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Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

BAVARIA (Germany) 1849 issue

Bayern - Bavière - Beieren

Return To Catalogue - 1849 issue, 1 kr black forgeries, part 1 - 1849 issue, 1 kr black forgeries, part 2- 1849 issue, forgeries of the other values - 1867-1876 issue - 1876-1913 issues - 1914-1918 issues - 1919-1920 issues - Official Stamps - Postage Due and Telegraph Stamps - Miscellaneous - Other German States - Germany

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the catalogue;
contact me if you want to purchase it.

Currency: 60 Kreuzer = 1 Gulden, after 1875 100 Pfennig = 1 Mark

1849 Number in rectangle, Imperforated, value in "KREUZER", inscription "BAYERN"

The so-called 'Schwarze Einser'.

  1 k black (the so-called 'Schwarze Einser')
  1 l red
  1 k yellow
  3 k blue
  3 k red
  6 k brown
  6 k blue
  9 k green
  9 k brown
  12 k red
  12 k green
  18 k yellow
  18 k red

6 kr Type I on the left and Type II on the right. The circle containing the "6" is smaller in Type II. Also for example the both "S" of "SECHS" are different.

For the specialist: these stamps (exept the 1 kr black) have a silk thread (from top to bottom). A 1 k black with silk thread is a proof. Note that the 1 k black has a slightly different design. These stamps were printed in sheets of 90 (two panes consisting of nine rows of five stamps). The 3 k red, 6 k blue and 9 k brown were issued in colors corrresponding to the German-Austrian Postal Union convention.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Postal rates:

Local letters and printed matter required a stamp of 1 k. Normal letters needed a 3 k stamp and a 6 k stamp was needed on letters for longer distances (greater than 12 German miles). After Bavaria joined the German-Austrian Postal Union a new value 9 k was issued for the rate for letters between the states. This was done on 1st July 1850. The 12 k rate was used for letters to France (July 1858).

Typical cancels:

The first cancels to be applied on stamps in 1849 were towncancels. On 12th November 1849 it was decided that an additional pencancel (cross-like) should be applied to the stamp if the cancel didn't or barely touched the stamp. On 1st August 1850 the so called closed millwheel cancels (geschlossenen or voller Mühlradstempel in German) were introduced (so called '1er Verteilung'). This cancel was applied to the stamps, while the towncancel was applied elsewhere on the letter. Initially 402 of such cancels were introduced. Each number corresponded to a town arranged alphabetically (thus 1: Abensberg to 402: Zwiesel). Additional new post offices received new numbers and were introduced in groups (also arranged alphabetically). Closed millwheel cancel '406' was a railway cancel. 603 closed millwheel cancels existed towards the end of its use. All closed millwheel cancels have 16 rays (except for number '217' used in Munich which has 17 rays). The closed millwheel cancels were surpressed on 20 November 1856 and the postoffices were required to send their cancellers back to Munich. From then to 1 December 1856 only towncancels were used on stamps. A redistribution (2er Verteilung) of the numbers followed from 1 December 1856 onwards based again on alphabetical order. Cancels that were unusable were replaced by a new type the open millwheel cancel (Offener Mühlradstempel in German). Also the open millwheel cancel 'B.P.' was introduced ('B.P'= Bahnpost or railway cancel). New post offices received new numbers again until the number 922 was reached. Open millwheel cancels exist in several sizes. Officially the last date for the use of millwheel cancels was 9 March 1869 (though some are known to exist beyond that date). From 10 March 1869 onwards towncancels were used once again. Since several numbers were re-assigned it is not always possible to ascertain in which town the stamp was cancelled. Source: http://www.klassische-philatelie.ch/ad/altdeutsch_bayern_muehlrad.html. A special 'Rhombusstempel' consisting of a lozenge with horizontal lines inside it and number '325' was used as a test in Munich in 1866 (rare).
Much more information can be found in the book 'Bayrische Mühlradstempel' by Joh. Wilh. Stündt, Nürnberg, 1917 (Hugo Krötzsch, Philatelistischer Verlag Leipzig, can also be downloaded from http://www.archive.org); it includes a complete list of towns and numbers.

('Mühlrad' or millwheel cancel, two types; left open, right closed)

'Rhombusstempel' consisting of a lozenge with horizontal lines inside it and number '325', used as a test in Munich in 1866.

Some numbers and their corresponding towns for the Closed Millwheel cancels (1er Verteilung):
6:Altdorf
12: Ansbach
14: Aschaffenburg
18: Augsburg
20: Bamberg
23: Bayreuth
27: Berchtesgaden
84: Feucht
90: Freilassing
91: Freising
98: Furth
111: Gollheim (Pfalz)
119: Haag
135: Hof
145: Ingolstadt
148: Kaiserslautern
155: Kempten
159: Kissingen
175: Landshut
187: Lichtenfels
188: Lindau
189: Lohr
190: Ludwigshafen
217: München
243: Nürnberg
255: Ottobeuren
260: Passau
268: Pirmasens
281: Regensburg
325: Speyer
363: Vohburg
396: Wurzburg
402: Zwiesel
603: Ipsheim

Open and closed Millwheel cancels (2er Verteilung):
28: Augsburg
247: Kirchheimbolanden (open)
788: Kolbermoor (open)
B.P.: Bahnpost (railroad post)

"B.P." (Bahn Post cancel)

A 'Postablage' cancel with "POSTABLAGE" in a straight line and the townname below it.

'Balkenstempel': city name in a straight line with date below, here "MUNCHEN" (Munich)

'243' Nürnberg closed millwheel cancel (1er Verteilung), elsewhere on the letter a towncancel was placed 'Nurnberg'.

Proofs etc:

Certified genuine colour proof of a 1 k stamp, front and backside

Genuine 18 k blue proof?

I've seen many 'proofs' being offered on Ebay recently (2005). I'm not quite sure if these are not just ordinary forgeries. I have indications that these are made by the forger Peter Winter.

Blackprint (instruction-stamp); such blackprints exists for other values as well. They were used on parcels with stamps which were send to the post offices. The clerks could thus easily see which stamps were in the parcels.

The background color of such blackprints corresponded to the color of the stamps in the parcel. Thus the above 3 k black on blue was used for 3 k blue stamp parcels. For the 1 k grey was used, for the 6 k brown or blue, the 9 k green, the 12 k red and the 18 k yellow.
Note: the book "Die Briefmarken von Altdeutschland" by K.K.Doberer mentions that these 'instructionstamps' or 'instruktionsmarken' are the most forged stamps of Bavaria. I have not much information concerning forgeries. I have seen some 12 kr blackprint forgeries (black on green and black on lilac), in which the '2's in the corners have wavy bottoms (should be straight). If anyone has more information, please contact me!

Most likely a forgery, the top left part of the large "1" is curved.

Most likely a forgery of a 9 k intruction stamp. The small '9's in the corners are quite different from the genuine stamps.

Forged 6 k instruction stamp.

Most likely a forgery of the 6 k value. The top part of the large "6" is touching the bottom part.

Forged instruction stamps, in my opinion the top left part of the large "1" is not long enough.

18 k instruction stamp forgeries, the first one with "FALSCH" written at the back. In my view, the top left part of the large "1" is not long enough.

A few dubious instruction stamps, probably forgeries.

For information of forgeries of the Bavaria 1849 1 kr black issue, click here or here. For forgeries of the other values, click here.

For issues of Bavaria in the period 1867 to 1876 click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer