Germany [4th Post]

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today I have some stamps from early 1900's and 2 or 3 series from the III Reich...

the first group of stamps I want to show today is from the 1st German Pictorial series...there are 4 or 5 main designs that are repeated until 1920 with some light differences... in 1899 these designs were issued for the first time with values from 1M to 5M... in this first issue we have the label "REICHPOST" in all this high value stamps...in the stamp above , You can see that the label is "DEUTSCHES REICH"... there are differences among the stamps issued in 1899 , but let's focus only on the stamps I have to show... in 1901 we had another issue of this designs, and in both these first 2 issues, the stamps don't present wmk... fortunately , in these stamps the wmk  is clearly visible and so we can see (in the examples abobe)  a net of lozenges ...we can now conclude that this stamp is the deep blue or Bright Blue  2M and the Violet black 3M stamps of 1905...we can now  list a group of procedures to classify these pictorial stamps that were issued along with the famous Germania Definitive series...

A) search for the "REICHPOST" or "DEUTSCHES REICH" labels...

B) search for the presence of wmk's

C) search for correct perforation 

I just want to say one more thing about these pictorial series... in general I don't walk around through auctions to find the most beautiful stamp, in perfect conditions;  the stamps appear right in front of me, and in most cases are part of larger European or World stamp lots... so , the only ones I can get are these stamps full of Postmarks... it damage the visibility (always remember to click the pictures)  but in the end I like them...!! they are beautiful stamps and beautiful postmarks... to finish with these two stamps, I like to say that the designs were made following paintings of the Allegory of the Union of South and North Germany (2M) and the William I Memorial in Berlin (3M).....

1905 "Germania and Pictorial High Values" (16) [Engr (Prof. W. Roese)][Recess] Sc(93,94)

This is the complete 1920 issue...the first 3 values (1M,1.25M,1.50M) present us the same design representing the General Post Office in Berlin....all the 2 designs are re-drawn and present some differences from the original.. but I don't want to talk about them , because I think there is no need...this is an offset Printing , so any resemblance with the original [Recess] issues is pure coincidence... the printing is far less detailed (I had to take 300ppp scans instead of the usual [Recess] 600ppp)..The stamps are Wmk with lozenges...

1920 "Pictorial High Values" (4) [Offset][Sc(111,...,114)

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Let's now enter the domain of the III REICH stamps...

A beautiful Train series for the Topical collectors... very nice work of Design and engraving...

1935 "Centenary of the German Railway" (4) [Des (Karl Diebitsch)][Recess] Sc(459,...,462)

these are two of the stamps from a series of 9... I could say that I became very surprised with this series, specially with the simplicity of the engraving.... very , very beautiful stamps..!!

1936 "Winter Relief Fund" (9) [Des/Engr (G. Fritz)][Recess] Sc(B95,B98)

Another beautiful series, commemorating the National Games in Breslau...

1938 "16th German Sports Tournament, Breslau" (4) [Des (G. Fritz)][Recess] Sc(486,...,489)

a stamp commemorating the Zeppelin's inventor...

1938 "Birth Centenary of Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin" (2) [Engr (Axster-Heudtlass)][Recess] Sc(C59)

1942 "73rd Hamburg Derby" (1) [Des (L. Holhwein)][Recess (Vienna)] Sc(B204)

1942 "Brown Ribbon of Germany" (1) [Des (R. Klein)][Recess (Vienna)] Sc(B205)

well,I talked a little about the first stamps, but the 2nd part was almost a display of the REICH stamps... Hope you like them!!

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The yellow stamp

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Last Thursday, when I was preparing this post, I remembered some Stamp Annual Books I have from China, Portugal and Germany... none of those stamps are classified yet,so doing posts about them, with an entire year of stamps, is quite normal... not so normal , when I use to talk about the stamps, their difficulties in the classification and the usual abnormalities that sometimes occur, because in today's post everything is more than normal,good printings,no errors of any kind, MNH stamps, etc... Yes,today I have all the stamps from Germany Bundespost 1985.. The Yearbook has also the stamps from Berlin, but I thought that a repetition of the series (with different stamps, although..) could be somehow annoying...From Germany I have 3 more Yearbooks,1987,1988 and 1989... they will be presented when the time comes... let us now start with the stamps from 1985...

I was thinking in a group of nice photos of the Book and some pages, but unfortunately my "Jurassic" Phone wont allowed it... I have photos , but they are low quality pictures...

