficult to reconcile. The
Duke Frederick William, then a child stamps had but a short life for on Jan-
four years of age. uary 1st, 1868, they were superseded by
the general issue for the North German
Confederation.
OLDENBURG.
Oldenburg is a sovereign grand-duchy of gems (agates) and manufacture of
of the German Empire consisting of imitation jewelery are thriving industries.
three divisions. The first and largest of The grand-duchy has one vote in the Im-
these is the grand-duchy proper which perial Federal Council and sends three
adjoins the North Sea and has an area representatives to the Imperial Diet. Its
of 2,075 square miles. The second part capital, having a population of about 30,-
consists of the principality of Lubeck, 000, bears the same name and is chiefly
which is situated north of the state of the famous for its grand-ducal palace.
same name, with an area of 210 square The house of Oldenburg is one of con-
miles. The third and smallest portion is siderable antiquity and traces its descent
known as the principality of Birkenfeld. direct from the famous Saxon leader,
This is situated on the River Saar in the Witikind, who successfully resisted the
south of the Rhine Provinces and has an doughty Charlemagne more than eleven
area of 194 square miles. The total pop- hundred years ago. Though Witikind
ulation of the three portions is a little eventually submitted it was on highly
over 400,000. The grand-duchy proper favorable terms and he took the title of
consists of marsh and geest (high heath Duke of Saxony. Two of his descend-
and moor) land. The breeding of horses, ants became the heroes of the nursery
cattle, and sheep and the keeping of bees, tales of Germany. One was Count Otto,
are considerable industries. Brickmak- to whom a fairy is said to have presented
ing, cork and turf cutting, brewing and the silver-gilt horn still exhibted in the
distilling, and tobacco manufacture are museum of Copenhagen, and known as
also carried on. Lubeck possesses more the "Horn of Oldenburg." It is this horn
pleasing features than the grand-duchy which figures on the stamps of Denmark.
and is blessed with fruitful
soil. Birken- Hanover, etc.
feld is covered with forests to the extent Count Frederic, another off-shoot,
of 40% of its surface. Here the cutting bravely proved the innocence of a
61
maligned father by undergoing the ordeal which was divided into 5 schwaren. In
of single combat with a fierce lion, which the other countries belonging to this
he slew in the presence of the assembled Postal Union the thaler was divided into
diet of Gostar, presided over by the 30 silbergroschen. It was decided to ex-
Emperor, Henry IV. From this young press the values in fractions of a thaler,
hero's heirs springs the ducal house of 1 silbergroschen (1/30 thaler) being
Oldenburg and his prowess is fittingly equal to 2 2/5 grote; 2 silbergroschen
commemorated by the inclusion of a lion (1/15 thaler) being equal to 4 4/5 grote;
rampant on the ducal coat-of-anns. and 3 silbergroschen (1/10 thaler) be-
Christian, the Warlike, his great-grand- ing equal to 7 1/5 grote. These three
son, built a castle near the ancient city of stamps were first placed on sale on Janu-
Oldenburg in 1180 and -thereafter took ary 5th, 1852. The 1 silbergroschen
for his title Count of Oldenburg. In stamp was for letters weighing up to 1
1570, Anthony, the reigning Count, willed loth (ounce) sent not more than 10 Ger-
a transfer of his dominions to the king man miles within the confines of the
of Denmark and the Dukes of Schleswig- grand-duchy; the 2 silbergroschen was
Holstein, in the case of the extinction of for letters sent more than 10 miles and ;
64
properly. The late Mr. Robert Ehren- The stamps are on green, the im-
bach stated that being lithographed, each pression in black color. Concerning the
stamp on a sheet differed slightly from introduction of this stamp, a notice
the others though, owing to superior will have to be published in the Offi-
workmanship, he admitted that the dif- cial Gazette, which the Government is
ferences in the case of the 1/10 thaler requested to order.
were very minute. (Signed) BOEDECKER.
Quite an extensive range of shades can In acceding to this request the Govern-
be found in all three values. ment published the following decree un-
der date, January 30, 1855 :
PRUSSIA.
Prussia is a kingdom of the German fered numerous indignities at the hands
Empire stretching from Russia in the of the French which have never been
east to Holland in the west, and from forgotten. In 1813, however, with the
the Baltic Sea in the north to Bohemia defeat and imprisonment of Napoleon,
and Lorraine in the south. It has an it commenced a new era of prosperity
area of 134,622 square miles and a popu- which has continued and expanded to
lation of about forty millions. While the present day. By the Congress of
it is essentially an agricultural country Vienna much of its old territory was
itsmines are of considerable importance restored and many new provinces were
and its manufacturing industries are added. From this date the people were
very extensive. It is also important imbued with a new spirit of nationality
educationally for within its borders are and began to dream of a United German
no less than eleven famous universities. Empire. The first step towards German
Prussia is a constitutional and heredita- unity was taken when Prussia unite .1
ry monarchy. The king alone exercises several north German State* in a cus-
the executive the legislative power he
;
toms union, or Zollverein, which was
shares with the two houses of parlia- shortly afterwards joined by nearly all
ment the House of Magnates and the Germany. By taking the lead in this
Chamber of Deputies. The former num- matter the influence of Prussia was
bers 310 members, and the latter 433 greatly increased. Frederick William
who are elected indirectly by the people. IV (1840-61), during whose reign post-
Prussia, in common with most other age stamps were first issued, made Ber-
r
back through many centuries. The for- subjects a constitution, and heM ex-
;une of war had added to and taken travagant views regarding royalty. The
from its dominions until in the revolutionary movements in 1848, how-
eighteenth century it suffered so many ever, caused him to modify his convic-
reverses that it became an easy prey to tions. A assembly was sum-
national
French domination. Until 1813, reduced moned to meet on May 22nd.
at Berlin
to a shadow of its former self, it suf- 1848, and the king prepared a new con-
stitution. Simultaneously war broke out fixed at 2 silbergroschen, and a com-
with Denmark over the Schleswig- mission of J^sgr was charged on packets
Holstein question and Frederick Wil-
;
and money orders. It was also an-
liam in 1849 tried to unite the German nounced that stamps would be prepared
states under the leadership of Prussia. but it was not until October 30th, 1850,
This attempt to seize the foremost place that a circular from the Minister of
in Germany was at once resisted by Trade and Works fixed the issue of the
Austria, and for a time civil war seemed stamps to the public to take place on
imminent. The year after his accession November 15th, 1850. At that time the
William I (1861-88) appointed Bismark currency consisted of the thaler (equal
his prime minister and minister of for- to about 72c) divided into thirty silber-
eign affairs. The joint attack of Prussia groschen, each of which in turn con-
and Austria on Denmark in 1864, and sisted of twelve pfennige. The first set
the conquest of the duchies of Schleswig consisted of four values 6pf, 1, 2 and
and Holstein, only served to accentu- 3sgr. The 6pf stamp 'was largely used
ate the hostility of the courts of Berlin in payment for the charge for delivering
and Vienna, and in 1866 the question of letters. This charge was fixed at ^sgr
the leadership of Germany was fought (6pf) where there was a post office and
out. Ever since the days of Frederick Isgr for other places. When letters
the Great that question had awaited so- were called for no delivery charge was
lution, and it was settled by the victory made. Shortly after the issue of these
of the Prussians at Sadowa or Konig- stamps the German-Austrian Postal
gratz on July 3rd, 1866. All the states Union was formed for the interchange
north of the Main formed the North of correspondence between Austria and
German Confederation under the leader- various German states. It was chiefly
ship of Prussia. But it required a for- due to Prussia that this Union was made
eign war to complete German unity. In possible this being the first of many
1870 the Franco-Prussian war broke out, progressive steps taken by the kingdom
France 1-eing alarmed at the growth of in the interests of increased postal effi-
Prussia. The south German states re- ciency. On May 1st, 1856, a 4pf stamp
mained true to King William; France was issued for the prepayment of matter
was invaded and after the battle of sent under wrapper. In 1857 the silber-
Sedan Napoleon surrendered. The war groschen values were printed by typog-
brought out a strong feeling among the raphy instead of line-engraving, the mo-
German states for a closer union, and on tive for the change being that of
January 18th, 1871, at Versailles, King economy. In 1858, the first design was
William was solemnly proclaimed Ger- reverted to and unwatermarked paper
man Emperor. The tendency in Ger- was introduced; in 1861, following the
many since 1870 has been to make accession of King William I, a new
Prussia more powerful and it has taken series bearing the Prussian coat-of-arms
a leading part in colonial expansion, and appeared and in 1866 two high values
;
the suggestion is made that an entirely ences, which are common to all stamps
of each value."
new die, bearing only the head of the
King and the lined background, was The plates, made of steel, each con-
tained 150 impressions arranged in
engraved and used for making the 6pf,
1, 2, and 3sgr stamps. Enlargements fifteen horizontalrows of ten each. The
of these four stamps and of the 4pf of vertical rows were then numbered 1 to
1856 show very great similarity, the 10 in the top margin, and the horizontal
only notable point of difference being
rows were similarly numbered 1 to 15
that on the 4pf stamp the features of in the left hand margin, while in the
the King are sharper, which makes centre of the right hand margin the
the face look smaller. A
comparison number of the plate was engraved thus,
of the stamps themselves will show "Platte No. 15". Whether more than
that the lines of shading on the 4pf one plate for each value was used is not
stamp, although much finer, are practi-
known but plates now housed in the
cally identical in form and position Berlin Postal Museum, are numbered
with those on the other values. The as follows :
71
for this value and the stamps were is- of value being added to these, 150 elec-
sued imperforate like the series of 1850. trotypes of each were made and clamped
Reference List. together in fifteen horizontal rows of
ten each to form the printing plates.
1856. Wmk. Laurel wreath. Imperf.
The rows were numbered vertically and
5. 4pf green, Scott's No. 1.
horizontally in the margins on all four
sides but whether the plates bore dis-
tinctive numbers or not is unknown.
THE THIRD ISSUE. The 3sgr plate was ready first and trial
impressions were made in rose, blue, and
The Government evidently found the
yellow. As these sheets were gummed
steel-plate process too costly and in 1856 it was for a time presumed the rose and
it was decided to change the mode of
blue stamps were errors of color but we
manufacture. At the same time it was now know they were only proofs.
decided to dispense with colored papers The stamps were printed on plain
for the silbergroschen values and print
white wove paper and, as a safeguard
the impressions in color instead. The
against forgery in the absence of water-
public were informed of the impending
mark, this received a colorless network
change by means of an Official Notice impression from a preparation of car-
published in December, 1856, viz :
bonate of lead before printing. This
No. 203. CHANGE OF STAMPS. network can be made visible by washing
The stamps of 1, 2, and 3sgr, which the stamps with a solution of hydric
have hitherto been printed on colored sulphide, or more permanently and with
less danger of discoloring the paper by
papers, will in future be printed on
white paper. The design of the stamp the fumes of sulpheretted hydrogen
will appear, therefore, instead of in which Mr. Wedmore describes as "a
black as hitherto, in rose-red for the very evil smelling compound." The gum
is whiter than that previously used, but
Isgr, in blue for the 2sgr, and in yel-
low for the 3sgr. coarser and much more inclined to
The Post Offices are hereby in- crack.
formed of this alteration, and notified A die for the 4pf in this type was pre-
that the issue of such stamps will be- pared and proofs in green are known
but this value was never issued.
gin with next year, and that the 1, 2,
and 3sgr stamps printed in black on Reference List.
colored paper will remain current until
1857. No watermark. Imperf.
the present stocks of same are entirely
6. Isgr rose, Scott's No. 6.
exhausted. 7. 2sgr blue, Scott's No. 7 or No. 7a.
