scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Feb 18, 2024 19:12:37 GMT
I found newspaper clippings from 1975 in my mess. I was 15 years old at the time and the stories were so interesting to me that I saved them. The source is the NBI - Neue Berliner Illustrierte. A very popular newspaper during the GDR era. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Murder over a single stamp? If anyone is interested I can post more, there are 8 parts in total. Translation: Criminalistics knows many crimes involving stamps. The history of counterfeiting of famous stamps is almost as old as the stamp itself. Murder, theft and fraud occurred over pieces of paper just a few centimeters in size. The phenomenon of the hobby of philately is now, as rarely before, a concern for criminologists in London and Paris, in Nerv York as well as in Munich and Frankfurt am Main. Scotland Yard now set up its own department with criminal investigators who were taught the basic concepts of philately. Your task: to use greater expertise to understand the tricks of counterfeiters, fraudsters and thieves in this area. Where are the boundaries between real passion for collecting, meaningful leisure activities and business and fraud? Charles Petit's factual report describes some spectacular events with and around stamps in capitalist society of yesterday and today. HAWAII MISSIONARIES: KNIFE IN THE BACK Paris 1892. A sultry June summer evening. The boulevard cafes are packed until late. The evening press is already reporting for columns on the planned projects for the Paris World Exhibition of 1900, the “most spectacular event of the century”. But the Panama Canal, the scandalous parliamentary bribery affair in which over 500 parliamentarians are involved, is more widely discussed. Thousands of small share holders were robbed of their savings Only now, three years after the collapse of the French Panama company, is the press uncovering detailed connections. Police officer Etienne M., who has to patrol the villa area every two hours, is checking the garden door of a house to see whether it is open is completed and greets the milkman in a friendly manner in the morning hours, he has no idea on his first evening tour that this night will be turbulent. In the early hours of the morning the telephone rings at the police station. "Come to Rue de Varenne immediately, Monsieur Leroux has been murdered!" The officer on duty chases Etienne there while he is already calling the homicide squad and the doctor on duty. Gaston Leroux, a passionate collector and art lover, was found dead with a knife in the back by the servant. The servant had to force the door to the murdered man's study open; it was locked from the inside. When the police arrive at the crime scene, and soon after the commissioner from the homicide department, the only question that remains unanswered is: Why was this rich businessman and somewhat cranky eccentric murdered? Nothing indicates a robbery-murder. Image 1: The “Hawaii Missionaries 2Cents” because of which the philatelist Leroux was murdered. Picture 2: Paris 1892 The stamp collector Leroux was murdered here. Picture 3: In order to solve the murder of the stamp collector Leroux, Inspector Cartier visited the El Dorado of dealers and philatelists on the banks of the Seine - the Paris "open-air stamp exchange".
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Feb 18, 2024 19:22:22 GMT
Even somewhat readable, unfortunately only in German. Translation: The servant can only explain that Leroux was an obsessed stamp collector and was particularly interested in "exotic stamps." The police investigation is ultimately based on the assumption that the murderer was surprised by Gaston Leroux during his crime, that there was a fight and ultimately the fatal stabbing. Money, valuables, even a box with valuable gold coins remained untouched. - A new mysterious case in the annals of the Paris Homicide Squad. An empty brand field Detective Inspector Cartier is in charge of the investigation. Gaston Leroux's circle of friends is questioned. But nothing seems to help clarify the case until a complete inventory of the murdered man's possessions is finally made for the probate court. Cartier has the police officer Etienne M. to thank for soon pointing him onto a trail that seems to make it possible to hunt down the murderer. Policeman Etienne was one of that large group of stamp collectors who collect their stamps rather carelessly. But he expressed suspicions. During the routine investigation, Inspector Cartier had also examined Gaston Leroux's stamp albums and had not noticed anything suspicious. But now he discovers an empty stamp field on an album page. On closer inspection he notices that there must have been a stamp fold stuck there! Could such a terrible crime have been committed because of a single stamp? Inspector Cartier becomes a philatelist The Champs Elysees, in the heart of Paris, is the relaxing meeting place for stamp collectors in the summer months. The park benches are transformed into stamp exchanges, colorful stamps change hands from junk boxes and stock books. There, Inspector Cartier looks for contacts with stamp dealers and stamp collectors. Here he got his first "lessons" as a philatelist, because just the joy of the stamp images that he kept from his school days was by no means enough to appear serious enough in this hunt for a philatelist. The next few days are not very encouraging. Nobody can initially tell him whether the rarity, which must have been in the empty stamp field of the collection, was offered somewhere. It is one of the philatelic treasures - one of the first postage stamps from Hawaii, known as "Missionaries of Hawaii". They received this nickname because they were mainly stuck on the mail items of the missionaries to their religious societies. The peculiarity of these stamps was that that they were printed in 1851/52 and only a few copies survived. Inspector Cartier doesn't let up. He repeatedly asks dealers who might be interested in a 2-cent Hawaii stamp from 1851. When an older philatelist finally explains that his friend, the collector Hector Giroux, owns almost all of the "Hawaii Missionaries," Cartier senses a hot lead. "If you're also interested, then I'll introduce you to each other," the old collector remarks by the way, who doesn't know that he has a detective in front of him. Friendship with a weirdo Inspector Cartier learns that Hector Giroux knew the murdered man well. Both had passionately collected the "Missionaries of Hawaii" and Giroux long ago wanted to purchase the 2-cent Hawaii from Leroux that was still missing from his album. This stamp was worth 10,000 gold francs. However, Leroux wanted the stamps "for "No price in the world" would be given. Giroux, in turn, wanted to own this rarity "at any price"; without it he "couldn't live any longer," as he is said to have said. Above all, Cartier now wants to find out whether Giroux was in Leroux's apartment on the day of the murder. So he goes to the philatelist meeting in the cafe. He also suspects the murderer to be there. But who was it? Cartier is always drawn there. He knows how to make it seem like he's dedicated himself to a specialty, the early issues of the Hawaii Post. "Young friend, this will be expensive fun - and you will hardly find these brands in Paris - absolutely not at all!" Giroux explains to him one day. As they part ways, the inspector finally reaches his destination; Giroux invites him to one of the next evenings. That evening, Giroux lets him in on the secrets of the Hawaiian brands. He says that the stamp image is reminiscent of a small commercially printed advertisement and that the postmaster in Honululu had the authority to print these Hawaii stamps locally. This 2-cent stamp, Giroux explains, is only known in fifteen copies in the world and became so rare because it was used primarily for newspapers and printed matter. This meant she was most likely to be exposed to destruction. Cartier follows Giroux's comments with interest. His plan is clear. He has to ask Giroux a trick question today! Giroux pulls out his stamp treasures, and Cartier immediately sees the page with the "missionaries". Cartier discovers a 5-cent stamp, a 13-cent stamp from the first edition and a 13-cent stamp from the second edition of 1851. So no complete set! The 2 cent stamp is missing! "By the way, the 2-cent stamp doesn't seem to be that rare after all; it was offered to me yesterday!" says Cartier innocuously. Hector Giroux becomes restless. "Not possible! The brand is only available once in Paris!" He rushes to the wall safe, pulls out a tortoiseshell box and holds out the 2-cent missionaries to Cartier. "Here she is! Only I own them!" Startled, Giroux suddenly stops. He realizes that his passion has gotten away with him. The murder case on Rue de Varenne was still too recent. Did Cartier notice anything? Image 1 The world's first postage stamp: the black "One Penny" from 1840. picture 2 Rowland Hill, the "pioneer" of the postage stamp. The former village school teacher later became Postmaster General of the British Crown. Oddities Paris—1867 Number changed - rarity A collector recently discovered a cheap counterfeiter's trick when he was offered Brazil stamps in a cigar shop. They were the famous "Ochsenkopf stamps", so called because of their large numerals, which visually give the impression of an "eye", and which are already among the great rarities from overseas. The low price of the valuable 90-value stamp made the buyer skeptical. A closer examination of the stamp image revealed that the "9" was a "6" turned upside down, which meant that a cheaper stamp had been counterfeited into an expensive rarity. Paris—1871 Napoleon stamp canceled The 10 cent postage stamp from the Napoleon series (portrait with laurel wreath) that was overprinted during the Franco-Prussian War and which was only recently overprinted with a blue 10 cent value figure was stamped and then thrown into the fire and burned. It was printed in 3 million editions, but was not officially distributed. However, there are still genuine mail items that have this stamp on them. Cause of the brand destruction: Napoleon's capture at Sedan. Leipzig—1871 Balloon launch in Paris As we learn from Paris, 56 balloon launches took place there, so that the connection between the enclosed city and the outside world was maintained. A total of 67 free balloons are said to have been available to maintain traffic. The "balloon mail items" were only allowed to weigh 4 grams as a letter; each balloon carried around 4 kg of mail by air. Newspaper mail letters were also carried.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Feb 24, 2024 7:39:30 GMT