 As you can see ,there are also postmarks for each issue, detailed Technical data and a detailed review about the stamp itself...

I will follow the catalog order of the stamps, but I will not exceed myself in unnecessary comments ...all the stamps are [Litho] or [Photo] Printed... it was for me something close to a disillusion the fact of none of the stamp are engraved, but this particular year there wasn't  any.. in the other side and to balance the equation, we have very mature stamps in what concerns the Graphic Design.. 

One of the things I noticed with this Yearbook review is that almost all the designers are "Professors"... Yes, they do not only have a degree in Graphic Design but  are also professors of the discipline..this is relatively common with German stamps , and tell us much about the expertise of all those who are connected to the creation of these stamps... 
[Left] "2000th Anniv of Augsburg" (1) [Des (H.J. Volbracht)][Litho] Sc(1432)
[Right] "350th Birth Anniv of Philipp Jakob Spener (church reformer)" (1) [Des (Prof. Gunther Jacki)][Litho] Sc(1433)

[Left]  "Birth Bicentenaries of Grimm Brothers (folklorists) and 7th International Union for German Linguistics and Literature Congress, Gottingen" (1) [ Des (Elizabeth Von Janota-Bzowski)][Litho] Sc(1434)
[Right] this is a very simple stamp,that in the end surprises all of us with it's beautiful and uncommon color...it is for me one of the best stamps presented today , because it tell us that  the best stamp it isn't  always the most complicated...a simple portrait and a group of well chosen labels could be enough to conquer our attention.. A very good work..!
" BirthCentenary of Romano Guardini (theologian)" (1) [Des (Prof. Gerd Aretz)][Litho] Sc(1435)

[Left]  "Millenary of Market and Coinage Rights in Verden." (1) [Des (Prof. Peter Steiner)][Litho] Sc(1436)
[Right] "30th Anniv of Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations" (1) [Des (Prof. Ernst Junger)][Litho] Sc(1437)

[Left] " 225th Birth Anniv of Johann Peter Hebel (poet)" (1) [Des ( Elizabeth Von Janota-Bzowski)][Litho] Sc(1438)
[Right] we all know that Graphic Design is a tool used also in advertising or whenever we have an idea to "sell" to others...in this case we have a simple photo, a portrait stamp,presented to us in a different way,and we could say that the stamp is very well accomplished -- it is a stamp that is kept in our mind -- it is also a very simple stamp ,just portrait and labels,no frames of any kind,so once again simplicity and Originality (in one of it's many forms..)  were keys to a 'success stamp'...
"Birth Centenary of Egon Erwin Kisch (journalist)."(1) [Des (Prof. Albrecht Ade)][Litho] Sc(1439)

Here we have the Europa Series, one of the most famous topics for Collectors...in this case the subject is music and two of the Greatest German Musicians are represented in stamps with identical general configuration... very beautiful stamps,with an appealing look that gave to this series a prominent place among modern German stamps...
[Left/Right] "Europa" (2) [Des (Prof. Karl Hans Walter][Photo] Sc(1440,1441)

 [Left] "300th Birth Anniv of Dominikus Zimmermann (architect)" (1) [Des (Prof. Erik Nitsche)][Litho] Sc(1442)

[Right] " 750th Anniv of Limburg Cathedral" (1) [Des (Prof. Heinz Schillinger)][Litho] Sc(1443)

[Left]I like very much this stamp ,because of the final look,but because of all the effort necessary to make it.. We must not forget that we were in 1985 and to make experiments with photo's we needed some hours working in something like a 'Photo studio' , we didn't  had a 'Photoshop' in Our computers to make it..so,to produce this stamp,some time and money was spent .. In those days , German Stamp Designers were investing a lot in innovation....
"Birth Centenary of Father Josef Kentenich (founder of International Schonstatt (Catholic laymen's) Movement)" (1) [Des (Prof. Fritz Ludtke][Litho] Sc(1444)

[Right] "Save the Forests" (1) [Des (Klemens Ganzenmuller][Litho] Sc(1445)

[Left]  "30th World Scouts Conference, Munich" (1) [Des (Fritz Ludkte)][Litho] Sc(1446)

[Right] "400th Anniv of Frankfurt Stock Exchange" (1) [Des (Friederich Kefer & Peter Munch][Litho] Sc(1447)




[Left] "Death Cent of Carl Spitzweg (artist)" (1) [Des (Fritz Ludtke][Litho] Sc(1448)