GENERAL POST OFFICE, 8. 3sgr yellow, Scott's No. 8 or No. 8a.
(Signed) SCHMUCKERT.
BERLIN, December 23rd, 1856.
From the wording of this notice it
has been assumed that the stamps were THE FOURTH ISSUE.
issued on January 1st, 1857, but no In 1858 the design of the 1, 2, and 3
specimens dated earlier than June ap- silbergroschen values was modified, and
pear to have been found. The design the new stamps began to appear in Sep-
is very similar to that of the first issue
tember, being placed on sale as the
and it is evident there was no official stocks of the former issue became ex-
intention of changing the type. The
hausted in the various post offices. 4 A
portrait of the King was engraved on
pfennige value of similar type was issued
wood by Schilling, the background be- in 1859. The modification consisted in
ing solid instead of lined as before.
the alteration of the background, which
The frame resembles the former issue was cross-hatched horizontally and ver-
and has similar inscriptions. The ex-
tically in a similar manner to the line-
pression on the king's portrait differs
engraved stamps of the first issue. Why
considerably from that of the 1850 type, the change was made is somewhat of a
the sleepy appearance of the first having
mystery unless the authorities presumed
given place to a nervous dilletante ex- that the cancellation hardly showed with
pression in the second. The oak leaves sufficient distinctness against the solid
at the sides are more clearly defined and
background of the preceding series.
there is a colon instead of a
period Little is known as to the method of
after "SILBERGR:", this of
being, manufacture of these stamps but Mr.
course, the correct abbreviation for Wedmore tells us that "a comparison
"silbergroschen." with the stamps of the last issue shows
From the original boxwood die en- that an impression was taken from the
graved by Schilling three subsidiary dies same wood-block, the background then
were struck and, the necessary details lined, and the denomination of values,
72
both figures and words, separately en- This was then hardened and an im-
graved for each value of the series. The pression taken, which latter was then
shape of the letters and figures differs impressed on two steel dies. Schilling
slightly from those of the previous issue." then engraved on one of them the de-
All four values were printed typo- sign of the pfennige values and on the
graphically from electrotyped plates other the design of the silbergroschen
composed of 150 impressions in fifteen values, but with no figures or lettering.
horizontal rows of ten. The rows were These dies were then hardened and im-
numbered on the margins as in the case pressions taken on soft steel dies. On
of the 1857 issue. They were printed these Schillingengraved the word
on unwatermarked paper, on which the PREUSSEN and the denomination of
invisible network had been previously value. Two such dies were engraved
printed. There are several fairly pro- for 5 and 6 silbergroschen but no
nounced shades of all denominations. stamps of these values were issued.
In .iay, 1860, a new printing of the 6 From the above mentioned dies 50
pfennige value was made from the impressions of each value (except the
original plate or plates of 1850. As five and six sgr.) were taken on small
these are on unwatermarked paper, how- pieces of lead measuring about 23x20
ever, thev cannot be confused with the mm., and these then arranged in five
series of 1850. The paper for these horizontal rows of ten, each value sep-
stamps was also previously printed with arately. From these, three electrotype
the colorless network. Pale and deep plates of each value were taken, and
shades of this value may be found. the three plates placed together to form
one plate for printing. The rows were
Reference List.
numbered on all four sides as in the
1858-60. No watermark. Imperf.
previous issue, and some of the plates,
9. 4pf green, Scott's No. 9.
10. 6pf vermilion, Scott's No. 10. perhaps all, were lettered instead of
11. Ispr rose, Scott's No. 11. being numbered as in the issue of 1850.
12. 2sgr blue, Scott's No. 12 or No. 12a. At the top and bottom of each plate
13. 3sgr yellow, Scott's No. 13 or No. 13a. a "needle point" was provided, which
was printed in color on the margin of
the sheet. Its use will be seen in due
THE FIFTH ISSUE. course.
The printing in color and the "em-
King Frederick William IV died on bossing" of the central design was
January 2nd, 1861 and was succeeded by done in one process, in fact the central
the Emperor William I who early de-
design was not, properly speaking, em-
cided his portrait should not figure on
bossed, but slightly impressed in the
the postage stamps by publishing a cab-
paper, which was damped before being
inet order under date of February 17th,
put to press to make the operation
1861, decreeing that for the new series easier. The sheets of stamps were
of stamps the Prussian coat-of-arms first gummed and then rouletted. For
should be used. Economy may have had the gumming the best gum arabic
something to do with his decision for mixed with glycerine was used.
the new types were common to both ad- The rouletting was done in hand
hesives and envelopes. The issue con-
printing presses in the following man-
sisted of the same values as those pre- ner. A frame containing vertical rows
viously in use and there were two types of sharp steel strips connected by
one for the pfennige values and the small horizontal strips, all with their
other for the silbergroschen denomina-
edges filed at regular intervals, was
tions. The design consists of a small placed on the press. The frame was
oval of solid color containing a Prussian
provided with a hinged lid or cover.
eagle, with outspread wings, having on On this cover at top and bottom were
its breast a small shield on which the
two needles, and the sheet of stamps
letters "F. R." (for Frederick Rex) are was placed on this cover, the needles
inscribed. The frames for the 4 and
piercing the sheet at the colored
6pf are octagonal while those for the "needle points" already mentioned,
other values are oval. All are inscribed thus ensuring that the sheet was accu-
"PREUSSEN" at top and with the value rately placed over the steel rouletting
in words below. The method of manu- lines. The cover was then lowered
facture differs from that of the pre- and the hand lever applied thus press-
ceding issues and we cannot do better ing the sheet on to the rouletting
than quote from Mr. Wedmore's article lines. Only one sheet was rouletted
regarding this: at a time, and 1000 were rouletted in
Schilling engraved the eagle, and the the "working day" of those "good old
single lined oval immediately sur- days," which consisted of ten hours.
rounding it, on a small block of steel. The rouletting apparatus was supplied
73
by one Sutler, a machine maker of clerks. These stamps were of different
Berlin. types and also quite distinct in design
An from all other Prussian stamps. The
official Circular, dated September
was issued to the post-offices designs weredrawn by Schilling and he
19th, 1861,
notifying them of the impending new engraved the original dies on copper.
issue and instructions were given that the These dies may now be seen in the
new stamps were not to be sold until the Berlin Postal Museum. The design for
stocks of old issue were entirely
the the 10 silbergroschen shows large open
exhausted. Though the stamps were numerals in the centre of a transverse
available for use from October 1st, 1861, oval band inscribed "PREUSSEN" in
none are known with an earlier date the upper portion and "SILB. GR." in
than November. the lower, the intervening spaces being
The colors chosen for the respective filled with fourteen small Prussian
denominations followed those of the pre- eagles. The oval rests on a rectangular
ceding set fairly closely with the excep- background which has no exterior
tions of the 3sgr. This was printed in frame. The ground work, consists of a
yellow brown to conform with the "color repetition of the words "ZEHN
SIL-
scheme" adopted by the German-Aus- BERGROSCHEN" in very small type.
74
had sold the patent to the Prussian numbered at the ends of the horizontal
Government some few years before and vertical rows.
these stamps were issued.
Although Prussia joined the North
German Confederation on January 1st,
1868, and in common with other mem-
bers of the Union ceased to issue its
own distinctive stamps there was such
a large stock of these 10 and 30 gros-
chen stamps on hand that the Confed-
eration continued to use them until the
end of February, 1869. Reference List.
1867. No Wmk. Rouletted 16.
22. Ikr green, Scott's No. 23.
23. 2kr orange, Scott's No. 24.
-
24. 3kr rose, Scott's No. 25.
25. 6kr blue, Scott's No. 26.
26. 9kr bistre, Scott's No. 27.
REMAINDERS.
Reference List.
The use of Prussian stamps ceased on
J66. No Wmk. Rouletted 10.
December 31st, 1867 for, on the follow-
ing day, the stamps of the North Ger-
20. lOsgr rose, Scott's No. 21.
21. SOsgr blue, Scott's No. 22. man Confederation came into use.
There were considerable remainders of
the issues of 1861-67 and towards the
end of 1868 attempts were made to dis-
THE SEVENTH ISSUE.
pose of these. The late M. Moens was
offered the lot comprising no less than
Prussia, having purchased the remain-
a quarter of a million sheets of the
ing rights of the Princes of Thurn &
Taxis for the sum of three million issues of 1861-67 besides a large number
thaler (about $2,250,000), from July 1st, of envelopes and a big stock of the ob-
solete stamps of Schleswig Holstein.
1867, was obliged to provide a series of
The minimum price was to be the cost
stamps in kreutzer currency until fur-
of manufacture which, in the case of
ther arrangements could be made.
These stamps were also used in that the stamps, was 2 l 2 thalers per 100 /
sheets. The value of the entire lot was
part of Bavaria which was ceded to
Prussia by the treaty of August 22nd, estimated at 3,000 thalers and as no
1866, at the close of the war. Five purchaser could be found at that figure
values were issued in all 1, 2, 3, 6 and the numbers were reduced, a portion of
9kr. One kreuzer was equal to 3 3/7 the stock being sold to a papermaker
for the purpose of being reduced to
pfennige, and the letter rates were fixed
at 3, 6 and 9 kreuzer as being the near- pulp. The remainder were carefully
est equivalents to 1, 2 and 3 silbergros-
tabulated and consisted, so far as the
chen. The two lower values were used Prussian stamps were concerned, of the
for printed matter, samples and post- following :
75
10 and 30sgr, as we have already value was very small, and these 1864 re-
The
prints are now quite scarce.
shown, were not offered for sale, these In 1873 a number of reprints were
being used up as stamps of the Confed-
eration itself. This lot together with
made for Julius Goldner, of Hamburg,
about 10,000 envelopes, and over 270,000
who paid a certain sum to the govern-
ment for the benefit of the soldiers
stamps of Schleswig Holstein were sold
to the late Mr. Julius Goldner, of Ham-
wounded in the Franco-Prussian war.
The quantities of these were as follows :
to dealers at face value, and some 4pf (No. 1). The two first named
copies qf the 1 and 2sgr are known plates are in the Berlin Postal
used postally. Museum, the others are no longer in
The total quantity printed of each existence.
7ti
OFFICIAL IMITATIONS. same period. These official imitations
were printed from plates specially con-
In addition to the reprints of the structed and afterwards destroyed so
1850-56 stamps described above so- that when an additional supply was re-
called reprints of the 1857 issue were quired in 1873 they were printed direct
made in 1864 but these are nothing bet- from the wood-block, and the three sub-
ter than official imitations. The original sidiary dies taken from the wood-block.
electrotyped plates employed in printing Mr. Wedmore tells us that these were
the originals had long since been de- printed "on strips of paper measuring
stroyed as also had the dies from which about 2J4 by 6^ inches. On each strip
the electrotypes had been struck. It were printed the Isgr, 3sgr, 2sgr and
was necessary, therefore, to make en- woodblock (without value) in the order
tirely new dies. These were made from named, and impressions were taken in
a wood-block which now reposes in the carmine red, deep blue, brownish yel-
Berlin Postal Museum with other in- low and black. These are ungummed."
teresting relics of the Prussian post.
