cjd
Member 
Posts: 1,107 
|
Post by cjd on Mar 14, 2015 2:27:59 GMT
Switzerland soldier stamps...issued during World War I and World War II, ostensibly for Swiss soldiers, who were activated to defend the border, to mail letters home. They often fall under the heading of charity stamps. Especially at the beginning of World War II, they went a little overboard and abused the good nature of stamp collectors. The government had to step in and limit designs, print runs, etc. Printers were prohibited from clandestine activities, such as overprint varieties, printer's waste and other typical shenanigans. Philatelic or not, I like them. I'll add some of mine from time to time, but please add whatever you have. Here are two new acquisitions:  This is for a battalion I have not yet identified. The second example is a vertical strip for a soldier's welfare organization, as best as I can make out from German websites:  Any more information about any of the above, and of course other examples, are more than welcome. (Geb Bat S 10 Zentralst Soldaten Fursorge Oeuvres Sociales de L'Armee, just in case the Googlemonster stops by.) |
|
Admin
Administrator 
Posts: 2,636
|
Post by Admin on Mar 14, 2015 3:40:29 GMT
I bought a collection of them a few years ago with the sole purpose of selling them on eBay, a very interesting area to study.
If memory serves me right LB1 bought a sheet off me.
|
|
cjd
Member
Posts: 1,107
|
Post by cjd on Mar 14, 2015 3:48:05 GMT
Great design, generally speaking.
|
|
Ryan
Member
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,720
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
|
Post by Ryan on Sept 21, 2015 21:02:51 GMT
Here's an oldie from WWI that I came across recently. For some background information on Swiss soldier stamps, have a look at this 1952 article from The Swiss Specialist (on page 2, if my parameters in the URL don't work for you), an in-house publication of a stamp dealer in London.  Ryan |
|
cjd
Member
Posts: 1,107
|
Post by cjd on Jan 5, 2016 23:22:07 GMT
A couple more I picked up of the same design, one from the main division (Third), and the other from another battalion of fusiliers in that division.  Of course, there are the obvious differences in the tablets, but there are many other tiny differences in the design. |
|
|
|
Post by PostmasterGS on Jan 6, 2016 0:09:49 GMT
cjd, Sorry I'm late to the party, but the unit in your first stamp above is Gebirgsschützenbatallion 10 (10th Mountain Rifle Battalion).
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2018 12:28:00 GMT
More on the Story.....
All Swiss servicemen when on active duty enjoy free postage . Letters must bear a seal or a rubber stamp of the C.O. to be passed free of charge by the post office. During the first world war tens of thousands of servicemen letters were dealt with in this way.
In June of 1915, Captain Fred Bieri, serving with the 38th Infantry Battalion. had the idea
of special adhesive labels or stamps to be used for "franking" the servicemen's mail. Herr Bieri, as an artist in his civilian occupation, designed an attractive label for his unit.
This label was then used instead of a rubber stamp to mark the letters as "post free".
The soldiers were asked to pay one or two centimes for these labels, and this revenue, after the deduction
of the printing cost was used for the benevolent fund of the regiment.
Soon, other units followed suit, particularly after the issues were approved by the Army Command and
the Swiss Post Office. It did not take long until collectors got interested, and the Quartermasters were permitted to sell mint stamps to the general public.
Used stamps were, however, not sold, and they can be generally regarded as genuinely
used for franking soldiers' mail. They all bear the official Field Post postmarks.
Every division started putting out large numbers of varieties which led to a negative situation
The Swiss-Army high command had to act. And so Armeebefehl Nr. 102 was issued:
"The amount of issued stamps and variations of them is reaching a volume on which even the most sincere collector of stamps will lose interest because he has no chance to complete his collection. That for the soldiers-stamps are getting discredited. And even the armed forces reputation is harmed by the behavior of some enterprising individual..."
The rules specified how many could be printed, the format, printing regulations and which department oversaw the approvals.
By this time many collectors and dealers lost interest and collecting soldier stamps only recently saw a revival. The catalogs that cover these stamps
Catalog Wittwer: Solders stamps: 2 vols. 1st & 2nd. WW
Die Soldatenmarken der Schweiz by H. Sulser
Soldatenmarken-Angebot by J.P. Bach
Die Schweizerischen Soldatenmarken by Weltkrieg
Die Soldatenmarken: 2 Vols - Locher
|
|
|
|
Post by daniel on Jun 2, 2021 0:01:56 GMT
A good selection of World War I Soldier Stamps. There are certain similarities between these and Delandres insofar as some of the designs are repeated for different regiments/battalions/brigades and information and values can be difficult to obtain since catalogues are not easy to find and can be very expensive. I did manage to purchase one of the catalogues mentioned in the above post, Die Soldatenmarken der Schweiz which is in German with some French. It is not set out like a typical catalogue and requires some military knowledge and, in my case, much translating.