Here is the second part of the series. The end of the story about the robbery of the Hawaii Missionaries, the story of the Kingdom of Sedang and about the "Moulins Kugeln". Inspector Cartier rushes to the headquarters and reports. At first his colleagues believe it's a joke when he says: "A Hawaii missionary brought it to light." But then they congratulate him. The next day, Giroux is summoned to the examining magistrate. At first he tries to use all sorts of excuses to get out of the affair. Angerpunkt, however, remains Hawaii No. 2. He cannot prove where he got the brand from. Finally, an arrest warrant is issued and, under pressure from the evidence, Hector Giroux confesses to the robbery-murder. Where are the “missionaries”? The motive for his crime is recorded. Giroux had visited Leroux that June evening to negotiate with him about the brand. Giroux offered Leroux any price for the 2 cents and increased his offer immeasurably. He even offered his counterpart a special collection that was many times more expensive than the "Missionary" stamp. When Leroux still refused, Giroux stabbed him, stole the stamp, locked the study door from the inside and escaped through the open window. Giroux is sentenced to death for robbery-murder. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison because of “reduced mental capacity”. The "Hawaii stamp" of death is the best-preserved 2-cent stamp today. It ended up in the world-famous Ferrari collection, which included a total of four of the fifteen known 2-cent world rarities. At the Ferrari auction collection in Paris in 1924, it was bought by a multimillionaire for 80,000 francs. THE KING OF SEDANG In the days of June 1897, a well-dressed younger gentleman arrived in Paris. His personal secretary travels with him. The business card states: His Majesty, Mary I, King of Sedang. They both move into one of the most luxurious hotels. The hotel manager has the best apartment prepared. The secretary explains that the king is on an educational tour of European countries. We ask for the greatest discretion. Neither the hotel manager nor the porter, who are always ready to serve their distinguished guest, try to get an idea of where this "kingdom" is. The chambermaid can one day report to the receptionist, "Sedang is a small kingdom, somewhere on the borders of China on the Riukiu Plain!" The king's secretary, probably his prime minister, entrusted it to her. "He also said," she continues her torrent of words, "Your Majesty has come to France to place her domain under French sovereignty!" When the hotel manager finds out about this, he warns the staff to maintain the utmost secrecy about His Majesty, the King of Sedang. A little later, the chambermaid makes a discovery that sets a real chain of events in motion - just like the mysterious King Maria I needs. When emptying the wastebasket in the ruler's apartment, she finds large envelopes with a number of colorful stamps. “Royaume de Sedang” is how she spells out the country in the stamp image. Instead of being thrown into the trash, the letters end up with her confidant, the porter. “Be careful whether you discover more of them,” advises the porter. The girl pays attention and over the next two days finds envelopes lying slightly crumpled in the wastebasket with strange stamps on them. The porter shows the letters to a philatelist. “God damn it, the stamps are completely unknown here,” the expert marvels. Word is getting around. Will His Majesty’s incognito still be able to be maintained? The porter will soon be offered 1,000 gold francs or more for the first envelopes. The dealers get wind of it this philatelic sensation. A new scandal awaits Paris, a stronghold of the stamp trade, speculation, fraud and forgery scandals at the turn of the century. At this moment, no collector or businessman thinks that these letters could be a bluff. A merchant manages to get to His Majesty. He promises the utmost secrecy, but asks that a significant portion of the brands be given to him. For 250,000 francs he received the exclusive right to sell the Sedang brands in Europe. King Mary I graciously complies with the request, even though he "actually doesn't care about business matters." But he happily collects the horrendous amount. The porter, collecting a fat hand money, ensures that other traders also appear for the "audience". . The business with the “sole sales credit for the European continent” is repeated several times. In total, the Sedang king and his secretary collected 800,000 francs in this way. Image 1 The mysterious Sedang brand. For 250,000 francs, a dealer bought the “exclusive right to sell these brands in Europe”. The bluff was complete. picture 2 Paris 1897. Once again the scene of a philatelic scandal. The "King of Sedang" arrives: only the hotel chambermaid suddenly knows where the kingdom is supposed to be picture 3 The philatelic stock exchange foxes in the Champs Elysees were among the first to also want the "Sedang brands".
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Feb 24, 2024 7:40:41 GMT
To be continued. Some specialties, in a separate album with a gold-embossed Sedang coat of arms, also change hands. What is surprising is that none of these traders looked for this land of Sedang on a map. A schoolboy finally blows the whistle on the Sedang Kingdom. He wanted to know where the Kingdom of Sedang was and asked the editorial office of a daily newspaper that had reported on the arrival of the King of Sedang in a hotel bulletin. Then it turned out: There is no such thing as a kingdom of Sedang! When criminal investigators appear at the hotel, they learn from the porter that Her Highness has "left for an unknown destination!" It was only discovered much later: the former French navy member Marie David de Mayrena, who once left his homeland for unknown reasons, practiced as a healing artist in the Sedang province of the Annam Empire (Indochina) and married the daughter of the provincial governor, had posed as " King of Sedang" and also invented and had these "stamps" printed. HUNT FOR THE BULLETS OF MOULINS The crew of master craftsman Rene-Joseph Grevelle has been dredging near the French town of St. Wandrille in the Seine for weeks. There was nothing unusual on August 6, 1968 either. Excavator operator Grevelle directs the suction pipe of the floating excavator into the depths of the river. The huge pipe sucks the washed-up rubbish out of the river. The stinky, black-gray broth pours into drainage canals beyond the bank. It's a monotonous job that he and his people still have to do with alert eyes. Every blockage of the suction pipe costs money and reduces the piecework performance. The voice of the young worker standing at the suction pipe suddenly shrills: "Watch out, there's a mine!" Rene is also frightened. "If the mine is still intact, we'll be blown up in a few seconds!" fears the excavator crew. The metal ball is stuck on the suction pipe. "Quiet blood, that's not a mine!" Grevelle reassures the others. The metal container turns out to be a zinc ball. The men suddenly sense a sensation. "Look here," says Rene, "it had a hole! Water must have gotten in there!" He carefully lifts the container and the Seine water pours over the planks. He carefully opens the container at the already dented area that was obviously damaged by the excavator. Astonished. A bundle of letters appears, pressed tightly together and rolled up. 540 letters are recovered. The letters must be almost a century old. Some of the envelopes have postage stamps with the portrait of Napoleon III stuck on them. The stamps were approved for franking by the provisional postal administration in Bordeaux in 1870. Rene, who still has no idea of the value of these letters, simply wants to throw the whole package back into the Seine. But then he takes the ball and the letters to the port authority of Port Autonome de Rouen. A high-ranking employee of the departmental post office rushes over, historians appear - and within a few hours the news of this find makes the rounds and calls philatelists. The letters are on the tables in the port authority building. Dried, smoothed. Surprisingly, they are in relatively good condition. The water was only able to penetrate a little into the package of letters inside the sphere. A philatelist from Rouen appears, examines and judges: An extraordinary find! And the value? He finds himself unable to name even an approximate figure. The later value lies in the history of the “Kugel” brands. Wrapped in tin: half a million francs When the Prussian-German troops surrounded Paris in the late autumn of 1870, resourceful Parisians experimented with various ways of continuing the communication and postal traffic from the enclosed Paris to the outside world. You finally decide on free balloons. The balloons, loaded with mail bags and cages with carrier pigeons - they are supposed to fly back to Paris as "flying courier mail" - rise in the besieged capital. If the wind direction suddenly changes, the balloons, together with their small crews and the mail, land on enemy soil or are drifted out to sea. Image 1 One of the mysterious "Balls of Moulins" that later were exhibited in the Paris Postal Museum. picture 2 Philatelic delicacy: An original letter, carried by the Moulins bullet. The note "par Moulins" is at the bottom left. picture 3 The public notice from December 1870 about the new mail transport "along the bottom of the Seine". Image 4 When excavator operator Rene noticed a ball in front of the suction pipe, he initially thought it was a mine. Then the situation became clearer and he discovered one of the most valuable mail delivery balls. Oddities Vienna - 1895 PAINTING SENSATION In the office of the Vienna orphanage you can see a replica of L. da Vinci's famous work "The Last Supper", which was made here by a collector and art enthusiast from 12,000 stamps. Praise for this work, which was created by Karl Stoss, the former secretary of the orphanage. Washington—1896 1895: 4.1 BILLION STAMPS SOLD Washington — 1896. — As from the U.S. Postal Service Annual Report According to data, 4.19 billion stamps were sold last year. This means that there are almost 281 million more stamps than in 1894. Postal customers paid $2.8 million for shipping newspapers and printed matter alone and $57.7 million for general postal items. Berlin—1896 UNKNOWN RECEIVER The annual report of the Reichspost for 1894 contains the alarming statement that 1,228,857 pieces of mail remained undeliverable during the year. Over a third of these could not be returned to the sender because the addressee's details were missing or illegible. -------------------------------------------------------- PS: If anyone who finds a translation error, he can keep it.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 2, 2024 17:48:31 GMT
The end of the "Moulins Kugeln" story. Look also here. www.linns.com/news/auctions/2018/may/99-year-delivery-david-feldman-specialized-france.htmlAnd 1905 King Edward VII 6 pence - green misprint? It is difficult to smuggle large amounts of news into Paris. Then Vanoven, Delort and Robert, three Parisians, come up with the idea of making balls out of zinc, each with space for 500 letters in their cavities, so that they can travel downstream to Paris by water. A contract was concluded with the General Directorate of the Bordeaux Post Office - the French government had fled to Bordeaux in December 1870, when large parts of northern France were occupied by enemy troops. Transporting them is very simple: the balls, which have a diameter of 25 centimeters, are weighted accordingly so that they "roll along" the riverbed under water. The balls are equipped with small paddle wheels, so that the containers "swim" through the enemy lines . The balls are then caught with nets on the bridges in Paris. All the letters from the unoccupied zone that were to be transported to Paris in this way were first collected in the town of Moulins and from there taken to the Seine valley. Stowed there in the balls, they are then lowered into the river just before the German lines. THE PUBLIC IS ALERT When the philatelist expert in Rauen found himself unable to state the value of the find almost 100 years later, Paris was called. An expert from Paris arrives. Perhaps he himself is speculating on acquiring some of these coveted hundred-year-old letters? In short, he values it at just 18,000 francs. The find was later estimated at almost three quarters of a million! The old documents are now quickly locked in a safe belonging to the Port Construction Directorate. But some unanswered questions concern the public. Will the excavator operator and his team be content with a thank you? What is the legal situation anyway? Who do the letters belong to now? The excavator crew? If not, what should she receive as a finder's fee? The finder of the bullet, even in doubt about the legal situation, writes to his superior authority twice, but receives no response. Articles about the “Letters from the Seine” appear in the press. The official interest of the French post office had expired in 1882. The penultimate bullet was caught in Bazoche-les-Bray near Paris in 1954; the letters have disappeared without a trace! So what, the press asks, will happen to the letters from the bullet found at St Wandrille? Who gives the port authority the right to lock this "water mail" from 1870 in a safe? THE POST IS SILENT Six months after the discovery of the dredger's suction pipe, the port management of Rouen decided to part with its important treasure. The find has now caused a lot of public attention. On February 6, 1969, the port management handed over the bundle of 540 letters including the zinc cover to the General Directorate of the French Post Office. She tells some confidants that the letters will be delivered to the descendants of the original recipients. However, the post office does not publish a list of names. A journalist who initiated the affair did not accept this "explanation" from the post office. He arranged for the letter addresses photographed on microfilm in the department's archives in Rouen to be made public. A French stamppressmagazine published the complete list in 1970 of the 540 letters. FINDERS' FEES ONLY IN 1998 But Rene, the excavator operator, and his colleagues found out nothing about this. The post office doesn't even think it's worth sending them a thank you letter. But the press publication of the list of names of the recipients and senders of the Moulins letters is causing more and more unrest. The postal service is constantly receiving inquiries. Real and fake descendants lay claim to “their letter.” Philatelists travel through the departments with the list of the formerly named senders and their recipients in Paris in their pockets, promising the possible heirs of the long-dead recipients a hefty amount of money if they submit their letter claims and gave the letters to the stamp hunters “for philatelic purposes.” The excavator operator, meanwhile, is going to court. He claims a reasonable finder's fee. The postal service's counterargument is: Post is post - even if it is now 101 years old! The excavator operator's clever speech lawyer puts the argument against this: Given their age, the letters from the Moulins sphere no longer have the character of "correspondence carriers". Furthermore: why didn't the post office take care of the first sphere discovered in 1954? So these postal items are “abandoned items” that the excavator operator found. So the lost property law applies. If you find something that doesn't belong to anyone, you can keep it - even if it's worth half a million francs! The post office counters and pulls out a yellowed decree from the archives. It says: that river flotsam is irrefutable State ownership counts. The decree dates from 1669. After further heated disputes in court, the verdict is announced: The French post office has no claim to a package of undelivered letters that had been floating in the Seine for almost a century and were found by Rene-Joseph le Grevellec in August 1968. The court decides: It is lost property that belongs to the finder. It is decreed: The letters must be kept for 30 years in the event that heirs of the senders or recipients can prove their right to one or more of the letters. The 50-year-old excavator operator will have to be patient for another quarter of a century. So in 1998, the hunt for the letters from the Moulins sphere will once again call out the sharks of philately. Image 1 Philatelists celebrate the discovery of the “Monlins-Kugelar” and issue a souvenir envelope in the centenary year. picture 2 A finder's fee is only available after 30 years. Madame Monique is outraged - like all the members of the ball-finding excavator crew picture 3 Postcard box office hits with date and time: 12. 12 12 at 12:12 p.m. Image 4 Mass crowds at Post Office 12 in Berlin on December 12, 1912. Collectors, dealers and speculators get their hands on the local time stamp discount for the 12th hour of the day.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 2, 2024 17:51:10 GMT
To be continued. THE GREEN MISPRINT An advertisement appears in Philadelphia (USA): “English collector, passing through here, looking for 6 pence postage stamp from Great Britain, issue 1902, in green color. High price paid for luxury item Offers until June 20th to M. P. Dickson, Hotel Ambassador." Collectors and dealers comb through their inventory. What they discover is a stamp with the head portrait of King Edward VII in a decorative frame, but the color is always dark purple instead of the green they were looking for. Nevertheless, on the following days the dealers go to Mr. Dickson, who has stayed in a luxurious apartment in the "Ambassador" hotel. The history of that stamp should have the following meaning: In 1905, some sheets of the 6 pence stamp, which had been valid since 1902, were accidentally printed in green instead of purple. This would have been discovered, but too late to be able to collect and destroy all the sheets. A sheet of this green misprint would have been shipped to a London trading house. This would have now had 25 letters franked and addressed to recipients in Philadelphia - i.e. with no more copies than there were of the famous Mauritius stamps! The collectors in Philadelphia visit their relatives to determine whether they have received "mail from Great Britain." Traders obtain addresses from postal officials for mail recipients who were written to by British trading companies or institutions that year. It is a difficult undertaking because Mr. Dickson, who invites his curious partners for a drink during the hotel visit, can only express his wish that he would be happy to get his hands on a piece or two of this misprint. A WIDOW APPEARS It was a lucky circumstance that the brand dealer Foster was able to get hold of this misprint. An older woman appears in his shop and carefully unwraps a stamp album from its ties. “I don’t know much about brands. My husband collected. I was never interested in it - but now, after his passing, I want to separate myself from these brands." The dealer lets the pages of the album slide through his hands. There wasn't much going on with it. But before he wants to push the album back over the counter with regret, his eyes settle on a stamp. The "Great Britain" page with the issues from 1902 to 1909 was quite complete. The generally not very expensive series contains a green 6 pence stamp. “Well, there’s not much of interest in it. What do you want for these stamps?" the dealer asks in a decidedly disinterested manner. The woman hesitates before answering. "Well," she then said, "my late husband said I would get $8,000 for them!" The haggling begins. When the widow leaves the store, she has $2,500 in her pocket. The dealer carefully removes the misprint of the green 6p from the album and throws the album into the corner. He doesn't talk to anyone about his discovery. The next morning, dealer Foster rushes to Mr. Dickson's hotel. He is surprised to learn that Dickson has left. More and more stamp dealers are arriving. They all talk about the widow with the green misprint. The widow had appeared everywhere and everyone had bought a green misprint from her. The fraud couple “Dickson and Widow” had around 30,000 Dollars collected. The otherwise clever philatelists and dealers held 6 pence stamps in their hands whose usual purple had been chemically transformed into the coveted green - because there had never been a "green misprint", the rumor that the crooks had spread. Image 1 Never printed in green: the British 6 pence stamp of the year 905. The tall tale earned “Dickson and Widow” around $30,000. picture 2 English map from 1890 commemorating the introduction of penny postage (1840). It shows postal uniforms and postal transport equipment. Oddities Ronneburg - 1896 LANDSCAPE PICTURES The master confectioner Tsch., based here, whose baked goods and especially the excellent Luisen tarts are well known, managed to create a magical landscape in a painstaking leisure craft. He created the picture, which took up the entire wall of his living room, directly opposite the window front, in an idiosyncratic way: he collected over 9,000 stamps, which, in the appropriate colors, created the magical picture, which he also liked to give to his regular customers Allows viewing. Liège - 1897 EXPENSIVE SPLEEN The owner of the Ahin Castle in the province of Liège was able to present a special delicacy to the guests at a large reception he gave recently. He managed to wallpaper an entire room with the Spanish Cuertos stamps. He had the older Spanish brands, which were still quite sought after, bought up in Madrid and brought to Liège by messengers.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 10, 2024 16:02:47 GMT