Though an attempt was made to copy
the original design as closely as possible
there are many differences by which the
imitations can be easily recognised. FORGERIES.
The most prominent of these is a period
in place of a colon after the word Forgeries of the three issues are
first
"SILBERGR." The "G" of the same fairly plentiful but all I have seen are
word has no crossbar and the "F" of so crude that they would hardly deceive
"FREIMARKE" has a projecting line the veriest tyro. Mr. Wedmore states
at the top left side. that forgeries of the lOsgr and 30sgr
The 3sgr is in a yellow tint very simi- are also known though I have never
lar to that of the originals but the Isgr come across these. They are said to
and 2sgr are in shades unlike any found be a little dangerous though the eagles
in the genuine stamps. The former is and lettering are very badly drawn com-
bright crimson and the latter a laven- pared with the originals. The paper
der-blue. The paper is white-wove and is very different being thin and white
thin and the gum is thin, smooth and instead of tough and yellowish as in
white like that of the reprints of the the genuine stamps.
SAXONY.
Saxony a kingdom of Germany, be-
is having been mined at Freiberg since
ing fifth inarea and third in population the 12th century.
among the states of the empire. It is The people are in part of Slav de-
surrounded by Bohemia, Silesia, Prus- scent, but Germanised. Amongst them
sian Saxony, and the minor Saxon are between 50,000 and 60,000 Wends
States, and has a total area of 5,787 (pure Slavs). Education stands at a
square miles. The population grows high level, the university at Leipzig, for
fast and had nearly quadrupled in the instance, being one of the most import-
period 1815-1900. At the present time ant educational centres of the empire.
it has nearly reached the five million The capital is Dresden, while the three
mark and is the most densely peopled largest towns are Dresden, Leipzig and
country in Europe. The River Elbe di- Chemnitz. Saxony is a constitutional,
vides the kingdom into two almost equal hereditary monarchy, with a parlia-
parts, both hilly and both well watered. ment of two chambers. It sends four
The predominating geographical feat- members to the Imperial Council and
ure of the western half is the Erzgebirge twenty-three representatives to the
(2,500 feet) separating it from Bo- Reichstag.
hemia; of the eastern half, offsets of the The name of Saxony formerly des-
Riesengebirge, and the sandstone forma- ignated a very large tract in north
tion, above Dresden, known as the Germany, extending from the Weser to
Saxon Switzerland. Agriculture is the frontiers of Poland. At the peace
highly though most of the
developed of 1495 the Emperor Maximilian I, di-
farms are small. Saxony's chief inter- vided Germany into two circles, of
ests are, however, manufacturing and which the extensive tract of country
mining. Coal, iron, cobalt, tin, copper, hitherto called Saxony formed three,
lead and silver are all found, the latter viz :
Westphalia, Lower Saxony and
77
Upper Saxony. The last of these com- the side of Austria in the Seven
prised theelectorates of Braddenburg Weeks' War (1866) shared in the de-
and Saxony, the duchy of Pomerania, feat of Sadowa and was compelled to
and several small principalities. The king- join the North German Confederation.
dom of Saxony was formed out of the In 1871 Saxony became a member of
electorate of the same name. The the new German empire.
duchy of Saxony, to which the elec-
torial dignity and the office of hereditary
marshall of the empire were attached, ITS PHILATELIC HISTORY.
was, however, no part of the ancient
German duchy of that name (which was The German-Austrian Postal Union
composed of Lauenberg and a tract on was formed on April 6th, 1850, and as
the other side of the Elbe), but a Saxony at once decided to join it was 1
Wend or Vandal province, which Al- necessary to take measures for pro-
bert the Bear, margrave of Salzwedel, viding postage stamps. The kingdom
of the house of Ascania, had conquered of Bavaria had issued stamps in the
and left to his son Bernhard. This previous year and the Government of
Bernhard received from the Emperor Saxony therefore applied to that king-
Frederick Barbarossa the dignity of Duke dom for information. In response to
of Saxony, to which were attached a part this appeal the Bavarians sent copies of
of Engern and Westphalia, extending all their acts and decrees relating to
from the Weser, which separated it the issue of stamps, together with spec-
from Eastphalia, westward to the Rhine. imens of the postage stamps which had
But Bernhard not being powerful been issued. As the question of de-
enough to maintain his rights, most of ciding upon an entire issue required
the Saxon allodial proprietors became some deliberation, it was determined
immediate estates of the empire by to make
a start by providing a stamp
which the duchy was dissolved, and of small value for prepaying the rate
its name transferred to the country in- of postage on journals and printed mat-
herited by Bernhard from his father, ter. This stamp was the now famous
to which from that time the ducal dig- 3 pfennige red the design of which, it
1
nity was attached. The house of As- will be noticed, is a palpable copy of the
cania becoming extinct on the death of 1 kreuzer Bavaria. On June 22d, 1850,
Albert III (1422), the Emperor Sigis- a notice appeared stating that from
mund invested Frederick the Warlike, July 1st following, articles under wrap-
margarve of Meissen, with the electoral per destined for any place within the
title and the duchy of Saxony. He was circuit of the royal post of Saxony or
succeeded in the electoral dominions by for Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, the
his son, Frederick the Mild, who reigned Mecklenburgs, Anhalt - Schwarzburg,
from 1428 to 1464. On his death his Waldeck, or Hamburg, must be pre-
dominions were divided between his two paid with stamps of three pfennige for
sons, Albert and Ernest, who were the every loth (about Y?. oz.) in weight, and
founders of the Albertine and Ernes- that the post-office had prepared such
tine lines, the former of which still stamps, the sale of which would com-
reigns in the kingdom of Saxony, and mence on June 29th, though they were
the latter is divided into four branches not to be used until July 1st. For the
of Saxe - Altenburg, Coburg - Gotha, definite issue of August 1st, 1851,. more
Meiningen and Weimar. , elaborate designs were selected. Vari-
In the war with France (1793) ous methods of production were con-
Saxony furnished only a small contin- sidered and numerous essays were sub-
gent and took no decided part; but in mitted by J. B. Hirschfeld, who printed
1806 the elector sent all his troops to the 3pf red. Hirschfeld could, appar-
support the kin of Prussia. The ruin ently, only produce stamps by the typo-
of the Prussian power at the battle of graphic process and while this was con-
Jena enabled Napoleon to gain the sidered suitable enough for the lowest
Saxons to his cause. Prussian Poland value, used for printed matter, it was
was added to the dominions of Saxony hardly considered good enough for the
under the title of the grand-duchy of higher denominations. Consequently
Warsaw, and the title of elector was Hirschfeld only obtained the contract
1
changed to that of king. After the for printing the 3 pfennig stamps, in a
overthrow of Napoleon at Leipzig design showing the Arms of the king-
(1813), the king was for a time a pris- dom, while the contract for manufactur-
oner in the hands of the allies, and the ing the higher values was awarded to
Congress of Vienna deprived him of C. C. Meinhold & Sons, of Dresden, a
more than half his dominions, or a ter- firm well-known for the production of
ritory of 7,880 square miles, which was engravings by the glyphographic pro-
handed over to Prussia. Saxony took cess. There were four values in aJJ^
78
/2
l
, 1, 2, and 3 showing a
neugroschen Confederation stamps on January 1st,
profile Frederic Augustus
portrait of 1868, its separate stamps were sup-
II. King Frederic died on August 9, pressed.
1854, and was succeeded by his brother
The currency of Saxony was the thal-
John. Steps were at once taken to pro- er, worth about 72c, which was divided
vide new stamps and though these were into 30 neugroschen. One neugroschen
ready by the end of the year they were was equivalent in value to a silbergros-
not issued until June 1st, 1855. The chen, but was divided into ten instead
numismatic rule of setting the profile of of twelve pfennige.
a reigning sovereign the reverse way to
that in which it was placed on the coins
etc., of his predecessor was followed.
With the exception of the portrait the THE FIRST ISSUE.
design was altered as little as possible;
the values were the same and the same Among the stamps issued by the
all
colors were used. No change was made various German States none is more
in the 3pf value, as it bore the coat-of- popular than the first stamp issued in
arms, and this denomination continued Saxony the 3 pfennige red. It is not
to be printed by Hirschfeld. It was a very handsome stamp, or even one of
found desirable to have higher values original design, but it is merely a some-
than 3ngr for use on letters sent beyond what crude copy of the Ikr stamp issued
the confines of the German-Austrian by Bavaria in 1849, as we have already
postal union and on April 24th, 1856, 5 pointed out. This particular stamp
and lOngr stamps were issued. In de- seems always to have been in demand
sign these were similar to the lower from the earliest days of stamp collect-
values but they were printed in color ing, the real reason of its popularity be-
on white paper instead of in black on ing that it was one of the most difficult
colored papers as was the case with all stamps to obtain as well as one of the
previously issued neugroschen stamps. first used in the German Empire. This
In March, 1861, the head of the Prus- stamo was produced in a hurry and did
sian Post-office called attention to the not receive the careful consideration ac-
confusion that was created by so many corded to the other postage stamps is-
states of the German-Austrian Postal sued by Saxony in the following year.
Union using stamps of corresponding The reason for its hurried manufacture
values in different colors, and suggested lies in the fact that it was intended for
that all stamps of similar value, whether use on newspapers and printed matter
expressed in schilling, grote, groschen, which, under the newly formed postal
or kreuzer, should be printed in the Convention between Austria and vari-
same color, and that the same rule ous German States, had to be prepaid.
should be applied to the stamped en- If not prepaid, the packages were
velopes, which should have the stamp charged full letter rate. Not only had
in the right upper angle, and the ad- these packages to be prepaid but the
hesivcs placed in the same position; and Saxon Government insisted that stamps
he advised new issues to be made to must be used and payment in cash was
carry out these suggestions. These pro- not allowed. The design consists of a
posals met with general approval, and large open "3" covered with a maze-
Saxony immediately prepared for a new work pattern on a ground composed of
issue. Various firms were invited to fragments of wavy lines within a frame
submit designs, but only four did so and /
18 1 2 mm. square. The frame is about
the contract was eventually awarded to 3% mm. wide and is inscribed
Giesecke and Devrient, of Leipzig. The "SACHSEN" at top, "FRANCO" at
new stamps had the arms of Saxony in base,"DREI" at left, and "PFEN-
colorless embossing in the centre, and NIGE" at right. In each of the angles
they are certainly inferior in appearance is a small ornament with a star-like
to their predecessors. With this issue centre.