[Right] this is another Top class stamp...
" 175th Death Anniv of Fritz Reuter (writer)" (1) [Des (Peter Steiner)][Litho] Sc(1449)

[Left]  "150th Anniv of German Railways and Birth Bicent. of Johannes Scharrer (joint founder)" (1) [Des (Prof. Heinz Schillinger)][Litho] Sc(1450)

[Right] "40th Anniv of Integration of Refugees" (1) [Konrad Przewieslik)][Litho] Sc(1451)



[Left] "30th Anniv of Federal Armed Forces" (1) [Des (Prof. Bruno K. Wiese)][Litho] Sc(1452)

[Right] "Christmas" (1) [Des (Prof. Fritz Ludtke)][Litho]

Now I will show the stamps related to Funds or another Humanitarian Efforts....

"Sports Promotion Fund" (2) [Des (Prof. Fritz Dieter Rothacker)][Photo] Sc(B628,B629)

A nice series about Cycling and the Bicycle throughout the time...

" Youth Welfare International Youth Year. Cycles." (4) [Des (Prof. Heinz Schillinger][Litho] Sc(B630,...,B633)

""Mophila 1985" Stamp Exhibition, Hamburg" (2) [Des (Prof. Heinz Schillinger][Litho] Sc(B634,B635)

A very beautiful series...
"Humanitarian Relief Funds" (4) [Des (Holger Bornsen][Litho] Sc(B636,...,B639)


I would like to end this post with a small "Talk" section about something that is bothering me... some of you could say that  some of the ideas I expressed today are totally against my fierce opposition to the utilization of Photographs in the stamps...well, I'm against  the fact that a stamp could be just a photo,and some labels... A Stamp about a monument cannot be just a photograph of that monument..! some of the stamps I showed above are good examples of what can be done with a photo in order to keep the stamp attractive and appealing to the collector... Yes, the final reason of the existence of stamps, (We can accept it or not...) is the Collector but  what are We collecting??? just photos?? No, it doesn't make sense..! so , what started in the 60's,70's and 80's like valuable Graphic Design experiments , turned into a way of diminishing the Payment Budgets of the Postal Company's, because, without Artists, the stamp is much more cheap... it isn't fare for the collector to continue collecting something that he don't like or appreciate... this is the danger we all are facing NOW...Are we interested in collecting  Photos ?? just photos..!!?

well,this was a different post , where I had to adapt and take a new perspective,just  to have something to say... and I liked it..! this new Graphic approach, without any knowledge or "know how"  (I must say...) is very new(??) .. yes , new to me! 


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Prince and Regent

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Today I have some German stamps to present.. stamps from the German Empire and from the states of Wurttenberg and Bavaria..

Let us begin with the oldest stamps..

These are stamps from the German state of Wurttenberg, There are two distinct series with this design : one from 1875/1879 (3pf,10pf) and other from 1890/1894 (5pf, 25pf)...the stamps are in general good condition and there is not much to say about the series.. no idem secrets or strange varieties..there are several possible matches for the same values corresponding to different color shades..

1875/1879 "Numerals" (18) [Typo] Sc(56,60)

1890/1894 "Numerals" (18) [Typo] Sc(59,63)

the first group of stamps belong to a series from 1880.from the Imperial Period...another series with these two same designs was issued in 1875/1879.. the main difference between the 1st and 2nd series is that the currency label is "pfennige" in the 1st and "pfennig" in the 2nd.. the Eagle in the center of the vignette is in both cases Embossed..this is a very beautiful series and without doubts another one to add to my "Must Have" list...another important aspect we have to keep in mind is that there are two different types of stamps possible in this series of 1880.. Type A[with dull and faint colors..all of these 3 stamps are definitely of this type..] Type B [ bright and fresh colors, and yellow gum..]..I just want to talk a little about the word "dull" when we are speaking of colors.. A stamp that is classified in the catalogs like a dull color is easily recognized , because it is easy to imagine something like a 'fog' layer that unable us to see the colors in it's full brightness.. it is what happens with these  3 stamps, even with the Ultramarine blue ,that is one of the most faint Ultramarine's I ever seen..

1880 "Numeral and Coat of Arms / Pfennig" (6) [Typo] Sc(38,39,40) [The Scott catalog I use is a world Catalog, so it does not contain any reference to types A and B, and  the code presented for the Ultramarine blue corresponds to "Bright ultramarine" , but we can see that it is not the case...]

The 2nd group of stamps , also very beautiful, was issued in 1889/1900..the series presents us many different color shades with different cv also..I haven't talked yet about watermarks,but i can tell that both series are Un-Watermarked..

1889/1900 "Numerals and Imperial Eagle" (7) [Typo] Sc(48,49)

these are stamps from a  beautiful series designed by Friedrich August von Kaulbach, and issued in 1911.. Now and until the end of this post we are talking about Bavaria stamps.. The personality represented in the design is the Prince Regent Luitpold and this is a commemorative series of the 90th birthday of the Prince.. There are some interesting points to talk in this series:

A) the series has 2 designs and 3 main stamp sizes.. a small size stamp, for values of 3pf to 25pf, a medium size stamp for values of 30pf to 80pf , and a large size stamp with a different design for Mark values..

B)The series is Watermarked ... The watermark is the same for all values ( paralele waves) , but presented Horizontally for 3pf to 25pf and Vertically for 30pf to 20M..

C) the perforation is 14 x 14.5 for the small size stamps, and 11.5 for the medium and large size stamps..

D) Now I will try to explain the differences of the two types of (pf) stamps, with the help of the two 40pf  stamps already presented :

 Prince Luitpold's Birthday is printed above the Prince's Head.. 12 March 1911 [this series was issued at 10/03/1911) .. Here lies the big difference between these two stamps.. if We look to the label of the month (MAERZ) , we will see that in the first case the central leg of the E is very short and the Head of the R is small (Type I).. in the 2nd case we see a larger central leg for the E and a Larger Head for the R (Type II) ..this small group of stamps is not representative because it isn't a valid sample of these stamps, but after classifying them I found a larger number of type II then Type I stamps..

 there are different values for the two types but I don't have actual values for it, because I used an old SG catalog... [only the 60pf is not covered by this differences] ..There is yet another important and much more valuable difference in the 3pf and 10pf stamps... in these two stamps , the date could be misprinted , and in the end only 911 appears , instead of 1911.. I don't have any stamp with this variety, but I would like to...

 The Mark values also have a distinctive variety  in the date .. in the last two digits of the Year (11), The difference is easily seen in the two M stamps above.. in the 1M stamp, we have a type II stamp [ at the bottom of each number one we find

 a small horizontal line..] in the 2M stamp we have a type I [at the bottom of the vertical line of each number1 there is no horizontal line..] .. I think that , with the values presented in the catalog , the Type I stamps are scarcer then those of Type II..

I show several stamps of  some pf values , because of these varieties we were talking about and because almost all of them have different shades of the original color..

1911 "90th Birthday of Prince Regent Luitpold" (16) [Des (Friedrich August von Kaulbach)][Photo/Litho (Oskar Conseé, Munich)(Topographical Institute of the Ministry of War)] Sc(77,78,79,80,82,83,84,84A,85,86,87) 

These are stamps from a  Official stamp series issued between 1916 and 1919..it represents a coat of arms.. there is nothing of important to comment about this series...

1916/1919 "Official stamps" (14) [Des (Otto Hupp)][Typo (Mint , Munich)] Sc(7O,8O,10O,11O,14O,15O)

stamps from 1920.. the first stamp is from the original series (without Overprint..) .. it is a 20pf stamps, and these particular stamps could have great value... if the tail of the number 2 of the points upward , it means "great value" (1150$ Used) , if it points downward it means almost nothing... in the stamp above it is not conclusive due to the postmark, but I sincerely think that it points downward...

The other stamps are also issued in 1920 , and are from the previous series , but with a "Deutsches Reich" Overprint.. A) there are 5 different designs in this series.. 3 of them for the pf values and 2 for the M values..B) The pf values have 14x14.5  perforation and the M values 11.5..C) The watermark (Waves) is presented horizontally in the pf values and vertically in the M values..

1920 "Various Designs" (17) [Des (F.P. Glass)][Typo ] Sc(241)

1920 "Overprint 'Deutsches Reich' on Various Designs" (21) [Des (V. Ziatara) 10pf,15pf (F.P. Glass) 20pf,...,80pf (S. Von Weech) 1M,...,2.50M] [Typo] Sc(257,258,260,262,263,264,265,265)

Ok,..we reach the end of this post almost dedicated in it's totality to the 1911 Prince Luitpold..

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