He called himself “King Paul.” HE CALLED HIMSELF "KING PAUL" The Shannahan stamp auction house existed in Dublin in the 1950s. Reputable advertisements in leading trade magazines and a customer base made up of well-known philately personalities - all of this inspires trust. The head of the Shannahan house is Paul Singer. Much is obscure about his past, but his stamp business is flourishing. Singer buys stamps, takes them on consignment and promises "highest returns" at his auctions. "Results that no other auction house in Europe can achieve." In the evenings, Singer sits in the master room of his opulent villa and always enters new stamp stocks in his business's ledger. Paul Singer wants to “be someone”. He organizes glamorous parties. The city's dignitaries consider it an honor when Mister Singer invites them to the house ball. And so they don't blame him for soon calling himself “King Paul ", can be called the king of the stamp dealers. 100 MILLION MARKS ARE AT Stake Once again Singer invited an illustrious company to a banquet. There are also some journalists among the guests who are supposed to spread the word about his dinner speeches. In the middle of the feast, Singer taps on his glass. "I have something confidential to tell you!" He waits a few moments, motions to the servants to bring champagne. Then he jumps onto the table, passes up the champagne flute and says: "My dear gentlemen! I ask you to toast with me "To toast this 1959 financial year. It will be the finest hour of my life. I will achieve 100 million marks in annual sales." What “King Paul” announced loudly at his party was reported in the press the next day. Four days later, the Reuter news office reported: “5 million worth of stamps disappeared!” The Reuter report ends up on detective Harding's desk. He knows all about business fraud and theft. At the crime scene he has a young police officer present the initial investigation to him. The trail leads to "King Paul." Harding learns from the local authorities that a few days after the break-in was reported, during an investigation in the Shannahan house, stamps were discovered in the garbage can that belonged to the stamp inventory listed in the business books. Paul Singer and Ms. Irma have to move their quarters to the detention center. When Harding asks him how the stamps got into the trash can, Paul Singer says: "I have no idea." Ms. Irma doesn't know anything either. When the business library is finally checked, the entries turn out to be fictitious. A SPECULANT IS RELEASED The sensational trial began in Dublin in November 1960. Singer admits: “I continually increased the fictitious brand inventory. Brands that I had already implemented were still listed as existing. Brands that were never there were attributed" Protest is spreading among the many honest collectors who fell for Singer's crook's trick. They appear before the court. The judge convicted Singer of 19 counts of fraud. The verdict: 14 years in prison. Singer won't let himself be brought down. He has influential friends and relies on experienced lawyers. He knows that the justice system of the moneyed aristocracy will not put a man like "King Paul" behind bars for over a decade. There is actually an appeal process. Singer plays his trump card. “The foreman of the jury who convicted me is a stamp collector himself. On top of that, everyone here knows him as a philatelist - and he was also my customer! The man is biased!" The appeal hearing lasts 47 days. On January 24, 1962, "King Paul" celebrates his victory. He invites the jury that acquitted him to dinner. Image 1 Maurice Burrus, multimillionaire (1882 to 1959), from whose estate stamps "King Paul" wanted to auction off valuable stamps. The bluff with the burglary and the stamp robbery was soon overturned. picture 2 At the center of the scandal: "King Paul", boss of the Dubliner Shannahan Stamp Auction House, with wife Irma. picture 3 Jean Baptiste Moins, stamp dealer and forger (1833-1908), was honored with a Belgian stamp in 1973. He had his so-called Moins stamps, which he received at a reduced price from the Belgian post office, chemically treated so that the red ink-line cancellation disappeared and he was able to sell them to the collector "cheaply". Image 4 A rarity among “sports thematicians”: the first special edition for the Summer Olympics. Twelve values from 1896 are now quoted at around 2000 marks. Image 5 The rarest stamp in the world: the “1 cent British Guiana”. It only exists once and is valued at well over $100,000.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 10, 2024 16:11:19 GMT
Brands from no man's land - "Maluku Selatan". To be continued. BRANDS OF NO MAN’S LAND Henry Stolow is considered one of the "big ones" in the capitalist stamp business. The J. & H. Stolow, Inc. company sign has been on a New York commercial building since the late 1930s. 70 employees work on stamp trading on five floors. The Stolows' customer base is wide-ranging: Stolow stamp packages are available in large department stores, and cheap Stolow stamp sets are available in tobacconists and stationery stores in the most remote corners of the state. One day, Stolow spots an exotically dressed man in an elegant restaurant on Fifth. Avenue of New York. He takes a seat at his table. The dinner partner, it turns out, is a prince who soon complains that New York is an expensive place. This man with the bright turban on his head dines like he's a king. But he is only the brother of the former ruler of Yemen. "Is your brother keeping you short?" asks Stolow. The other nods: "My brother can hardly imagine the standard of living here." Stolow suddenly gets an idea. “I can help you,” says Stolow, “we make money together!” And - after a pause: "How about our company print stamps from the Kingdom of Yemen for you and your brother?" Barely an hour after they became known, Stolow drafted the contract for the stamp motifs. Two whiskeys seal the deal. Stolow had the stamp series designed, transferred the printing order to a prominent printing company - and thus gave the collectors a "nice series of pictures". A head portrait of the prince is used as a brand motif on part of the series. In return, Stolow will be given the majority of brand sales. Stolow has the deal in his pocket; the Yemeni prince receives a large sum of dollars. However, after returning home he is arrested and executed. Stolow invents a new trick. In the 1950s, he ordered stamps for the state “Maluku Selatan”. The stamps were produced in the state printing press in Vienna and in the American banknote printing press. This meant that stamps from the Republic of Maluku Selatan suddenly existed; a state that did not even exist. Suddenly they became Stamps thrown onto the market, and Stolow makes the deal before the scam breaks. The magnificently executed stamps with tropical butterflies and flowers are selling like hotcakes. Stolow is even trying to encourage the Universal Postal Union to recognize the imaginary products of the Maluku Selatan state. But he doesn't succeed. So these perforated square centimeters of paper remain nothing more than printed paper - creations to the detriment of philately and collectors. A TRUCKLOAD FULL OF "RUBSE" Henry later moved his field of activity to West Berlin. He leaves the New York headquarters with the huge trading network of more than a thousand American dealers to his brother John. Henry Stolow becomes boss in West Berlin and Munich. While traveling through Italy, Stolow learns that the abbot of a monastery in Umbria wants to clear out a storage room. Stolow combines:. If "old paper" has been stacked in a monastery and is now to be thrown away, then it will be a century old. The clergy of the monasteries have always maintained a lively correspondence. Stolow is received by the abbot. In order to refine the grapes from the monastery garden, the abbot explains, he needs space to set up new barrels. The abbot says apologetically: "It probably won't be the right material for you, because there are no stamps on it..." They were postal items, letters from a time that the philatelist calls the "pre-stamp period" and their documentary value was even unique can be. Stolow lets some letters slip through his hands. There are examples that are 150 years old. Postal stamps for the transport fee paid, postal notes and the like. During the deal in the Umbrian monastery garden, Stolow remains calm and doesn't pay much more than the value of the waste paper. Then he has a whole truckload of old mail driven away from the monastery courtyard. It turned out to be a great deal for Stolow. Image 1 Henry Stolow chats from the school of speculation: He has stamps printed for "No Man's Land" and collects money picture 2 The stamps from “Maluku Selatan” presented themselves colorfully and imaginatively to unsuspecting collectors. picture 3 Hofrat Dr. Reiter, director of the Vienna State Printing Office, saw no reason to reject the printing of the “No Man's Land” stamps. Oddities Leipzig—1897 Madrid postal robbery story Leipzig — 1897. A postal theft caused a stir in Madrid. Two mail bags containing valuable letters worth 125,000 pesetas were stolen from a postal van that transported the valuable letters from the post office to the train. The police accused the coachman and his companion of theft because they were able to take the opportunity to steal the valuables during the journey. Both said they had not noticed anything about the mail being stolen - although there were no signs of forced opening on the car. According to the examining judge, it was also impossible to open the car while driving. In order to create a corpus delicti for the determination, experimental evidence was ordered. A mail carriage pulled by five horses appeared in the prison yard, and the suspected mail coach had to drive the vehicle in circles around the yard at all speeds. The judge's assistants tried to re-enact the theft. This experiment of jumping onto the moving cart, opening the door and stealing the mail unnoticed took hours. The experiment ended without success. The stagecoach driver and his assistant were released, but the robbery remained unsolved and further spying on the driver did not lead to any results.