perforation w as introduced for the first The stamps were manufactured at the
r
time. The values were the same as be- printing establishment of J. B. Hirsch-
fore except that the 10 neugroschen was feld, a printer and lithographer of
dropped. The demand for this value Leipzig. The original die was en-
was found to be exceedingly small and graved in relief on metal and from this
at the time the new series appeared, moulds were taken in plaster, or some
July 1st, 1863, quite a large proportion similar material, from which Arnold,
of the original supply of the lOngr of the stereotyper in Hirschfeld's works,
1856 remained on hand. Saxony,
still took casts in type-metal. The stamps
as we have already shown, was com- are not all of equal size the variations
pelled to join the North German Con- being due to unequal shrinkage of the
federation and on the appearance of the plaster moulds in drying, It is also
probable, as Mr. Westoby points out, gust 1st, 1851, and it was then decreed
that Arnold, to save time, used some that no more of the red stamps were to
of his to produce moulds for others. be sold at the post-offices. At the same
It is probable only twenty moulds time the public were informed they
were made for the stamps were could use any of the red stamps they
printed in sheets of twenty in four possessed but that under no circum-
horizontal rows of five. It has been stances would they be exchanged for
suggested that there was another plate the new green ones. Writing in the
used for some of the later printings but Monthly Journal for December, 1900,
no satisfactory proof of this has been Mr. G. B. Duerst says: "This is the
produced. Lines of printer's rule were reason why the 3 pfennig, red, is so rare
placed between the casts and in re- with the lozenge obliteration, which
ferring to these Mr. Westoby says they was onlv introduced in March, 1852.
ran "vertically down the sheet unin- The usual postmark is the name and
terruptedly; but the horizontal lines date stamp, but the earliest obliteration
were broken and did not touch the was in pen and ink."
vertical lines."Unless, however, a The stamp exists in a number of
second plate was used, or a resetting shades, doubtless owing to the many
of the casts made, this statement must printings, but according to the catalogue
be inaccurate for in a superb mint quotations there is little to choose be-
block of four illustrated in a German tween them in point of rarity. .
paper some little time ago the hori- The stamp is rare and its scarcity is
zontal lines are distinctly continuous accounted for by the fact that the vast
and it is the vertical ones which are majority of the 463,058 stamps sold were
broken. The stamps were printed on used on newspaper packages and were
ordinary white wove paper and they destroyed in the removal of the wrapper.
are, of course, not perforated. The Unused this stamp has always been
gum is of a distinctly yellow hue. considered scarcer than used but owing
The first lot of stamps consisting of to the larger demand for used speci-
120,000 (6,000 sheets) was delivered by mens of recent years there is now little
the end of June and the public's ap- to choose between used and unused so
preciation of them may be gauged from far as market value is concerned. We
the fact that only 19,000 remained by believe the largest block known in mint
the 20th of August. Two days later condition, with original gum, is a block
another supply of 60,000 was delivered. of four from the right lower corner of
Both these lots were ordered orally but a sheet. An entire sheet is, or was, in
after that it was decreed that future however. This was de-
existence,
orders must be made in writing from scribed in the Monthly Journal in 1896
the office of the Main Postal Treasury. as follows: "Mr. Castle secured, for a
Six further lots were ordered and de- sum of about $1500.00, an unsevered and
livered as follows :
unused sheet of 20 Saxony 3pf red.
Stamps or Sheets This is believed to be the only sheet
October8th, 1850, 40,000 2,000 known, and is the one formerly in the
November 4th, 1850, 60,000 3,000 Friedl Museum of Vienna. Mr. Friedl
December 19th, 1850, 60,000 3,000 got it from a Castle in Saxony, where
February 22nd, 1851, 40,000 2,000 it was found pasted on a fire-screen and
to, and line engraving was considered The l/2 neu-groschen may be found
too expensive. Numerous essays were on paper varying from almost white
submitted by Hirschfeld and others and to bluish grey, the bluish shades being
those of Hirschfeld met with approval. the scarcer. The paper of the 1 neu-
Before, however, he received the order groschen is sometimes deep and
81
sometimes quite pale rose that of ;
It appears the Post-office sold the er-
the 3 neu-groschen varies from very rors singly and in strips of ten and
deep to quite pale yellow; while the when they discovered the mistake the
2 neu-groschen appears printed on purchasers were written to and asked
pale blue and very dark blue paper. to return the stamps as any letters
Some of the shades of the /2,
l
1, and 3 franked with them might possibly be
neu-groschen may be due to fading, treated as unpaid by other offices.
although, considering the large num- When Dr. Kloss made his notes public
bers of printings which took place a the hunt for the errors began and some
variation in the colour of the papers of the firms written to by the Leipzig
used is not surprising. The change post-office in 1851 were hunted out.
of the 2 neu-groschen from pale to This resulted in the discovery of one
very dark blue, however, was cer- of the letters written by the Post-office
tainly not accidental, but was due to with an unused strip of ten of the er-
definite instructions given to the rors pinned to it. Due to the forget-
printers by the postal authorities in fulness of a clerk this letter was never
1852. returned to the postal authorities Herr !
The reason for this order was that Blauhuth, of Leipzig, secured this strip,
a postmaster had complained to the and for ten years these were the only
head office that if the 2 neu-groschen copies known. The owner first sold a
stamps (printed in pale blue) were pair, inlcuding the one spoiled by the
much exposed to the light they faded pin-holes, for $37.50, while his last copy
into approximately the color of the realised $300. The 57 errors which
l
/2 neu-groschen. By the adoption of were returned to Dresden should have
the dark blue
paper any mistakes been destroyed but, in 1891, 24 of the
arising from such a cause were stamps were found in an envelope
entirely obviated. These stamps were pinned to an old document relating to
all put on sale on 29th July, and the former postal accounts in the De-
were to frank letters from 1st Au- partment of Finance, Dresden. What be-
gust, 1851. The quantities printed came of the other 33 is a mystery which
of each value of this set were as will probably never be solved most
follows :
likely they were destroyed as was
3 pfennige, 12,500,000; /2 neu- l
originally intended. These errors were
groschen, 5,100,000; 1 neu-groschen, included in a set of so-called "essays"
5,700,000; 2 neu-groschen, light blue, put on the market by the Saxon Gov-
700,000; 2 neu-groschen dark blue, ernment at 75c each. The history of
1,500,000; and 3 neu-groschen, the error had been forgotten by the
2,350,000. There were twenty-four officials but not by collectors and con-
printings of the 3 pfennige; seventeen sequently the sets sold like the proverbial
of the y* and 1 neu-groschen, and hot cakes. Most of these 24 errors
sixteen of the 2 and 3 neu-groschen. were single copies but in the lot was
By far the rarest stamp of Saxony is, one strip of five and one block of four,
the latter eventually passing into the
pf course, the y* neu-groschen printed famous Manncollection. But though
in error on the pale blue paper of the
2 neu-groschen. The existence of this this error one of the great rarities
is
error seems to have been quite unknown unused it is even scarcer used. There
until Dr. Kloss published his "History is a pair in the Tapling collection, an-
5 (vermilion
many plates were used altogether is not and pale red ) , 200,000
'
known but when Messrs. Meinhold and 5 russet brown, 66,200
Sons lost the printing contract in 1863 5 (red brown), 823,800
they sent to the Dresden Post-office the 10 250,000
original dies of the six values, together There were twenty-four printings of
with four reliefs and five printing plates the /2 1, 2 and 3 neu-groschen stamps,
l
,
of the ^ngr, two reliefs and five print- one of the russet brown 5 neu-
ing plates of the Ingr, two reliefs and groschen and three of the 10 neu-
three printing plates of each of the groschen. The number of printings
2ngr and 5ngr, and one relief and two of the other shades of the 5 neu-
printing plates of the lOngr. The groschen seems not to be ascertain-
plates of the 3ngr do not appear to able.
have been sent at that time and no offi-
cial record of their receipt at a later
date has been found.
Shades are numerous and again I
cannot do better than quote Mr. Gray
on this subject, viz :
1855-56. No wmk.
Imperf.
neu-groschen, black on pearl grey, 7. J^ngr black on gray, Scott's No. 9.
grey, lilac grey, jet-black 8. Ingr black on rose, Scott's No. 10.
on grey. 9. 2ngr black on blue, Scott's Nos. 11 or
lla.
1 neu-gr, deep rose, rose, pale rose.
2
" 10. 3ngr black on yellow, Scott's No. 12.
blue, deep blue, greenish 11. 5ngr red, Scott's Nos.13, 13a, 13b, 13c.
blue. 12. lOngr blue, Scott's Nos. 14 or 14a.
THE FOURTH ISSUE. and though Scott gives but two for each
denomination (three for the 5ngr).
In March, 1861, the Prussian postal Gibbons lists two for the 3 pfennige,
administration drew the attention of the three each for the l/z 1, 2, and 3 neu-
t
other members of the German-Austrian groschen, and five for the 5 neu-
Postal Union to the confusion which groschen. Specialists extend the list
existed owing to the lack of uniformity further, especially in the case of the
still
in the colors adopted for stamps of two lowest values.
corresponding values in the various In 1867 complaints were made of the
States. It was suggested that all stamps varying colors of the 5 neu-groschen,
of similar value, whether that value and the contractors printed some in a
was expressed in schilling, grote, reddish lilac shade in which there
groschen or kreuzer, should be printed would be fewer variations. These
in the same color. These proposals met stamps were objected to, however, as
with general approval, as we have al- resembling the Ingr too closely and they
ready shown in considering the stamps were not put on sale. Finally a grey-
of other States, and Saxony began ish shade of lilac was adopted. Mr. D.
preparations for a new issue. It had C. Gray tells us that the quantities
been decided to change the color of the printed and number of printings were as
3ngr and 5ngr stamps to black on brown follows "There were fifteen printings
:
84
values of 1856 and the 3pf of 1851. were advanced and the stamps were
The Government made no attempt to then offered as follows :
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN.
Of the stamps issiled by what we
all succeeded by the Angles, Jutes and
now the German States none are
call Friscians; but the greater part of the
more complicated than those issued by Angles crossed over to England and
the dual duchies of Schleswig and Hoi- their place was taken by the Danes.
stein and yet, on the other hand, none Then for a period of more than a thou-
delineate the chequered history of a sand years Schleswig-Holstein, and
troublous period more clearly. The Lauenburg, which politically belonged to
catalogues generally divide the stamps them, were a continual bone of conten-
into three groups the issues for Schles- tion between Denmark and Germany.
wig and Holstein, issues for Schleswig They were continually changing hands,
only, and issues for Holstein only. But now belonging to Denmark with the
though rough and ready classifica-
this King of that country as their Duke, then
tion has some advantages it is far from being ruled by a German prince, or
being accurate and a collection of the sometimes independent. To give even
a brief resume of all the happenings dur-
stamps arranged by catalogue obviously
fails to show the proper sequence of ing this lengthy period of unrest would
historical events. pccupv far too much space but I think
it will be interesting to record the most
Although the stamps themselves are
simple and straightforward in the main important events as outlined by Mr.
it is fortunate that they have been ex- Duerst, viz. :
The set, as will be seen from the forego- The stamps were separated from
ing official documents, consisted of but two one another by a space of 1 mm., and
denominations 1 and 2 schilling. Both were produced by three successive
are alike in design and show the Arms processes.
of the duchies of Schleswig and Hoi- The sheet first received an impres-
stein together in a shield, impressed in sion from a plate of 80 cliches of an
plain relief, within an oval which covers underprint, of an Eagle in light blue
the body of a double headed eagle with or light red according to the value.
