Classical Stamps

issued Oct.15th,1851

In July 1852 a 18 Kreuzer additional stamp was issued.
Unfortunately,like all other later 18 Kr.-values to expensive for
my purse.

 

The second series was issued Sept.22nd,1857.
The stamps were printed very close together spaced 1/4 to 3/4 of
a millimetre,sometimes even touching one another.
Because of that,catalogue values are for stamps with touched
outer frame lines.

Again I have no 18 Kr.,because it´s too expensive.

 

The 1857 series was printed on paper which contained as a security-
measure orange-yellow silk-thread,here seen from the back:

 

The previous series was re-issued between Aug.1859 and Feb.1860.
This time stamps were printed on plain paper without silk-thread.
The space between the stamps was wider,so this series is priced
for specimens with clear frame-lines all around.
Again no 18 Kr.,again it is quite expensive.

 

In 1860 the first perforated series was issued.First printed on thick
paper,it was printed from July 1861 onwards on thin paper.
The perforation was 13.5.
Stamps on thin paper,here both 6 Kr. usually have perforation faults.Catalogue-values are for such stamps,like the right one.Stamps like the left 6 Kr. command a surcharge of 75 % at minimum,according to Michel.
Please also note the different frame line on the left of both 6 Kr..
Nothing extrordinary,as all clichés were produced seperately.
Here I miss the 1 Kr. and again the expensive 18 Kr..The latter
exists on thin paper only.

 

In 1862,between July and September the previous set was issued
now perforated 10.Again stamps are listed with slight perforation-
faults.Faultfree stamps command a premium of 75% at minimum.
From this set of four,I miss the 9 Kreuzer-value.

 

Between January 1863 and April 1864 a series with changed
colours was issued.(Again no 18 Kr.)

 

From Oct.1865 - May 1867 the previous issue was re-isssued,
now rouletted 10, instead of perforated.

This time no 3 Kr. and again no 18 Kr.

 

Two more stamps,I do not have.Both in the same design as before.
In May 1868 a 7 Kreuzer additional value was issued.Colour: blue.

In January 1873 a 70 Kreuzer stamp,dark violet-brown was issued.
The stamps was not to be sold to the public,but had to be affixed
and cancelled by postal clerks.In later years the same applied to
other high-value stamps.70 Kr. were equivalent to 2 Mark.
The stamp is pretty expensive mint and even more so in used
condition.
On a letter it is one of the greatest rarities worldwide.
More "common" are used ones on parcel-cards.
Michel notes for a stamp on a parcel-card € 60.000.- minimum.

 

New design,issued Jan.1st,1869 - Feb.1873

 

Issued in Oct.1874 this is the last stamp in Gulden/Kreuzer
currency.All previous stamps,except the first issue,which was
valid till Dec.31st,1858,became demonetized on June 30th,
1875.Next day the Mark-currency was introduced and
Mark/Pfennig stamps were issued.
A good point to end the classic periode of Württemberg.

 

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany issued stamps from 1851 till 1860,
when it was annexed by Sardinia (Italy).
The first series was printed on blued paper (1851),later (1853-55)
on grey-blue to grey paper.
All stamps of Tuscany were printed in sheets so closely together,
that most stamps have touched framelines.Condition is very
important for the prices of Tuscany stamps.
All mint stamps are very expensive.Used ones are affordable.
I have five from the total 23 stamps issued ,only.

1 Crazia on greyish paper ca.1855,watermark "crown and lines".
There are 9 stamps in this set.(1 Quattrino,1 & 2 Soldi,1,2,4
6,9 and 60 Crazie) The top-value,60 Crazie is one of the great rarities of all stamps.

4 and 6 Crazie are from the second set,containing 7 stamps,
(no 2 Soldi and no 60 Crazie),issued 1857/59.
This set was printed on white paper watermarked with
"interlaced wavy lines".Paper should be white,but my
6 Crazie looks quite grey.

 

1860 Tuscany,until then ruled by the house of Habsburg-Lothringen,
was conquered and annexed by Sardinia during the "Risorgimento",
the war of the unification of Italy.
A provisional government was established for a short time,before
the formal annexion.
A set of seven stamps was issued on Jan.1st,1960,what remained
valid till Dec.31st,1960,when they were replaced by stamps of Sardinia.

The design shows the Cross of Savoy,the coat of arms of the
ruling house of Sardinia.
The set contains values of 1,5,10,20,40,80 Centesimi and 3 Lire.
The 3 Lire is one of the most expensive stamps worldwide.

 

Bordeaux edition 1870 5 centimes Green

 

The Elector Principality of Sachsen (Saxony),became a kingdom
in 1806 by Napoleon´s mercy.From then on,till the Franco-Prussian war (1870/71) they had always sided with the adversaries of
Prussia and had always lost.But with good luck they were not annexed by Prussia.The kingdom was abolished at the end of
World War I.

From 1850 till 1863 Saxony issued 19 stamps.
The first stamp is one of the most expensive stamps of Germany.
It was a kind of provisional issue,as the production of the next
following stamp took more time than anticipated.
The design was very similar to the first bavarian stamp,what had been issued (as Germany´s first) eight months earliar.
Here a rather poor scan,taken from Michel-catalogue:

Sold from June 29th,the stamp became valid on July 1st,1850.
500.000 were printed,463.118 were sold,reminders were
incinerated.

 

Hello Werner, how about this image, from the web, not mine unfortunately.



Regards, James.

 

Repaired the stamp should be affordable.Guess round € 1000.-.
Funny is,that Mr.Rismondo made an unusual spelling error:
blaßer instead of blasser.The ß (sz) can only stand at the end of
a one-syllable word.Blas-ser has two syllables.
However with the highly controversial German Orthographic Reform of 1996,the spelling of blaß (pale) was changed to blass.
Although the reform was made into law in all german countries,
many,mostly older people,but also several papers and publishers
stick with the pre-reform rules.

 

Hello all, the stamp is currently on sale on EBay [6 days left to bid] bidding stands at €400. For those who would like to check, info' below.

eBay item number:
391915215449

Regards, James.

 

issued July 29th,valid from Aug.1st,1851
This stamps was to replace the previous one.It was printed
in 26 print-runs till 1863.In total 13.850.000 were printed.
Early prints are clear.Later ones (shown) look flat and show
faults in the design,namely breaks in the outer frame-lines.
Like the previous stamp the 3 Pfg.face-value was good for sending
wrappers (news-papers) and printed matters.
Early prints are a little bit wider spaced,while later ones are
narrow spaced.Because of that catalogue values for later prints
are for stamps with touched frame-lines.
Because on later prints the printed sheets of 100 were cut into
sheets of 10 and the selvages were cut off and then sent to the post-offices,stamps with selvages exist from early prints only.

 

King Friedrich August II,issued Aug.1st,1851
1/2 Neugroschen with two different shadings.