Preview of Stamps Catalogue: VOLUME 1

NORTH GERMAN FEDERATION

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Currency: North: 30 Groschen = 1 Thaler
South: 60 Kreuzer = 1 Gulden

The North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Postbezirk) included the following postal services: Saxony, Mecklenburg Schwerin, Mecklenburg Strelitz, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Prussia, and the cities Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen. It used its own stamps from 1868 until 1872, when they were replaced by the stamps of the German Empire.

1868 Issues for the Northern district, value in "GROSCHEN", perforated or rouletted

(rouletted)

1/3 g green
(perforated)

  1/4 Groschen violet
  1/3 Groschen green
  1/2 Groschen orange
  1 Groschen red
  2 Groschen blue
  5 Groschen brown

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
Rouletted
1/4 g	**	*
1/3 g	***	*
1/2 g	***	c
1 g	***	vc
2 g	***	c
5 g	R	*
Perforated 13 1/2 x 14 1/4
1/4 g	***	***
1/3 g	*	c
1/2 g	c	c
1 g	c	vc
2 g	*	c
5 g	*	*

Typical cancels:

Two-ring cancel or 'Zweikreis Ortsstempel'; reduced size

One-ring cancel or 'Einkreis Ortsstempel'

Box cancel or 'Kastenstempel'; I've also seen it with sharp corners (truely rectangular shape)

(Horse shoe cancel or 'Hufeisen Stempel')

Forgery:

A forgery of the 5 g value with the lettering different. The cancel consists of a square(?) of small triangles. Since I don't think this cancel was ever used, this is probably a forgery to deceive stamp collectors.

1869 Issues for the Northern district, other designs

  10 Groschen grey
  30 Groschen blue

Obliteration: by signature

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 g	RRR	***
30 g	R	***

1868 Issues for the Southern district, value in "KREUZER", perforated or rouletted

2 k orange 7 k blue 18 k brown

  1 Kreuzer green
  2 Kreuzer orange
  3 Kreuzer red
  7 Kreuzer blue
  18 Kreuzer brown

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
Rouletted
1 k	***	***
2 k	***	***
3 k	R	*
7 k	RR	**
18 k	***	***
Perforated 13 1/2 x 14 1/4
1 k	**	*
2 k	***	R
3 k	c	c
7 k	*	*
18 k	RR	RRR

Similar designs were issued for Wurttemberg

I've seen a 18 k perforated stamp with forged postmark 'WORMS 6/6' in a single circle.

Forged 18 k stamps, examples:

('FACSIMILE' below the '18', reduced sizes)

My 1988 Michel Deutschland-Spezial Katalog says that some forgeries made by the stamp forger Foure exist of the 1 and 2 gr stamps. They are printed in much brighter colors.

1868 Issue for Hamburg, inscription "NORDDEUTSCHER POSTBEZIRK STADTPOSTBRIEF HAMBURG", no value indicated, perforated or rouletted

(1/2 Sch.) brown, with cancel

  (1/2 Sch.) brown

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
1/2 s	***	***	rouletted
1/2 s	*	*	perforated 13 1/2 x 14 1/4

Official Stamps

1869 Northern district, value in "GROSCHEN", brown inscription under stamp

1/4 g black 1/3 g black, 1/2 g black

  1/4 g black
  1/3 g black
  1/2 g black
  1 g black
  2 g black

These stamps are perforated 14 1/4 x 14. They have a brown underprint.

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
1/4 g	***	***
1/3 g	**	**
1/2 g	*	*
1 g	c	c
2 g	*	*

1869 Southern district, value in "KREUZER"

7 k black

  1 k black
  2 k black
  3 k black
  7 k black

These stamps are perforated 14 1/4 x 14.

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
1 k	***	RR
2 k	***	RRR
3 k	***	***
7 k	***	R

Forged cancels exist (since the unused stamps are much cheaper), example of a forged cancel:

(Forged cancel)

Cancels of previous states on North German Federation stamps

According to the Vierteljahrs-Nachträge zum permanenten Handbuch der Postfreimarkenkunde und dem Permanent-Sammelwerk in losen Blättern von Hugo Krötzsch (1896), page 4 (http://www.archive.org), the stamps of the North German Federation are also interesting, since many of the old German States cancels were still in use. Some of these old German States cancels were even used in the German Empire. According to this book, most of the old German States used cancels in which the day and month are placed below each other, while the cancelling devices specially developed for the North German Ferderation have the day and month placed side by side.

Miscellaneous

1869 Telegraph Stamps, value in black

  1/2 Groschen blue
  1 1/4 Groschen blue
  2 1/2 Groschen blue
  4 Groschen blue
  5 Groschen blue
  8 Groschen blue
  10 Groschen blue
  30 Groschen blue

For the specialist: The stamps are perforated 13 1/2 x 14 1/2 and have no watermark. There exists a misprint of the 10 gr with inverted value. Typical cancels: penstrokes in black and red, both on the same stamp. Similar telegraph stamps exist for the German Empire: inscription "TELEGRAPHIE DES DEUTSCHEN REICHES".

1 1/4 g with different lettering and printed perforation, most likely a cut from a catalogue?

Envelopes and Wrappers

The text runs through the envelope (reduced size)

  1/3 Groschen green
  1 Groschen red (overprinted Post-Couvert)
  1 Kreuzer green
  3 Kreuzer red (overprinted Post-Couvert)

Envelope of Prussia, with 1 g stamp and overprint

The stamps 1 Groschen, 2 Groschen and 3 Kreuzer were used to cover the various envelopes of the individual states who joined the confederation. They have overprint: NORDDEUTSCHER POSTBEZIRK in very small letters, and they are very rare. They exist for Brunswick, Oldenburg, Prussia, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Saxony.

An example of a cut from an envelope of Prussia, where the stamp has been removed by a stamp collector:

The stamp forger Foure made forgeries of these envelopes:

A Foure forgery, with forged "DAHLHAUSEN" cancel. This cancel was bought by Fournier from a old-metal dealer (source P.Ohrt, Handbuch der Neudrucke, page 598).

Another Foure forged envelope, now with a "GEORG-MARIENHUTTE 10 1" cancel.

Stamps of the North German Confederation used in Turkey:

Stamps used in Alsace and Lorraine during the war of 1870-1871, inscription "POSTES", value and "CENTIMES"

Fiscal stamps

1869, inscription "NORDDEUTSCHER WECHSELSTEMPEL"

The following values exist: 1 g, 1 1/2 g, 3 g, 4 1/2 g, 6 g, 7 1/2 g, 9 g, 12 g, 15 g, 22 1/2 g, 30 g, 45 g, 60 g, 90 g, 150 g and 300 g. All these stamps have the colour lilac (with brown value inscription), they are perforated (the above specimen has the perforations cut off). Similar stamps were issued for the German Empire, but then with inscription "DEUTSCHER WECHSELSTEMPEL".