wings outspread. The eagle is in color This Eagle was engraved on steel, and
and rests upon a horizontally lined from the original die two lots of
ground within a rectangular frame. In eighty cliches were prepared and ar-
the upper corners are small uncolored ranged together in the form in which
ovals containing the letters "S" and "H" the stamps would appear on the sheets,
respectively (these of course being the thus making up two plates, one for
initial letters of the names of the two the blue stamps and one for the red,
duchies), while corresponding ovals in or 160 cliches in all.
the lower angles contain the numerals of The second die contained the de-
value. Above the central oval is sign of the stamp, and as the same
"POST" and below is "SCHILLING" Eagle appears again upon this, the
these inscriptionsextending over the Eagle was transferred to a steel die
eagle and being in large uncolored capi- in such a way that the impression
tals. The Arms of Schleswig described from the second plate should fit ac-
in the orthodox heraldic manner are
curately upon that of the first. This
"Or, two lions passant, or Beopardy, die was etched, and upon it were en-
azure," while those of Holstein are graved the lines of the background
"Gules, a triangular escutcheon argent, and the inscriptions 'POST' and
coupe gules, supported at each side by 'SCHILLING,' while the four small
three half leaves of holly argent, and ovals in the corners were left blank.
accompanied by three Passion nails of Then 160 cliches were produced from
the same, placed at even distances so this steel die and were made up into
that their points appear to pierce the plates of eighty, and finally there were
angles of the escutcheon." engraved upon each cliche the letters
The dies were engraved on steel by 'S' and 'H' in the upper ovals and the
M. Claudius, of Altona, and the stamps figures '!' or '2' in the lower. There
were printed at the works of Messrs. H. are thus eighty different types of each
W. Kobner and L. Kuhl, of that city, in of the tzvo values. These additions
color on white wove paper, the Arms were made by means of punches,
in the centre being in relief. which impressed the outlines of the let-
The stamps were printed in sheets of ters and figures into the comparative-
eighty, in ten rows of eight, upon "Dick- ly soft metal of the cliches, and the
enson" paper with a blue thread running surrounding parts of the ovals were
vertically through each stamp. Owing then cut away, for the differences are
to imperfect feeding of the paper in the recognizable but exceedingly minute.
printing press the silk thread does not Ihave never seen an entire sheet, but
always appear in the centre of the stamps I have examined some fairly large
as was intended, but may frequently be blocks of stamps which enable me to
found at one of the sides. This paper affirm that this engraving was not
was obtained from the same manufac- done upon a few cliches made from
turers that supplied similar paper for the the original die, and then the remain-
Bavarian stamps. ing cliches produced by reduplicating
A variety of the 2sch is recorded with these matrices, but that the engraving
a dot after the numeral "2" in the right was done separately upon each of the
lower corner but what its position was eighty.
in the sheet I am unable to say. die A * * *
"
*
and plate for a 3 schilling stamp was excellent
Although register was
also preoared but this was never used. kept in the printing, close examination
The dies were finished by M. Claudius shows that here and there the colour
and the blocks necessary for the print- of the first printing appears at one
ing plates were ready by October 20th, side or the other of the central oval.
1850. As a precaution against counter- The third printing produced the em-
feiting somewhat elaborate methods bossed Arms in the oval in the center.
were used in manufacturing these The Coat of Arms was* engraved in
stamps and on this point I cannot do relief on a slightly convex steel die,
better than quote from the excellent de- and from this eighty brass cliches
were struck, which were burnished of l/10sch would be necessary, before
and then arranged in a plate for the these could be issued the insurrection
embossing. The steel die in relief was suppressed by the Danes. The Pro-
was made somewhat convex as other- visional Government was dissolved on
wise the central design would not im- February 1st, 1851, and a law was passed
press itself sufficiently clearly in the on April 18th following according to
brass cliches. All the stamps, both 1 which Danish postage stamps were to be
and 2 schilling, were embossed with used in the duchies. The revolutionary
the same plate. The Arms are not stamps were, however, permitted to be
always set exactly in the middle of used until the end of August when the
the oval at times they are too much
; large remainders were sent to Copen-
to the right or left. Even in the hagen, together with the dies, plates and
case of unsevered copies the position all postal documents. No special stamps
of the Arms within the oval is not were used during this period of Danish
always the same it must therefore
; rule.
be supposed that when the brass
cliches were soldered together, suf-
ficient care was not taken in their Period C Schleswig; Governed by Com-
exact arrangement. missioners appointed by Aus-
tria and Prussia.
The printers were under contract to
furnish two millions of stamps in all Schleswig and Holstein being re-
and these were supplied in four con- garded as belonging to the German Con-
signments as follows :
federation, the Congress of Frankfurt
Nov. 1, 185080,000 Isch, 40,000 2sch in 1863 authorised Austria and Prussia
Nov. 25. 185020,000 Isch, 20,000 2sch as the two principal German powers to
Dec. 24, 1850100,000 Isch, 100,000 2sch
Feb. 14, 18511,100,000 Isch, 540,000 2sch force Denmark to evacuate the two
duchies. Denmark refused to be co-
Altogether, therefore, 1,300,000 of the
erced and the war of 1864 resulted.
1 schilling blue were printed and
Denmark was badly defeated and
700,000 of the 2 schilling rose. The cost
the two duchies thus fell into the hands
of the dies, matrices, and other materials
of the victors. The allied forces
required was 1,000 marks (about $290),
of Austria and Prussia occupied Flens-
while the charge for printing, pressing,
burg on February 7th, 1864, and no
gumming and packing was lOsch per time was lost in superseding the Danish
1,000 which amounted to 1,250 marks or
about $360.00. postage stamps. A notice was published
from Flensburg on March 14th, 1864, an-
Although so many stamps were
comparatively small number
nouncing the issue of a 4sch stamp for
printed, a
were sold and of these not all seem to Schleswig, viz :
have been used. According to the offi- To replace the postage stamps in-
cial records stamps to a total face value scribed in the Danish language hither-
of 1,599 marks 2 schilling were sold to employed in the Duchy of Schles-
and 8,701 letters were
franked with wis:, new postage stamps with the in-
the stamps. This accounts for the scription "HERZOGTHUM SCHLES-
greater rarity of these stamps in used WIG" (Duchy of Schleswig) will be
condition. put into circulation. The post offices
in the Duchy of Schleswig will at
first sell only stamps of the value of
4 schillinge printed in rose on white
paper.
Shortly afterwards this notice was
followed by another announcing the is-
sue of the l^sch stamps on the follow-
ing April 1st. The reason for the issue
of the two stamps is that the first of
them was in Danish currency, and was
Reference List.
objected to on that account. The new
Nov. 15th, 1851. Silk thread paper. Imperf. one in Hamburg currency was at once
1. Isch blue, Scott's No. 1 or la. ordered to take its place but not being
;
2. 2sch rose, Scott's No. 2 or 2a.
ready in time the 4sch stamp was is-
sued and continued in use for only six-
teen days. This value is consequently
much the scarcer used.
Period B Danish Government.
Both were manufactured at
stamps
Although the Provisional Government the State Printing Works in Berlin, and
passed a law amending the postal rates are similar to each other in design.
under which new stamps of the value Tin's shows the numerals of value in
large figures on an upright oval ground three lines.This is enclosed within a
of solid color. This is enclosed within square frame having posthorns in each
an engine turned oval band inscribed of the four corners. In the frame are
"HERZOGTH. SCHLESWIG" at top, the letters "HRZGL" at the left;
and"SCHILLINGE" (for the 4sch) or "POST" at the top; and "FRM" at the
"SCHILLING" (for the l^sch) at the right. This is an abbreviation for "Her-
base. The stamps were embossed in zogliche Post Freimarke" meaning "Du-
color on white wove paper and were cal Postage Stamp." At the bottom of
printed in sheets of 100 arranged in ten the frame is "4 S. R. M." i. e. "4 Skil-
rows of ten. ling Reichs Miinze" (4 skilling Reichs
For some unexplained reason Gibbons' Mark or Danish currency). The span-
catalogue gives 1865 as the date of issue drels are filled with wavy lines.
of these two stamps. The stamps were lithographed by
Kobner and Co., of Altona, in sheets of
100 in ten rows of ten. Before printing,
the paper was covered with an under-
print of wavy lines, of a grayish color,
in metallic oxide which only becomes
visible by chemical action. The fumes
of sulpheretted hydrogen will cause the
under-print to show. In the upper mar-
gin the inscription "HERZOGLICHE
POST FREIMARKEN" appears in
the wavy lines and in the central portion
Reference List. of each stamp a capital "P" was also
1864. No wmk. Rouletted 11%. left clear of the under-print. There are
3. 4sch carmine, Scott's No. 13. three types of this stamp, printed from
4. IJ^sch green, Scott's No. 9. different stones, which appeared in the
order in which they are described, viz :
month new stamps can be obtained at er and there are no periods after the
all post offices in the Duchies of Hol- letters at the sides and "SCHILLING"
;
stein and Lauenburg. These new has no dots above the two letters "I."
stamps will be printed like those in The stamps were printed on white
use at present in blue, and of the wove paper and they were issued in im-
value of 1^4sch courant or 4sch Dan- perforate condition, though both types
ish currency. I and III are known rouletted. As the
From the same date Danish stamps rouletting was, however, entirely unoffi-
cannot be used any longer for the cial the philatelic interest of these vari-
franking of letters in both Duchies. eties is slight.
All post offices are hereby instructed
to forward to headquarters at the be-
ginning of next month all such stamps
they may have in stock.
All persons having such stamps in
their possession and wishing to ex-
change same for new stamps, must ap-
ply to the post offices before the first
of next month.
The design of the new stamps ob-
viously owes its inspiration to the 1853 Reference List.
design for Denmark. In the center is March 1864. Imperforate.
a circular uncolored space containing the
5. Ij^sch blue (three types), Scott's Nos,
value "VA SCHILLING CRT." in 15, 16, or 17.
90
SECOND ISSUE. (dated March 31st, 1865) stated their
further use would not be permitted.
Early in April, 1864, another official
notice was issued from Kiel to the ef- Reference List.
fect that, as theduchies of Holstein and May 1864. Lithographed, Rouletted 8.
Lauenburg formed a territory of the blue, Scott's No. 18.
German-Austrian Postal Union, the
stamps would have to be altered and in-
stead of being inscribed with an equiva-
lent value in Danish currency they Period E Schleswig and Holstein:
would have the value denoted according Governed by Prussia and
to the currency of Lauenburg. To give Austria Combined.
a little more time to get rid of the stock
In the year 1865, prior to the Conven-
in hand of the former issue, the stamps tion of Gastein, stamps were issued un-
of the new issue were not placed in
der the authority of Austria and Prus-
circulation until about the end of May,
sia for the whole territory comprised
1864.
in the duchies. One of the chief rea-
The design is somewhat similar to sons for this step was that of finance,
that of the preceding issue, but the num-
considerable economy being effected by
erals of value in the center are much
having one instead of two postal ad-
larger and double-lined. Also, instead ministrations. At the same time the
'
91
In September, 1865, another addition Period G Holstein: Governed by Aus-
to the set was made a 4sch stamp being tria.
issued as representing the 3
silbergrps-
chen rate within the German Austrian FIRST ISSUE.
Postal Union. This is similar in de-
sign to the l^sch and shows the value Co-incident with the issue of separate
in schilling and its equivalent in silber-
stamps for Schleswig a separate series
groschen in the central oval. was also issued for Holstein. An offi-
cial notice, dated from Kiel, October
5th, 1865, informed the public that the
series heretofore in common use in both
duchies would be replaced by a new
series on November 1st following and
that thereafter the new stamps
only
would be accepted for postal service
within the Duchy of Holstein.
The values in the new set corre-
Reference List. sponded with those previously in use
1865. No. wmk. Rouletted Iiy2 .
and were also similar to those in the
7. J^sch carmine, Scott's No. 3.
series provided for Schleswig. The
8. IJ-^schgreen, Scott's No. 4. five values fall into two types: the l 2 / ,
9. l^sch lilac, Scott's No. 5. \ l/4 and 2sch being of one design and
10. 2sch ultramarine, Scott's No. 6.
11. 4sch bistre, Scott's No. 7. the l l/3 and 4sch of another.
In the first of these the numerals of
values are shown in the center on an
oval of solid color while the inscrip-
Period F Schleswig Governed by tions on the surrounding frame are in
Prussia. white letters on a colored ground.
Shortly after the issue of the 4sch These inscriptions are "HERZOGTH.
of the last series disagreements arose HOLSTETN" in the upper part, and
between Prussia and Austria. These "SCHILLING" in the lower, small stars
were patched uo and resulted in the separating them from each other.
Convention of Gastein by the terms of The design for the 1^ and 4sch is
which Schleswig was awarded to Prus- exactly like that employed in the previ-
sia, while Austria received Holstein and ous series for the combined use of the
Lauenburg. The natural result was duchies, the value in the center having
that separate series for the two duchies its equivalent value shown in silber-
were again required. It was also in- groschen.
tended to issue special stamps for The dies were engraved by M. Claud-
Lauenburg but
this fell through as ius and the stamps were printed in
Prussia from
purchased this territory sheets of 100 by Messrs. Kobner & Co.
Austria for $1,411,250 and amalgamated of Altona. They were printed on white
it with Schleswig. wove paper and were rouletted 8. The
The new stamps for Schleswig were stamps were embossed but the relief is
issued on November 1st, 1865, the de- very poor and much inferior to the
nominations being exactly the same as stamps of similar type printed by the
those previously in use. The designs State Printing Works, Berlin.
were similar to those of the Schleswig-
Holstein issue of 1865 but with the up-
per inscription altered to "HERZOGTH.
SCHLESWIG."
These stamps, like those of the pre-
ceding series, were manufactured at the
State Printing Works in Berlin. They
were printed in sheets of 100 on white
wove paper, and were rouletted 1154.
The l^sch varies considerably in
color being found in numerous shades
of lilac, mauve and purple, and also in
an almost pure grey.
Reference List.
ReferenceList.
Nov. 1st, 1865. Rouletted 11^. Nov. 1st, 1865. Rouletted 8.
12. i^sch green, Scott's No. 8. 17. '/2sch pale green, Scott's No. 19.
13. l^sch Scott's No. 10 or lOa.
lilac, 18. l^sch pale mauve, Scott's No. 20,
14. l^sch Scott's No. 11.
rose, 19. l^sch carmine, Scott's No. 23.
15. 2sch ultramarine, Scott's No. 12. 20. 2sch pale blue, Scott's No. 21.
16. 4sch greybrgwn, Scott's No. 14, 21. 4sch bistre, Scott's No. 25,
SECOND ISSUE. both duchies could be used indiscrimi-
nately. The remaining stocks of the
The design of the stamps with in- joint issue for the two duchies (as de-
scriptions white on color did not
in scribed under Period E) were also put
meet with the approval of the ^author- into circulation again. When formal in-
ities though they accepted them. When, corporation with Prussia was completed
however, new supplies of the 1J4 and 2 on December 24th, 1866, the stamps of
schilling were required in March and that State were likewise available for
August, 1866, respectively, the opportun- use anywhere within the duchies so
ity was taken of changing the design. that from that time, until the stamps of
In this second issue, therefore, the in- the North German Confederation were
scriptions are in color on an engine issued on January 1st, 1868, the inhabi-
turned band. These values were not em- tants of Schleswig and Holstein had
bossed, though, like the similar values ample choice as to the kind of stamps
of the first issue, they were printed by they might use.
Messrs. Kobner and Co. The stamps
were printed in sheets of 100 on white
wove paper and though normally roul-
letted 8 both values may be found rou- REMAINDERS.
letted 7.
When the special stamps were super-
Reference List. seded by the general issue for the North
1866. Typographed. Rouletted 8.
German Confederation a small stock of
22. l/
l
4 sch mauve, Scott's No. 22.
most values of the series for Schles-
2::. 2sch blue, Scott's No. 24. wig and Holstein as well as of the issue
for the combined use of both duchies
remained and these were later acquired
by M. Moens. The quantities of the
Period H. Schleswig and Holstein several varieties were as follows:
United with Prussia.
Schleswig, 1864 Issue.
The duchies between
division of the \ schilling 173.
Austria and Prussia did not entirely ,.
4 schilling 21,000.
allay the difficulties between the two Schleswig-Holstein, 1865 Issue.
and after a time strained relations en-
1
A, 1%, V/3, 2 and 4 schilling, 20,000 of
sued and ultimately war resulted. The each.
war was of short duration and by the Schlesivig, 1865 Issue.
Treaty of Prague, of August 23rd, 1866, 20,000 2sch, 20,000
Prussia had control of both duchies. 4sch, 20,000
Ij4sch, 20,000
Xo special stamps were issued, how- l^sch, 20,000
ever. For a time each duchy used its
own special stamps as described above, Holstein, 1865 Issue.
and then, on November 5th, 1866, a ^sch, 1,000 I 2sch, 13,000
circular was issued from the postal de- l^sch, none 4sch, 20,000
partment notifying that the stamps of 7,000 I
WURTEMBERG.
The kingdom of Wurtemberg lies be- they, in turn were subdued by the
tween Baden and Bavaria and touches Franks. In the 9th century it was in-
Switzerland (Lake of Constance) on corporated in the duchy of Swabia, Ul-
the south. It entirely surrounds Hohen- rich (1241-65) being the first count. In
zollern, in which state, as well as in 1495 the reigning count was made a
Baden, it owns several enclaves. Its duke of the empire. Duke Frederick II,
total area is 7529 square miles and it (1797-1816) on going over to the French
has a population of about three millions. was rewarded with 850 square miles of
It is drained for the most part by the new territory and an addition of 125,000
Neckar and its tributaries, while the subjects, as well as the dignity of Elec-
Danube crosses the country towards the tor (1802). In Napoleon's war against
south. The most striking geographical Austria (1805) he sided with the French,
feature is the Swabian Alb, the most and his troops fought with them down
characteristic portion of the South Ger- to 1813 in return for which he acquired
;
man Jura. The Black Forest borders the kingly title and an increase of terri-
the kingdom on the west. On the whole tory which more than doubled the num-
the surface lies high (3000 to 1500 feet), ber of his subjects. Throwing in her
the greater part belonging to one or lot with Austria in 1866, Wurtemberg
other of the German plateau systems; was beaten at Konniggratz and Tauber-
but there are many valleys, all of great bischofsheim, and her king (Charles,
fertility. Agriculture is the principal 1864-91) was compelled to purchase
industry; wine and fruit are produced peace from Prussia at the cost of an
in large quantity; and market gardening indemnity of $4,000,000.
is pursued at Stuttgart, Ulm,
actively
Heilbronn and elsewhere. Iron and
salt are mined and there are numerous
mineral springs scattered over the whole ITS POSTAL HISTORY.
kingdom. There is a good deal of man-
ufacturing industry of a varied char- From an early period the postal service
acter, the more important branches pro- of Wurtemberg was, with some inter-
ducing iron, gold, and silver goods, ruptions, the hands of the princely
in
cutlery, fire-arms, machinery, scientific House of Thurn and Taxis, but by an
and musical instruments, chemicals, agreement dated March 22nd, 1851, the
prints and books, confectionery and beer. Government of Wurtemberg liberated
The capitol of the kingdom is Stuttgart. itself by purchasing the postal privileges
The bulk of the people (69 per cent.) from July 1st of that year for the sum
are Protestants the Roman Catholics,
; of 1,300,000 florins (about $525,000). It
who have a bishop at Rottenburg, then proceeded to form its own adminis-
amount to 30 per cent., and there are tration and to join the German-Austrian
about 12,000 Jews. The state university Postal Union, established by the conven-
is at Tubingen, and there is a polytech- tion of April 6th, 1850. As one of the
nical high school at Stuttgart. Educa- provisions of this convention required
tion stands at an exceptionally high gen- the adoption of postage stamps, prepara-
eral level, even for Germany; there is tions were immediately made for pro-
not a single individual in the kingdom viding them, and by a notice of October
over ten years of age who is unable to 7th, 1851, the public were informed that
read and write. Wurtemberg has four stamps of 1, 3, 6 and 9 kreuzer would
votes in the Federal Council, and re- be on sale at the various post offices on
turns seventeen deputies to the Imperial the 12th of that month, and that their
Diet. The Wurtemberg troops consti- use would commence from the 15th of
tute the 13th Army Corps of the German the same month. In design these stamps
Army, having a total strength of about are very similar to those of Baden, is-
24,000. The king is a hereditary consti- sued a few months earlier. All values
tutional sovereign and he is assisted by were printed in black on colored papers,
two houses of parliament. The national the design, common to all, mainly fea-
receipts and expenditures balance at turing large numerals to denote the re-
about $17,500,000 per annum, while the spective denominations. In December,
national debt, nearly all incurred for 1856, the numeral design was suppressed
railways, stands at about $110,000,000. in favor of a new one showing the
The territory now called Wurtemberg, Arms of the kingdom. The values were
then occupied by the Suevi, was con- the same as before with an 18kr stamp
quered by the Romans in the first cen- in addition, and all were printed in color
tury, A. D. In the third century it was on white paper, the paper containing
settled by the Germanic Alemanni and orange colored silk threads like the
94
"Dickinson" paper employed in Great the chief feature of the design but in
Britain. In June, 1858, the stamps be- place of "WURTTEMBERG," the in-
gan to appear on plain white wove paper, scription is "K.WURTT.POST". On
without silk threads, while about No- May 28th, 1875, a further notice from
vember, 1859, perforation was^ intro- the post office announced the discontin-
duced. The next change, occurring in uance of the kreuzer series from the 1st
February, 1861, was a somewhat minor of July following and the issue of a
one affecting the paper which was much new series with values in pfennige. The
thinner than before. In 1862, the 1, 3, 6 new stamps were 3, 5, 10, 25 and 50
and 9 kreuzer were issued with a per- pfennige and 2 marks, the latter taking
foration gauging 10 instead of 13^ as the place of the 70kr stamp. The 50pf
before, while in 1863-64 all denomina- as originally issued was printed in grey
tions appeared in new colors conform- but by virtue of an agreement made
ing to the color scheme adopted by the with the Imperial Post Office at Berlin,
German-Austrian Postal Union. In 1865 its color was changed to grey-green in
the 1, 3 and 6kr were issued with roulette February, 1878. In November, 1881, a 5
instead of perforation, the 9kr followed mark stamp was added to the series, this
in 1867 and the 18kr in 1868 and in the being similar in design to the rest of the
latter year a new value, 7kr, also set except that the central portion was
rouletted, was added to the series. In uncolored and the numeral of value was
1868 the Government decided to abandon printed in this space in black by a second
the typographic embossing process as it operation. On January 1st, 1883, a
was too expensive, especially in
foui.'d similar change in the color of the num-
the caseof the lower denominations. eral was extended to the 2 mark stamp.
Ordinary typographic printing was Early in 1890 the colors of the 3, 5, 25
adopted and with the new process a new and 50pf stamps were changed and in
design was introduced. In this the main 1893 a further addition was made to the
theme was a large numeral in the cen- series by the issue of a 2 pfennige stamp.
ter, to denote the value, surrounded by In 1900 two new values 30 and 40 pfen-
suitable inscriptions and ornamentation. nige respectively were issued, these be-
A post office notice, dated November ing like the mark denominations with
27th, 1868, stated that from January 1st, the numerals in black on a plain ground.
1869, the new 1, 3 and 7kr stamps would On April 1st, 1902, the kingdom of Wur-
be issued according as the stocks of the temberg ceased the issue of its own
former issues were exhausted. On May separate stamps, those for the German
3rd, 1869, another value of 14kr was Empire superseding them.
added to the series on December 1st,
;
In addition to its stamps for ordinary
1872, a 2kr stamp was issued and on ; use, Wurtemberg has issued Municipal
January 15th, 1873, another stamp of the Service and Official stamps, both these
value of 9 kreuzer appeared. About the special series still continuing in use.
same time a 70 kreuzer stamp of the The Municipal Service stamps were first
type of 1856 was issued, the object of issued in July, 1875, there being two de-
which was to prepay heavy letters. nominations, 5 and 10 pfennige. The
Towards the end of 1874 the system of first of these was for use on the official
rouletting the stamps ceased, a new per- correspondence of municipalities, irre-
forating machine, with a gauge of 11 spective of weight, and the lOpf was
by 11 y2 having been purchased. The
, for use on money orders and parcels.
only stamps of the 1869-73 series per- In 1880 the color of the 5pf was changed
forated by this machine were those of from mauve to green. In 1897 a change
the 1 kreuzer, which was issued in No- in the postal rates led to the issue of a
vember, 1874, as before it was necessary 3pf stamp and in 1900 other regulations
to print any of the other denominations led to the issue of 2 and 25 pfennige
the design was altered. values. In 1906 all five values were
In 1874 was decided to change the
it overprinted with the dates "1806-1906,"
currency, which up to then was that of surmounted by a crown in commemora-
the florin of 60 kreuzer, to the Imperial tion of the centenary of Wurtemberg's
currency of marks and pfennige, and being raised to a Kingdom. In 1906-7 all
January 1st, 1875, was decided on as the five values were printed on paper water-
date upon which the change should take marked with a design of crosses and
effect. A Post-office Notice dated De- circles and at the same time 20 and 50
cember 23rd, 1874, announced that a pfennige values were added to the set.
stamp of 20 pfennige of a new design Until April 1st, 1881, the correspond-
would be issued on the following Jan-
'
ence of the ministerial offices was con-
uary 1st to take the place of the 7 veyed free of charge, but on the sup-
kreuzer, as soon as the stock of that pression of this privilege a series of
value in the various post offices was ex- stamps of special design was issued for
hausted. Prominent numerals are again use on official correspondence. The
values at first issued were 3, 5, 10, 20, 25 the right side 'Vertrag v. 6 April 1850.
and 50 pfennige, but in 1882 a 1 mark These were set up in movable type, the
stamp was added. In 1890 the colors of upper and lower ones in ordinary Ger-
the 3, 5 and 25pf and 1 mark were changed man lower case characters with capital
to conform with those of the regular initials, and those on the sides in diamond
series. The color of the 50pf was also type, as in those of Baden. The spaces
changed shortly afterwards and in 1900 between the rectangle carrying the num-
a 2pf stamp was added to the set. In eral of value and the inner line of the
1903, 30 and 40 pfennige stamps were frame were filled in with arabesque or-
issued in colors corresponding to those naments."
of the ordinary stamps of 1900, while in The design is similar for all values
1906 all denominations were overprinted with the exception of the central portion
in a similar manner to the Municipal carrying the numerals. In the case of
Service stamps. During 1906-7 all de- the 1 and 6 kreuzer the background is
nominations appeared on the new paper composed of lines running parallel to
watermarked with circles and crosses. the sides of the rectangle making a de-
sign of small squares; in the 3 kreuzer,
the ground consists of small ovals; in
the 9 kreuzer the ground is composed
of small circles resembling lace work;
THE FIRST ISSUE. while on the 18 kreuzer the background
is formed of horizontal lines.
The Government of Wurtemberg ob- The dies were engraved at the Mint
tained control of its own postal service in Stuttgart, where the electrotypes com-
in 1851 when, as Ihave already shown posing the printing plates were also
in my preceding notes, it was purchased made. The printing was done under the
from the Prince of Thurn and Taxis. direction of the post office, in typo-
The first series of stamps consisting of graphic presses, the sheets consisting of
1, 3, 6 and 9 kreuzer values were placed sixty stamps arranged in ten rows of six.
on sale to the public on the 12th Octo- All denominations were printed in black
ber, 1851, though their use for postal on colored papers. The paper was ob-
purposes did not commence until three tained locally and while it is always wove,
days later. In April, 1852, a new de- it varies considerably in thickness and
paper. The printing was heavy, conse- (1) The dark shade(believed by
quently the design is generally found most people be the first plate).
to
deeply indented in the paper. The The dimensions of the little black
stamps were rouletted with the machine dotted frame running round the
used for the preceding series. stamps is 79^2 mm. horizontally, and
53 vertically. They are only divided
from each other by a single line of
little black dots. The stamps are 3^4
mm. apart from one another. In the
inscription over the top row there is
no stop after the word "Mk.", and
the two little lines (denoting equal to)
between 70kr, 1F1, 10, etc., are only
Y$ mm. wide.
Reference List. (2) The light shade. The Arms
1869-73. Rouletted 10. in the stamps are more embossed, the
41. Ikr green, Scott's No. 47 or 47a. stamps show a somewhat clearer im-
42. 2kr orange, Scott's No. 48 or 48a. pression. The dimensions of the
48. 3kr rose, Scott's No. 49.
44. 7kr blue, Scott's No. 50. outer border are 77 mm. by 52 mm.
45. 9kr bistre, Scott's No. 51 or 51a. The stamps are likewise printed 3^4
46. 14kr orange, Scott's No. 52 or 52a. mm. apart, but two dotted lines (M to
1 mm. apart) divided the stamps in-
stead of one only. In the black in-
THE TENTH ISSUE.
scription on the top there is a stop
after "MK.", and the lines (equal to)
On January 1st, 1873, a stamp bearing are 1^2 mm. wide.
the fiscal value of 70 kreuzer and in
the Arms type of 1857 made its appear- Reference List.
ance. The object of this high denomi- 1873. Embossed. Imperf.
nation, as shown by a post office notice 47. 70kr violet, Scott's No. 53 or 53a.
100
THE ELEVENTH ISSUE. cease to be, valid , for postal use. 'The
,
ernment purchased a new perforating the same time the color of this latter
machine having a gauge of \l l 2 by 11. / value, which had hitherto been printed
The only value of the kreuzer series in blue, was changed to ultramarine.
perforated by this machine was the Ikr About the same time a 2 marks stamp
which was issued in November, 1874. of similar type was issued in place of
Before it was necessary to print further the 70 kreuzer. Its sale was prohibited
supplies of any of the other values the to the public and its use was at first
design was changed and though speci- confined to the offices of Stuttgart, Ulm,
mens are known with this perforation and Heilbronn, though later it was ex-
they are fraudulent productions. tended to almost every post office in the
Reference List. kingdom. Notwithstanding this pro-
1874. Perf. 11^x11. hibition the stamp was frequently sold
48. Ikr green, Scott's No. 54. to the public, as appears from a post-
office circular of August 18th, 1879, and
in November of that year the stamp
was printed in vermilion on orange
THE TWELFTH ISSUE. colored paper, and on the back "un-
verkauflich" (not to be sold) was printed
In 1874 it was decided to change the
in ultramarine.
currency, which up to that time had
consisted of the florin of 60 kreuzer,
The 50pf was at first printed in grey
but in February, 1878, consequent on
similar to that of the other States of
an agreement made with the Imperial
south Germany, to the Imperial cur-
Post-office at Berlin, its color was
rency of marks and pfennige, and Jan-
uary 1st, 1875, was fixed as the date for changed to grey-green.
All values exist in a number of more
the change. Anotice, dated December
or less striking shades and specialists
23rd, 1874, was issued by the Post-office,
will also find that most of them exist
stating that a stamp of 20 pfennige of a
new design would be issued on that day with yellow and white gum, the latter
to take the place of that of the 7 kreuzer, representing the later printings.
just as soon as the stocks of the latter
value held in the various post-offices
were exhausted.
The design shows uncolored numerals
on a circular ground of lines crossing
each other diagonally, above which, on
a curved scroll is "K. WURTT.
POST",
while on a similar scroll below, the
value is shown in words. On the left
is a shield containing three stag's horns List.
Reference
and on the right are three lions in a 1875-79. Perf.
similar shield. The whole is enclosed 49. green, Scott's No. 55 or 55a.
3pf
by an ornamental rectangular frame 50. 5pfviolet, Scott's No. 56.
51. rose, Scott's No. 57.
measuring 21 by lS l 2 mm. / 52.
lOpf
blue, Scott's No. 58a.
20pf
The die was engraved and the print- 53. ultramarine, Scott's No. 58.
20pf
ing plates were constructed at the Mint 54. brown, Scott's No. 59.
25pf
in Stuttgart and the printing was done
55. grey, Scott's No. 60.
50pf
56. grey-green, Scott's No. 61.
50pf
under the direction of the Post-office as 57. 2mk orange, Scott's No. 62.
in the case of the preceding issues. As 58. 2mk vermilion on orange, Scott's No.
the new currency was a decimal one a
change in the size of the plates was
made and the stamps were printed in THE THIRTEENTH ISSUE.
sheets of 100 arranged in ten rows of
ten. They were perforated bv the new On November 1st, 1881, a 5 mark
machine gauging 11^ by 11. stamp was issued and though this was
On May 28th, 1875, the Post-office is- chiefly intended for telegraphic purposes
sued another notice announcing that it was also available for postal use.
from July 1st next the former series The design was similar to that of the
of stamps in kreuzer would be entirely preceding series except that the central
superseded by a new series with values circular portion was uncolored, and the
in pfennige. These, it was stated, would numeral of value was printed on it in
be on sale at the various post offices on black by a second operation. This value
June 15th. and that after August 15th was reported with central numeral in-
the stamps with values in kreuzer would verted some years ago and though the
101
error is listed in Scott's^- catalogue I one year on either side. On the date
cannot -fthcT that its px?$tehcf was ever mentioned the separate issues of each
"
auttienj jcAted: ,
country will give place to a uni-
On' January 1st, 1883, the 2 mark fied series inscribed "DEUTSCHES
stamp was also issued with value in REICH."
black on an uncolored ground. The Reference List.
value is known in two distinct shades 1900. Perf.11^x11.
and is also known imperforate, a sheet 66. 30pf orange and black, Scott's No. 71.
having been accidentally issued in this 67. 40pf rose and black, Scott's No. 72.
condition.