|
|
|
Post by TSF Admin on Mar 10, 2024 19:18:07 GMT
scub , For those of us who don't read German and can't cut the text from the image to paste into a translator, it would be helpful if you could provide a brief summary of what is being addressed in the image.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 10, 2024 20:08:09 GMT
scub , For those of us who don't read German and can't cut the text from the image to paste into a translator, it would be helpful if you could provide a brief summary of what is being addressed in the image. Translation in progress.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 10, 2024 21:05:58 GMT
Tomorrow more
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 11, 2024 16:03:35 GMT
scub , For those of us who don't read German and can't cut the text from the image to paste into a translator, it would be helpful if you could provide a brief summary of what is being addressed in the image. Completed. The next part will come immediately with the translation. Promised.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 11, 2024 17:28:23 GMT
An example of the “Maluku Selatan” stamps. Maybe someone can post a picture of their “1 cent British Guiana”, mine are all very badly stamped.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 16, 2024 7:40:32 GMT
In this part: In the confusion of the end of WW2. - From the perspective of the communist GDR state - BTW: Where did you get your “blue Mauritius” from? THE RAPE OF THE MAURITIUS Nobody is allowed to stand still. The stream of visitors slowly moves forward to the safe cemented into a wall of the Reichspost Museum in Berlin. Photography is prohibited. Bags, luggage and coats must be left in the foyer before you can access the treasures via the atrium. Subdued light falls on the rarities from the mid-19th century, each of which is linked to adventurous stories and profiteering. At first the visitor only sees eight unsightly-looking stamps. Two of them are stuck on envelopes that are no longer completely clean. One is the famous "blue Mauritius". This rarity is displayed at the top of the safe. Among them is the no less rare Hawaiian cover with a 13 cent blue from 1851, next to it the red Mauritius 1 penny, the British Guiana 2 cents from 1850 and the 4 cents from 1856 as well as the Hawaii stamps of 2, 5 and 13 cents from 1851/52. The value of these eight stamps is 250,000 Reichsmarks. Anyone who approaches the peep box of the safe can look at the legendary Mauritius, whose inscription now says POST OFFICE instead of POST PAID. This issue owes its existence to the governor's wife Gomm, who in 1847 wanted 500 1-penny and 2-pence stamps to send her ball invitation cards. It was engraved quite well by the watchmaker Bernard based on the first series of English stamps. The Hitler War also interrupts the flow of visitors to the Reichspostmuseum. The valuable stamps are stored under lock and key in the safe that can be removed from the wall compartment. One day several trucks appear in the museum yard. The stamp treasure will be charged within a few hours. The transport initially goes towards Vienna. But the evacuation column soon changes direction. They say we're going to Leipzig. The journey of the most valuable treasures ends in Eisleben. It can be assumed with considerable certainty that the general director of the Mansfeld Group has made a firm commitment to safely store the postage stamps in a disused mine. The boxes and sacks are placed at a depth of around 300 meters near Eisleben, on the “Segen-Gottes-Schacht” and on the “Dietrichschacht”. The chambers will be bricked up. PARALYZING HORROR In June 1945, a column of American military vehicles moved west through the Eisleben district. Leading the way in the jeep is US Major Perham. The more the column moves away from the area that will soon become part of the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, the tidier the US major becomes. His column transports the Reichspostmuseum's outsourced stamp collection. Looted property. There are around 230 wooden and iron boxes and over 40 mail bags. Perham's column rolls into the American occupation zone in Marburg an der Lahn. The contents of the boxes are not registered, not even later when the Hessian state government is awarded trusteeship over these values. The American authorities categorically prohibit viewing the material or properly registering it. It was only much later that three gentlemen from the West German postal administration appeared at the storage facility. Permission has finally been given to take an inventory, even though the treasures should have been returned to the legal owner - the Postal Museum in Berlin - long ago. The experts examine the stamp treasures behind closed rooms. There is paralyzing horror at the balance sheet: the most valuable brands are missing, including the red and blue Mauritius! A “Blue Mauritius”, of which there are only twelve others left in the world, and as a piece of paper, has disappeared? The boxes and mailbags are checked again. The result does not change. MAJOR PERHAM HISWITH THE TRUTH Embarrassing questions begin. What does Major Perham know? How could a steel safe disappear from the walled-in shaft section? The West German police soon believe they have discovered shady stamp dealings. It leads to the American civil administration in Darmstadt. But the US occupation authorities forbid any further criminal investigation. Detective assistant Rieth, who leads the investigation, is silenced. What he finds out is only known to American authorities. Then he is sworn to secrecy. A news blackout is imposed on these events for the press. A tip comes from Switzerland saying that the missing Hawaiian letter from the Postal Museum collection was sold to the USA. Soon the reports about the loss of Mauritius were peppered with massive anti-Soviet lies. US Major Perham suddenly speaks up and cynically explains to the. "Linn's Weckly Stamps News", which appears in Sydney: The stamps have disappeared eastwards! He foolishly offers to "help with the search". Not a word is said about how he rushed these treasures to the West. But everything is unconditionally reported in the provincial newspapers and spread through news agencies. But Perham's explanation does not stand up to scrutiny. After all, he has to admit a lot. As a military resident for the Mansfeld Seekreis in 1945, Perham explains, he felt like a "protector" of the collection. However, he was not able to assert himself because even the protective seal of a general was not respected by his own troops Members of a USA supply battalion who used the washroom in the mine area were also “supplied” with stamp albums. A load of stamps has been transported away on a truck. Perham, he noted, had the albums retrieved. But were they looted? He didn't control. Image 1 The world's largest stamp show was once located here: the Postal Museum in Berlin (Leipziger Straße), whose greatest rarities were stolen in 1944/45. picture 2 The former atrium in the old Reichspostmuseum. picture 3 The missing Hawaii letter with the 13 cents. The value: six figures.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 16, 2024 8:06:36 GMT
Be continued. Just three left. SURPRISES ON THE “Dietrichschacht” What had happened in Eisleben in those last weeks of the war: As soon as the stamp treasures were housed in the two mines, they were added to the Mansfeld AG folder as “confidential official matter”. In file 431 in the archives of today's Mansfeld Combine you can read: that there were 254 cardboard rolls and a folder in the "God's blessing shaft" and a folder - allegedly of unknown contents - and in the "Dietrich shaft" there were 201 boxes, 221 packages, 14 cartons, 12 boxes and 42 mail bags - also of unknown contents. Postmaster Krüger When the American troops moved in, Eisleben had to report where and what valuables were stored in the shafts. Krüger knew about the looting of the mines by American soldiers. He also confirms that the USA Major Perham was committed to their recovery, and he , Krüger, resealed the containers in the presence of two other employees. But instead of continuing to seek Krüger's help and checking for possible damage using the inventory list, bailiff Krüger was suddenly banned from entering the building. On June 9, 1945, the conveyor engineer Michaelis had an unpleasant encounter with two American officers on the "Dietrich shaft": In the afternoon hours they appeared on the shaft. They demanded to see the stored goods in a commanding tone. Michaelis refused and demanded that the officers should contact the machine operator. The next day the jeep drove up again. The officers had brought two more soldiers with them. Now they clearly demanded entry. They looked closely at some of the mail and the Schulz company's items that were also there. They said they would come back on June 15th. But on the same day, June 11th, Michaelis was brought back to the shaft. Then on that day and the following day, the stored goods were loaded onto US military vehicles. THE MAN IN THE BACKGROUND The man who could testify about the relocation had gone into hiding. Certain traces indicate that an Ernst Köhn was entrusted with the outsourcing. Köhn was a man in the fascist 5th column, had experience in Latin America, became the Hitler clique's foreign commissioner for South America in 1929, was a bank official at the Banco Aleman Transatlantico in Valparaiso, Chile, and was on the Nazi special staff in Spain in 1937. Finally, he is responsible for the Deutsche Reichspost's operations abroad in the Reich Postal Ministry. This fascist Köhn was commissioned to relocate the postal museum's assets worth millions. Has he enriched himself? It is questionable when and if the truth about this major postal robbery can ever be determined. Image 1 The famous Mauritius stamp with the Post Office engraving, of which a total of 25 copies are still known. A red Mauritius is among the looted items from the Berlin Postal Museum. picture 2 Classic first stamps: the Saxony three, the Bavaria one and a stamp from the Thurn and Taxische Post (from left to right). picture 3 An attraction in the Swedish Postal Museum: the original "ball mail van" from the Danish Post from the 19th century. Oddities London—1904 Double of the king MP J. N. described the issue of the new series of stamps from 1902 with the portrait of the reigning King Edward VIII as a disgrace for the crown. As has only now become publicly known, the brand image does not reflect the real portrait of the king, but rather the image of the king's double, a Mr. Hugo Görlitz from Witten, served as a model. This gentleman lives in London, has long been known in informed circles as a look-alike of the former Prince of Wales and now King Edward, and was the model for this brand template. In the shape of his head and face, the area around his eyes and even his beard, he completely resembles the appearance of the king. Berlin—1917 Post without branded postage? In order to pay tribute to the tense war situation and the growing shortage of raw materials, a committee of senior postal officials suggested that the Reich Postal Ministry use simple stamps to confirm payment for postal items. A Munich newspaper that supported this proposal supplemented it with the following statistics: In the German Reich, 12 billion stamps are used every year. When strung together, they form a paper band that stretches twice around the earth. This brand mass results in a paper weight of more than 20,000 hundredweight - and a truckload (10 tons) of glue is required for the gumming.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 16, 2024 8:22:30 GMT
My “blue Mauritius”. There's even an inspector's stamp on the back! The tester is called "Replic" - funny name.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 17, 2024 17:22:51 GMT
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 24, 2024 7:45:36 GMT
What's coming today? Soccer Fever and A unsolved stamp robbery POST IN SOCCER FEVER Wembley Stadium resembles a cauldron. Football World Cup! The newspapers keep spirits high with cheering headlines for the British team. The stadium is completely sold out for the final between the English team and the FRG team. Sports fans bid up to £100 for a ticket on the black market. 90,000 spectators watch the final for the golden trophy in the overcrowded stadium. The betting shops are doing their business - and England's postmaster general has long since decided to evaluate the sporting triumph by post. A few hours after the final whistle of the game, the printing house Harrison Ltd, London, received the order to print a victory stamp. Sheet after sheet of the 4 pence stamps issued on June 1st as a series of advertising for the World Cup soccer games are pushed through the machine. The 4p value contains the additional inscription ENGLAND/WINNERS. August 18th is the official first issue date. DISAPPOINTMENT But what a disappointment many philatelists and football enthusiasts experience who want to take this "victory trophy" home with them! Anyone who asks for the stamp at the counter at 9:30 a.m. on the first day of issue will receive the answer: the stamp has been sold out since half past eight. A huge crowd gathered hours before the post office opened. In addition to serious philatelists and ordinary postal consumers and sports enthusiasts, there are also many speculators who buy this “victory stamp”. They want to buy the stamp by the sheet on behalf of London dealers. So the first buyers receive entire sheets. Soon afterwards, when the head of the post office realizes that When the rush hardly subsides, he orders the sale of only twelve stamps per postal customer. Ultimately, only one stamp is issued. So just 30 minutes after the counter opens, speculation is flourishing everywhere. The perforated piece of paper with the brand image of the two football opponents climbs from the 4 pence face value to 10 shillings. Punters commit transactions with this brand. Ultimately, the trading price of this stamp settles at seven times the postal value. DOES THE STAMP EXPOSE THE MURDERER? On a July day in 1946, the auxiliary police officer Vogel found a body on the Venusberg in Bonn. He rushes to the station and reports that he has discovered a dead person not far from the former anti-aircraft barracks. It turns out that it is the stamp dealer Jean Schmitz, who has been missing for six months. The doctor's report shows puncture marks on the corpse. So the dealer was killed. The inspector, who is assigned to investigate the case, investigates the circle of acquaintances of the person killed. The result is sparse. Only this much is certain: Jean Schmitz left his stamp shop on Bahnhofstrasse in Bonn on January 1, 1946. He obviously wanted to take the ferry to his apartment in Beuel. The lively widower, who at this time also did business with members of the US occupying forces, had plenty of money. Quite a few women knew this. Before he boarded the ferry, it turns out, he spoke to a woman. Had he taken her with him? Had she lured him to the disreputable area on Venusberg? Or did the death blow to the stamp dealer come on one of the next days? The criminalist assigned to the crime finds it difficult to trace the trail with certainty. He got tangled up in the undergrowth of US military regulations and barricades were erected in front of his research. As was so often the case at this time, the trail of bootleggers, gamblers and whores lead to the American barracks. The investigation must be stopped. The murder file rests as "unfinished" in the Bonn criminal investigation office. A decade later, the young detective master H. Pützstück tries to achieve fame with this "unfinished case". The things that were stolen from Jean Schmitz have never been found again. Not the wedding ring with the engraving "Luise uni a Jean November 9, 1904", not the signet ring, the watch, the diamond ring. Criminalist Pützstück simply deletes these assets from his chances of investigating. If so, he tells himself, then only they can do it Bring to light stamps that Schmitz had with him. Schmitz is said to have had with him a Luxemburg No. 1 - a rare example with silk thread in the paper - worth around 60,000 marks as well as two rare sets of four Spanish stamps from 1851 and 1852 . The police are now trying to win over the philatelists as allies. She provides information about the search for the stamps and a supposed connection with the robbery-murder in 1946. Information soon begins to arrive. A stamp mailing company in Herrenalb has a "Luxembourg No. 1", but it has a test mark. A teacher in Bad Wimpfen also has a Luxembourg No. 1, but a canceled copy, while the stamp you are looking for must be mint never hinged. The Luxembourg No. 1, which in this version probably only exists three times in the world, as well as the Spanish blocks of four, which only appear half a dozen times, they remain missing. Criminalist Pützstück finally managed to have the INTERPOSTA stamp exhibition in Hamburg in 1959 searched for these rarities by detectives, seconded by philatelists. All in vain. It remains an unsolved stamp robbery murder. Image 1 One of the most famous old European stamps: Austria's Blaue-Merkur newspaper stamp. picture 2 The Prague Stamp Museum, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, is the former Saint Gabriel Monastery in the Prague-Smichov district. picture 3 Still dazed from the cowardly attack: museum guard Vera Leblova in the Prague Stamp Museum.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 24, 2024 8:34:26 GMT
Second page - under Construction.
---
Sh*t, forgotten.
Later, when I'm home.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 25, 2024 18:04:34 GMT
BLUE MERCURIES THE “BLUE MERCURIES” On March 17, 1970, there was no heavy public traffic in the former Saint Gabriel Monastery at Holeckowa 10 in the Prague-Smichov district. Only a few Praguers end up here, in the rooms of the Prague Stamp Museum. The museum only draws attention to itself through a small plaque next to the entrance. When the visitor comes in the door, he first wanders through a semi-dark hallway. If you want to get into the high room of the museum, at the front of which is the pride of the museum, you have to ring the bell. He is then allowed through the separate entrance to the stamp treasures. There is the world sensation: an eighty sheet of the famous “Blue Merkure”, a newspaper stamp issued in Austria in 1851. When the doorbell rings that morning, Vera Leblovä, the elderly supervisor, answers the door. Two young men are standing at the door. They greet politely and ask to take a look at the stamps. The attendant takes the key from the board and descends the stairs with the visitors from the first floor to the ground floor. She unlocks the iron gate. The supervisor walks quietly through the hall. Suddenly one of the boys runs to the front of the room with quick steps. There he tears the display frame from the wall and takes out the Mercury. The other guy jumps at the guard, grabs her and begins to choke her, so that the woman collapses. When she finally comes to and is able to raise the alarm, the men have already rushed down the few steps, jumped into a taxi parked in front of the park with the engine running - and disappeared. The inspector in charge of the case is initially in the dark. However, forensic science can take fingerprints. It turns out that you are obviously not dealing with experienced thieves. Who could have an interest in this large part of the arch? What if the thieves, unaware of the special nature of the closed part of the sheet, suddenly cut the stamps apart in order to sell them? A reward of 10,000 crowns is offered. BORDER CONTROL IN NOVA BYSTRICE Only two weeks go by. A car, a diplomatic car, drives to the Nova Bystrice border post. The driver, a Greek diplomat, stops the car on the country road. A second passenger changes. He crouches in a heap in the trunk of the car. The diplomat throws a blanket over the body. …to be continued in next part… Image 1 The thief rushed to the wall (see sketch), took the Mercury bow out of its anchorage in an instant and escaped. A widespread police manhunt began. Sketch: The arrow marks the path of the perpetrators. A-Attack on the museum guard. B-Heist of the Bow of the Blue Mercury. picture 2 The Prague sheet of the Blue Mercury, stolen in 1970, was shown again for the first time in 1974 at a CSSR stamp exhibition in Brno. picture 3 Postal mayfly, only valid on December 21, 1926: it led to the deaths of five people. Oddities Cairo-1926 Manslaughter over four Egypt stamps Fanatic collectors and middlemen from numerous stamp trading centers caused a terrible bloodbath in the small post office building in Port Fuad in the morning hours of December 21st. On the occasion of the inauguration of the port of Port Fuad, which is intended to relieve the port of Port Said and for which numerous guests of honor had announced that they would attend in the afternoon, the Egyptian postal service issued three stamps from a special series for the shipping congress and a special stamp with the portrait of King Fund with the imprint PORT FOUAD and sell in an extremely limited edition on opening day. Already in the early hours of the morning, an unmistakable crowd of people had gathered in front of the post office, and immediately after stamp sales opened at just one post office counter, they tumultuously rushed into the sales room. A strong police escort was powerless, the crowd rushed forward, people were trampled, there were fights and stabbings. Five postal customers died from their serious injuries. These stamps were only sold on that one day and were only valid for franking on that day. --- Only 2 more parts to follow.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Mar 27, 2024 18:48:05 GMT
And here is my first page of my Austria collection - with my Merkur. It's a "Speaking Berenz" album.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 4, 2024 18:03:47 GMT