102
In 1906 some of the values began to Official stamps for franking cor-
appear on paper watermarked with a respondence connected with the busi-
multiple device of crosses and circles ness of the State, churches, schools,
and by the following year all values and public benevolent institutions were
had appeared on this new paper and issued, in part, on the first of April
two new values 20 and 50 pfennige last, in terms of a decree, dated 26th
were also issued. The stamps on this March, 1881, of the Ministry of
watermarked paper were printed by the Churches and Schools. Article 3 of
German Imperial Printing Office, at this Decree sets forth that "Delivery
Berlin, and apparently the plates for of these stamps shall be made against
the two new values were also made in printed acknowledgments of their re-
Berlin. These stamps are still in use ceipt upon forms to be furnished by
for theagreement between the Imperial the post-office department. At the
Administration and that of Wurtem- end of every month the post-office
berg regarding the unified series of authorities shall prepare a statement
stamps affected those for public use of number of receipts in their pos-
onlv. session for stamps issued, and shall
submit it to our Department for ex-
amination and payment."
The
values at 'first issued were 3, 5,
10,and 20 pfennige and these were fol-
lowed on April 18th by 25 and 50
pfennige. The colors correspond to
those of similar denomination of the
ordinary series then current. The de-
sign, which is the same for all, shows
List. uncolored labels on all four sides and a
Reference
1875-1900. Perf.
fifth one crossing the centre of the
11^x11.
66. 2pf grey, Scott's No. 218. stamps obliquely from the left lower to
67. 3pf brown, Scott's No. 215. the right upper corner. The labels at
68. opf mauve, Scott's No. 201. the sides are inscribed "K. WURTT."
69. 5pf green, Scott's No. 216 or 217.
70. lOpf rose, Scott's No. 202.
at the left, "*POST*" at the top,
71. 25pf orange, Scott's No. 220. "PFENNIG" at the right, and the value
in words at the bottom. The diagonal
label contains the words "AMTLICHER
VERKEHR" meaning "Official Busi-
ness." On each side of the central
label are escutcheons, containing the
.numerals of value, resting on an orna-
mental background.
In 1882 a new value of 1 mark printed
1806 - 1906 in yellow was added to the series.
In 1890 the colors of the 3, 5, and
1906. Overprinted in black. Perf. 25pf were altered to conform with those
72. 2pf grey, Scott's No. 224. of the ordinary stamps and at the same
73. 3pf brown, Scott's No. 226.
74. opf green, Scott's No. 228.
time the color of the 1 mark was
75. lOpf rose, Scott's No. 229. changed to violet. Shortly afterwards
7>. 25pf orange, Scott's No. 233. the color of the 5pf was also altered
1906-7. Wmk. Crosses and circles. Perf.
and in 1900 a 2pf stamp was added to
77. 2pf grey, Scott's No. 238.
the series.
78. 3pf brown, Scott's No. 239. In 1903 30 and 40 pfennige stamps
70. 5pf green, Scott's No. 240. were issued and these, like the ones for
80. lOpf rose, Scott's No. 241.
81. 20pf blue, Scott's No. 253. ordinary use were printed at two opera-
82. 25pf orange, Scott's No. 242. tions with the value in each case in
83. 50pf lake, Scott's No. 254. black.
In 1906 ten values were overprinted
all
in a manner to the Municipal
similar
OFFICIAL STAMPS. Service stamps in commemoration of the
hundredth anniversary of Wurtemberg's
Until April 1st, 1881, the correspond- existence as a kingdom, and in 1906-7
ence of the ministerial offices was con- all denominations were issued on the
veyed free of postage, but at that time watermarked paper used for the Mu-
the privilege was taken away and a nicipal Service stamps of the same date.
series of special stamps was issued for These latter were printed in Berlin by
use on all official correspondence. M. the German Imperial Printing Office and
Moens described their issue as follows: they are still in use.
J03
the central portions and the frames
without the inscriptions. These latter
were, therefore, set up again, and small
plates constructed consisting of six or
twelve electrotypes. In the imitations
the letters of "Wurttemberg" and
"Freimarke" are smaller than in the
originals, the letter "W" is 1l 2/ mm.
from the of the label in-
left side-line
Reference List. stead of 1 mm. as in the genuine, and
1881-82. Perf. 11^x11. the lower bunch of grapes in each of the
84. 3pfgreen, Scott's No. 203. two ornaments in the lower tablet are
85. 5pfmauve, Scott's No. 204. complete whereas in the originals they
86. lOpfrose, Scott's No. 205.
87. 20pfblue, Scott's No. 206.
are not complete. These "reprints"
88. 25pfbrown, Scott's No. 207'. should hardly confuse the most inexperi-
89. 50pfgrey-green, Scott's No. 208. enced collector. Mr. Westoby tells us
90. Imk yellow, Scott's No. 209. that "In 1865 a further printing was
1890-1903. Perf.
made on paper of various thicknesses,
91. 2pfgrey, Scott's No. 219.
and of all the colors of the rainbow.
92. 3pfbrown, Scott's No. 210. The printing seems to have been special-
93. 5pfgreen, Scott's No. 211. ly confined to the 1 kreuzer, though the
94. 25pforange, Scott's No. 212. other values are recorded as existing. .
occupied with his family, I was in and by me in the Virginia Philiatelist, but
out of the office whenever out of school, think I explained in it how Bergedorf
helping in a boyish way and very much was governed by a delegation of the
interested in everything that went on Senates of both Lubeck and Hamburg,
there, and even in those days I was a called in Bergedorf the "Visitation" to
stamp collector. In fact when my father whom, in the week which they spent
went to Hamburg to see Mr. Fuchs to each summer in Bergedorf, all matters
confer about stamps for Bergedorf, he were referred to for adjustment, consti-
took with him my collection (stamps tuting as it were a court of last resort,
pasted flat in a copy book no printed so the report you mentioned as being
albums then) to discuss designs and made in 1859 was to them and nothing
colors. I remember distinctly telling further was done that year, than to
him to beware of such stamps as the order the preparation of stamps for se-
then current ikr Austria, which under lection and one sheet of each value was
artificial light could hardly be distin- struck off. In 1860 the visitation did
guished. nothing further about the adoption of
I pass over your description of how stamps for Bergedorf, but when they
Bergedorf became finally the property were there again during the summer
of Lubeck and Hamburg jointly, for to of 1861, it was ordered that stamps
go into a description like I find in a should be issued, but the colors of the
Chronicle of Bergedorf, issued there in half and the three shilling did not please
1894 and a copy of which is before me, them and they were ordered to be
would be taking too much time and printed in the colors as described in
space, and I will come at once to the the order of October, 17th, 1861.
postal history as I find it recorded In urging the issuing of stamps and
there and of part of which I have per- to show how they would appear when
sonal knowledge. on letters, there were cut from each of
The Counts of Thurn and Taxis, who the five sheets printed, a block of six
held the postal privilege in Germany and each block pasted on a large sheet
for centuries, tried to open a P. O. of blank paper, and I think the original
there in 1788, but it was discontinued block of six of the half shilling is now
almost at once, as it had been estab- in the Postal Museum
in Berlin. Those
lished without the consent of the Senates found in Lubeck's archives are evidently
of Lubeck and Hamburg. In 1838 a a similar set probably furnished by my
Prussian P. O. was established there father to the Lubeck delegates in 1860,
with my father as postmaster, he being and I have no doubt if Hamburg's ar-
105
chives were searched, a like find would cerning Bergedorf were settled by the
be made there. The time from mid- "Visitation" throws light upon the last
summer 1861 to November 1st, 1861, was paragraph of my father's letter to Mr.
necessary to have the stamps printed, Moens. As your translation reads:
for I am sure that up to that time only "The pourparlers and discussions were
one sheet of each denomination had never exchanged directly between the
been furnished to my father by Mr. Bergedorf authorities and myself, and
Fuchs in Hamburg, who had the con- were mostly carried on verbally, which
tract to lithograph the stamps. shows that there can be no documents
You judge from the wording of the on this subject." To make it clear
last paragraph the report of 1859,
in there should be added after exchanged
that there must have been a Danish P. "in writing" and after myself instead of
O. in Bergedorf, but there never was. "and" should be "but," for it is a fact
Danish stamps of the value of four skil- that all conferences on the subject of
lings (Scott's 7 and 9) had been sold issuing stamps were only held during
at the Bergedorf P. O. for a number of the time the "Visitation" was in Berge-
years for the reason that Denmark, dorf.
recognizing the usefulness of having Your mention of the fact that the
mail matter prepaid by stamps, made obliteratingstamp was also acquired by
a difference in the rates of prepaid by Mr. Moens leads me to add one little
stamps and prepaid in cash or unpaid let- piece of information, which may be of
ters, for while a letter from Bergedorf use to some one who has Bergedorf
to the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein stamps cancelled in the following man-
and Lanenburg (not Luxemburg as ner and which perhaps have been thrown
you have it, and Oldenburg must also aside as counterfeit or as bearing a
be a mistake as that never belonged to false cancellation. The obliterating
Denmark) then under Danish Dominion stamp was made of brass and was a
as well asDenmark proper, when pre- perfect square having five straight, equi-
paid by stamps cost only 1% schilling distant lines on it, so that an ordinary
currency, if prepaid in money or sent cancellation would have been something
unpaid cost two schillings. The stamps like this
were furnished by the Royal Danish P.
O. in Hamburg.
I see that you have the signature of
my father misplaced under the decree of
October 17th, 1861. Nothing should be
after the (signed) Paalzow. There was
no Imperial Post in existence at that
time so he could not well have been a
Director of Post. It belongs, however,
under the letter to Mr. Moens, March
29, 1873, for then he was Director of
Imp. Post and former Postmaster of the I know that in a number of instances I
L. H. office in Bergedorf. have seen the clerks and have done so
Another misprint is in naming the often myself, use the cancelling stamp
Vierlande. You enumerate, Neuen- twice, the second time reversed so that
gramm, Altengramm which should both the postage stamp was cancelled not by
be spelled without r, viz. :
Neuengamm, straight lines, but by small squares.
Altengamm. This explains such cancellation and
Then you speak about the issuance of should give a stamp so obliterated a
stamps in Lubeck and Hamburg, Janu- good philatelic standing. Again assur-
ary 1st, 1859, and continue that, "shortly ing you that all the foregoing has not
after these labels appeared letters posted been written in a censorious spirit, but
in the Bergedorf district were required with the sincere desire to throw as much
to be prepaid with Hamburg stamps." light as possibleupon the subject treated
This is incorrect, for while it is a fact and to bury forever the claim of the
that a very few Hamburg stamps have essays of the half schilling black on vio-
been used in Bergedorf at that time, let and the three schilling black on rose
their use was never officially sanctioned as legitimate postage stamps, for they
and there was no requirement for even were never issued as such.
prepayment of any correspondence. Very sincerely yours,
Having explained how all matters con- JOHN PAALZOW.
1C6
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY
Return to desk from which borrowed.
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
NOV17 1947
REC'D LD
JAN 6 1948
NOV 1 J956
EC'D LD
AN 5 1957
1956 EC
LD 21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476
M80838