The penultimate part. - Ferrari fever Continuation ... Border control in Nova Bystrice Then he drives to the border. The customs officer seems suspicious of the man's behavior in the diplomatic car. "Please, open your trunk!" The man protests. But the customs officer does not give up. He demands that the trunk be opened. He finds the ringlead of the brand theft under the ceiling. The Greek diplomat can continue the journey alone. Everything else quickly reveals itself. His brothers are also heard in connection with the arrested. The police come across fingerprints that match those of the post robber in the museum. Now the two cannot avoid admitting the robbery in the post museum and calling the hiding place of the valuable brands: behind a mirror in the room of a bar woman known to them. The attempt to illegally pass the state border was intended for preliminary agreements in Vienna, where the stolen brands were to be sold. The Merkurys could be ensured intact. The crook of H. C. Schwenn 1871. The standing desk and a dark brown writing secretary, one of those new-fashioned office assets, as they have also found on land mail offices, are invited to a horse-drawn truck with all kinds of other law firm. Then the team starts moving and brings its cargo to a new building near the old post office. In the meantime, the bricklayers and painters are already renovating the old post office in Eibenstock at work. Painter Ecklebe suddenly pauses. "Nanu, what is that, brands stick to the pillar!" He calls his colleague. The contours of a stamp arch stand out on one of the abundantly ramped wooden pillars, under the old wallpaper that has now been replaced: a whole sheet of the red "three-pfennig-Saxons" of 1850, which are commonly referred to as "Sachsendreier" and have been twenty years are interesting copies according to their edition. The bow is carefully replaced. The painter dirt and the viscous glue, which leaves the brands as a waste between the pillar wall and wallpaper strips, are difficult to loosen with warm water. With all caution, the bow is slightly damaged. UNINTERESTED DEALERS However, it is hardly worth the effort of replacing these brands. None of the important stamp shops just want to give a penny. More out of pity with the man in his shabby roasting skirt, which comes into the shop and opened a folder in which this sheet of 4 x 6 brands is located, a Leipzig dealer leaves 50 Reichsmark on the counter. Soon afterwards, however, this sheet becomes the only existent in the world. The Vienna Siegmund Friedl already pays the Leipzig dealer 300 Reichsmarks for the bow and offers the brands to a Baron Ferrari. He immediately put 2000 gold mark on the table. When Ferrari dies, his collection was auctioned in Paris in 1921. An illustrious society has come to auction in the Hotel des Ventes on Rue Drouot on the boulevard of Italy. Foreign orders are only taken into account if the amount is enclosed. The auction becomes the greatest sensation of the history of the philately: it runs over five years - from 1921 to 1926 - and comprises fourteen part auctions on 39 auction days. Nevertheless, the sum of 6 million gold marks, which is achieved, is too low. With this auction, the hunting of the millionair collectors begins according to the three-saxson sheet. Ferrari fever After the first day of auction, a Parisian newspaper characterizes the atmosphere in the hotel of the Ventes as follows: “The spirit of the great mystic Ferrari hovers over the crowd, the indispensable veil over the secrets of his gigantic collection has an effect. There they stand, all the pockets thickly filled with banknotes ... Lift your eyes, your disciples Askulaps - the last disease on this old earth ... The philatelist fever! "The Swiss tobacco millionaire Maurice Burrus and the American millionaire Arthur Hind True financial battles about wasted and unspoilt brand treasures of the Ferrari estate. Hind acquires the famous BritishGuayana for $ 30,000, and Burrus buys the coveted sheet of the Sachsen-Stamp for $ 4111. Image 1 Speculation with the "Eibenstocker Sachsenbogen". He changes the owner at DM 620,000, but Schwenn Bluft, he bought the bow himself and made it disappear in his bank safe. picture 2 Schwenn knows how to manipulate prices, thousands of creditors are cheated. picture 3 Armored boxes in the armored car for the Grand Hotel "Frankfurter Hof". Contents: stamps worth 5 million DM. Image 4 H. C. Schwenn. The Saxony-Dreier-Bogen was also passed in his armored safe. ----- Second page comes on the weekend ...
|
|
vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,295
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
|
Post by vikingeck on Apr 5, 2024 7:03:46 GMT
Hi scub thank you for these pages . A very entertaining read. Some stories I was familiar with ,several new to me . Much enjoyed!😎
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 7, 2024 10:18:55 GMT
Today: THE MURDER OF ARTUR ROSZA and Oddities of Sperati SAFE AND MUSEUM PIECE? The world rarity will now disappear in the bank vault for 40 years. But the very rich textile industrialist Gerold Emil Anderegg is already waiting for the moment when the bow must come into play again. When millionaire Burrus dies in 1959, the way is clear. The Burrus collection is auctioned seven years later; Anderegg takes action and pays 215,000 DM. It turns out that Ferrari had had renovation work carried out on this damaged arch of the pillar of the former post office. Burrus, on the other hand, had this make-up rigorously removed. December 1966. This arc comes into conversation again. This time in Frankfurt (Main), in the Hotel "Frankfurter Hof", Salon 15. Film cameras whir, H. C. Schwenn, the clever upstart in the dubious German stamp business, a man with whom serious stamp dealers want to have nothing to do if possible, plays his big role Trump out. The first part of the world-famous Old Germany special collection of the well-known Large industrialists... and there is a pause, the name is not mentioned. The anonymity is intended to increase the tension. Schwenn trumpets: This bow will produce a sensational result. Anderegg had given the sheet to Schwenn, along with many other valuable philatelic documents. And Schwen manipulates. The amount shot up to 682,000 marks. The buyer remains in the dark; it is said to be an American multimillionaire. But the sensational sum was a bluff. Disappointed that none of the extremely wealthy bidders in the salon of the Frankfurt hotel would match the price already offered at previous auctions, Schwenn had the bow fictitiously increased further - and then placed it in his own bank safe. Despite several manipulations and frauds, Schwenn goes bankrupt and leaves his creditors on the hook. In the fall of 1971, the Mohrmann company finally auctioned off the famous bow in Hamburg for 260,000 DM. THE MURDER OF ARTUR ROSZA In July 1973, a middle-aged man entered the stamp dealer Rosza's shop in Hofheim (FRG). The visitor modestly looks around and asks the dealer whether he is interested in some older Scandinavian brands, especially Swedish ones. "Of course," replies Rosza. "But I have to see them first to be able to judge." The man promises to come back. On August 1st, shortly before closing time, the man re-entered the dealer's store. "I've decided to do business with you," he says and explains why he won't be back for more than a week. It was difficult for him to hand over the Swedes Nos. 1 and 2 - two sought-after copies - due to financial difficulties is the Reason for his decision to sell. This was nothing out of the ordinary for Rosza. He also never asks about the reasons for buying or selling valuable brands. Collectors who offer stamps come to him almost every day. It is also not unusual for the customer to request that he would like the money paid out in cash immediately upon completion of the purchase. Rosza agrees to go home to look at the stamps. Rosza gets into his car with the stranger and drives off towards the highway. As soon as Rosza turned onto the highway, the man demanded all of Rosza's cash - the high purchase price for the stamps. Rosza resists, but the stranger brutally kills him with several revolver shots. The case is never solved. Image 1 The British Association of Stamp Dealers offered the forger Sperati 120,000 marks on the condition that that he will no longer replicate valuable brands in the future. picture 2 From the Speratis forgery workshop: A diligent record is kept of the catalog prices of the original brands and his counterfeits, which he sold at a good profit. picture 3 Marking a Sperati fake. Image 4 Nepp with “two suitcases full of brands” in the Federal Republic of Germany. Mr. Vielbuber is one of many who do business with mass-produced goods. Oddities Paris—1948 The Sperati case One of the most cunning and ingenious postage stamp forgers is before the Tribunal de la Seine in Paris. The 65-year-old graphic artist, painter, printer and owner of an arsenal of forger's tools is again accused of counterfeiting stamps. The court experts are amazed at the "authenticity" of these counterfeits, which the defendant describes as "copies" of genuine stamps, but not as "counterfeit stamps." Experts who are called in are not always able to distinguish the Sperati products of rare stamps from the genuine stamps. Jean de Sperati, also known as the "Rubens of philately", gets away with a fine of 5,000 francs. The penalty is reduced to the offense of "unauthorized export of money". Copenhagen - 1942 Business instinct The employee M. of a local wholesale company had to be acquitted of the charges of embezzlement and appropriation of other people's property due to a lack of evidence. M. had the specially marked stamps with the imprint "Postfaerge", which were to be used for shipments to the Danish island of Fanö for ferry mail, regularly returned by the recipients. The sale of these stamps to collectors and stamp dealers generated proceeds of 40,000 Crown. ----------- Last One is coming - Soon[TM].
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 10, 2024 7:30:36 GMT
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 19, 2024 6:50:53 GMT
Today, the last part follows. - The topic is - "Forgeries" Translation follows.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 19, 2024 7:41:12 GMT
DÖRING’S “SMALL Favours”
Klaus Döring had breakfast prepared on the balcony of his house. He enjoyed sniffing the scent of coffee that mingled with the cigarette smoke. Hardly anyone in the Harz town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld knows much about Mr. Döring's business. It is known that he, the businessman, enjoys stamps. Döring leafs through a trade magazine, his gaze focused on the advertisement section with interest. The notepad fills up with columns of numbers. Döring takes his time with breakfast because he is expecting telephone calls from West Berlin. The day before the phone had already rung a few times. But none of the telephone conversation partners wanted to decide so quickly on a deal with "black goods" as Döring offered them - in strict terms.
Döring had placed a classified ad in a West Berlin newspaper. The short text: “Looking for young driver with car, good pay. Tel: 0 53 23/1 ..." — That promised a lot, a real business with a "part-time job". The phone rings again. Döring answers his phone number. “Then I’m in the right place,” said a man’s voice on the West Berlin line.
A CONTACT PERSON FOR “BLACK GOODS”
The man's name is Michael Panno and he works as an electrical mechanic. "It's a matter of a few small favors that Sir could do for me," begins Döring. Then Panno learns that he is supposed to make two trips to East Berlin to buy "some stamps" for him, Döring.
The contact is made. Döring learns that Panno has a Citroen 2 CV that is still drivable and would definitely be hired for what Döring describes as a “completely harmless thing”.
But Panno soon finds himself in trouble of conscience. Döring wants to use him for "border crossings". Panno is supposed to drive across the state border into the GDR twice a week for Döring, who poses to him as a stamp collector, and buys mint stamps at the post office counters in the capital Berlin.
Five? Ten? Hundred? Laughable! Which speculator would be satisfied with such little coins? Just two days after the phone call, Panno found a registered mail. Contents: 1350 Mark GDR currency and 50 DM West. In total, the Berlin contacts - and Panno was just one of them receive a bonus of 150 DM per "business trip", i.e. 300 DM per week.
THE BROKEN COUP
Speculator Döring knows only too well why he sends others to take their skin to market. Every collector, especially a stamp speculator, knows that the illegal import and export of stamps from the GDR violates customs laws and is therefore a punishable customs offense. Panno therefore receives special rules of conduct from Döring with the package of banknotes: “Avoid dressing conspicuously in Western style. It's best to store the stamps in the space between the body and interior paneling of your car."
Then the West Berlin electromechanic realized something. Indignantly, he turns to the responsible West Berlin authorities and describes his criminal "hiring". Billhardt, the senior customs councilor, is by no means comfortable with this matter. He knows enough "East-West pocket ships", as he later told a journalist.
Department I of the West Berlin police and the customs investigation force have to deal with the Döring case. His hired "border crossers" receive a visit - and a cleverly constructed slide ring with GDR novelty stamps is exposed.
Döring recruited thirteen West Berliners by telephone from his idyllic Harz town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld. A student purchased 70,000 mint five and ten pfennig GDR stamps from the newly issued permanent series for him and transported them out of the GDR capital.
MASTER FORGER DE THUIN
At the end of 1966, the brothel owner and brand counterfeiter Raoul de Thuin retired. The now 76-year-old Mexican is thus ending his 30-year career as one of the great master forgers in the history of philately. If his name appears anywhere, he is connected to the examination of valuable stamps, including 21 different older stamps from European countries. Even today, philately experts are still sweating - who can tell them what is real and what is fake? De Thuin's stamps look so authentic that in his time they were purchased by major philatelic agencies and ended up in the albums of tens of thousands of collectors. Thuin fooled the philatelists out of well over $100,000. He calmly explained to a reporter: “Why did I do that? I could never have any sympathy for these crazy people. I would never have been able to work so successfully for so many years if so many dealers hadn't been involved. They couldn't get enough of my fakes!"
NO CASE FOR THE KADI
How is it that Thuin speaks so openly about his forgeries? Shouldn't he fear that he will be put on trial? Not at all. In Mexico, counterfeiting of eligible Mexican and foreign stamps is prohibited. However, the criminal law does not mention anything about counterfeiting old brands that are no longer valid. Thuin couldn't be dealt with like that. He mostly bought original brands from the countries in question - penny goods. But they immediately acquired considerable value when he "stamped" them with an imprint. He took stamps that were issued as "remedial editions" in the countries concerned due to political events or natural disasters. The “imprint” for the collector thus became a value-determining factor.
Even the experts at the Harmer auction house in London fell for the forger. The 1962 auction catalog showed the auction of old Mexican stamps. Only at the last minute did an expert discover the embarrassing affair and declare: “Stop. These are not old Mexicans, these are new Thuin counterfeits".
Image 1
The largest postage stamp of the turn of the century: a five cent newspaper stamp from the United States
picture 2
In 1868, stamps were issued for the construction authorities of the Suez Canal. They were only valid for two months. The original stamps are sought-after rarities, but also popular objects for counterfeiters. The Genoese forgeries are widely known.
picture 3
Macabre brand image: The most recent one solved a dispute of opinion Austrian postage stamp intended to promote seat belts for drivers.
------------
Second page follows - Soon(TM)
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 20, 2024 6:45:48 GMT
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 20, 2024 6:47:38 GMT
In January 1967, de Thuin was able to do his last big business with his art of forgery. He lets it be known that when he now “retires,” he is not thinking about destroying his forgery workshop. If he finds a buyer, he will sell it willingly and “with confidence.” USA philatelists corresponded with de Thuin for almost a year, then they traveled. Thuin is negotiating with the philately experts. The five-member committee of the philatelic society talks to the forger about purchasing his printing blocks, original drawings, correspondence and even his account books. After nine days the contract is perfect. De Thuin hands over 1,636 clichés of counterfeit brands and his “tools of the trade” to the experts. The forgery workshop becomes the property of a philately company.
THE BOOKMARK IN THE BIBLE
An Icelander discovers a franked envelope from 1876 as a bookmark in an old Bible. Twenty-three stamps of a rare denomination are stuck on it. This find caused a huge stir in expert circles. Iceland specialists immediately declare: "The rarity of this letter is equivalent to the discovery of a Mauritius letter!" No sooner has this find been known than stamp auctioneers are chasing after this loot. In March 1973, this letter was announced at the Ebel auction. Press releases and advertisements from the Hamburg stamp house whip up interest in this piece. Once again the television cameras are whirring at a stamp auction, once again a competitive auction battle for an old envelope begins. The Icelandic employee who had once stuck the country's eight-skilling service stamp with such pedantry on the letter in a closed strip of 20 stamps (2 rows of 10 stamps each) and then placed three more stamps underneath, couldn't do it at the time foresee what rarity he created. The rare letter was sold to a Swedish industrialist for 110,000 DM including VAT. Now there is a real cauldron about this letter. The industrialist, whose name is only known in familiar circles, must first return the letter to Reykjavik. The reason? The legal ownership of the letter has yet to be clarified. And now the backstory of the letter comes to light: This piece of letter was discovered by the owner of an antiquarian bookstore in Reykjavik and was also confidently returned to the Bible seller. However, the matter became disreputable because the alleged Bible owner himself stole the Bible and its valuable philatelic contents - or at least obtained it as stolen property. Only now, when there is a lot of noise about this letter, does farmer H Gunnlaugsson from Arnessysin speak out: "This Bible is our family property - and so is the letter inside!" In the meantime, the press had investigated the sensational "find in the old Bible." It turned out that the seller of the stolen volume had sold it off for a million Icelandic kroner as soon as the letter had been returned to him by the antiquarian.
Oddities Stockholm—1975 World rarity, a fake? There is great excitement in philatelic circles in the Swedish capital. An examination of the "Tre Skilling Banco", which was admired at the "Stockholmia 74" world stamp exhibition, raised doubts about the authenticity of this rarity. A commission of experts found that this famous color misprint from 1855 in yellow-orange instead of green has a smaller stamp image and that the perforation also differs from the green printed copies. The question remains open: How could this adulteration come about, which recently changed hands for 2.5 million crowns?
Rome—1975 Trademark counterfeiting in Italy There are currently around 100,000 counterfeit 40 lire stamps from the common postage stamp series in circulation in Italy. A large number of the brands, which were sold in tobacco shops, among others, were confiscated. The police suspect that the postage stamp counterfeits discovered represent only a small part of the extensive criminal business involving postage stamps.
Bonn - 1975 Warning about counterfeiters The Federal Office for Combating Counterfeiting of the West German Philatelist Association is warning philatelists in the Federal Republic of Germany not to fall for fraudulent stamp dealers. According to the experiences of the Federal Office for Combating Counterfeiting, some companies give the impression of being particularly reputable through large advertisements in newspapers and specialist magazines. Appearances are deceiving. Stamps and inspector's marks are forged, stamps are re-gummed, unfolded, re-perforated, etc.
Image 1 Still heating up tempers: the controversial letter from Iceland picture 2 Philatelic curiosity: Spanish unofficial stamp that enabled the postal historian A. F. y Duro to receive postage-free shipping in 1881 picture 3 Doubts about authenticity: The "Tre Skilling Banco" - in the yellow-orange color misprint - has only been known in one copy for 120 years.
|
|
scub
Member
Posts: 118
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
|
Post by scub on Apr 20, 2024 6:49:50 GMT
- THE END -
|
|