 Scan_20210601 (6) by Daniel, on Flickr
|
|
|
|
Post by daniel on Oct 18, 2023 1:46:35 GMT
Women's Auxiliary Service, Fraúen-Hilfs-Dienst (FHD) In Switzerland, military service is compulsory for men, but women are able to volunteer. This stamp, form World War II, honours the FHD.  |
|
DK
Member
Posts: 1,210
What I collect: Classic NZ, Closed NZ Post Offices, New Zealand Postal History, Classic Br. Empire, Pacific Islands, France
|
Post by DK on Oct 18, 2023 2:37:39 GMT
Hi Daniel, Seeing your recent post (above) reminded me that I had 8 pages of Swiss Army Stamps tucked away in a cupboard. I got these with another lot of stamps and never looked into this topic. I don't collect this area of philately so don't know much about them. I know that they will have some value, but how much value? Are they worth offering on eBay, or here? I would be grateful for any info on these 8 pages. Cheers Dave     |
|
DK
Member
Posts: 1,210
What I collect: Classic NZ, Closed NZ Post Offices, New Zealand Postal History, Classic Br. Empire, Pacific Islands, France
|
Post by DK on Oct 18, 2023 2:38:41 GMT
|
|
rod222
Member
Posts: 9,854
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps, Ephemera and Catalogues
|
Post by rod222 on Oct 18, 2023 3:39:55 GMT
I was tempted to take up collecting Swiss Army Stamps, (2019)
My dealer at the time was offering Pages of them at $40 US reserve.
They remained unsold.
Below Source : Author "Linus"
You are welcome. I use eBay/stamps as a reference book, sometimes it surprises you
what information is out there on it. I will cut and paste the info below for Rod, and
others, to save.
Linus
(info below from an eBay listing)...
Note: All prices based on "Die Soldatenmarken der Schweiz" 1990 Katalog, published
by Heinrich Sulser (the only recognized catalogue of Swiss Soldier Stamps)
Military "Soldier" Stamps
During each World War, the Swiss military mobilized to ensure that Switzerland would
not become one of the participants. Since Swiss military service is compulsory for all
men between the ages of 18 and 48, this inevitably created financial hardship for many
of those called up for active duty. During each war, individual military units issued
fundraising labels that could be placed on mail to indicate charitable support. Since
those on active duty enjoyed free-franking privileges, they often placed these military
stamps on their mail in lieu of regular postage. These stamps were duly cancelled by
the field post offices. Different parts of a unit sometimes had their own stamps.
From Sulser Catlogue:
The soldier-stamps were not issued by the swiss-mail (PTT) but by the individual units.
They were not allowed for non field-post pieces but they were authorized by the PTT.
The designs had to be presented to PTT general administartion at Bern for approval
(Armyorder Nr.102 from 16.12.1939). They were classified as charity stamps.
Armeebefehl Nr. 102 was issued:
1. Every unit may only issue one stamp until 1.9.1940, no variations and only one
printrun!
2. All future designs shall be presented to the PTT directorate at Bern for approval.
Later on this order where supplemented with more rules to follow:
Armeebefehl Nr. 125 (26.4.40) changed the right of approval from PTT to the
Generaladjutant of the Army's office.
Most remarkable are the later paragraphs of this order:
4.The printers which are printing the stamps are to be bound by contract with penalty
clause to take care that no stamps are sold from the printers-stock. All essais and
printing error's are to be destroyed at the spot and are forbidden to be brought into
circulation.
5. printing plates shall be handed out to the commander of the issuing unit or be
destroyed under personal observation of the units commander.
Armeebefehl Nr. 159 (28.1040)
Term definition for the no-variations rule from army order 102.28/02/2021 Seeking Information On Switzerland 1939 Stadt
Basel
1. Each army unit down to Bat. and Abt. may issue one stamp per year of mobilization
(timespan from 1.9. �31.8.). Only one single stamp in one printrun without any
variations in colour, paper, perforation, text, picture (i.e. t�te-b�che), gum, souvenier
sheets, mini-sheets of 1,2,3,4 or more stamps or any other variation.
2. Only perforated blocks of 4 with plain white margin, without any aditional printings
are not counted as a variation and are allowed even if singles of this stamps are
issued .
3. Generaly overprints are not allowed. Only if a issuing unit has a large stock of last
years stamps, it may be allowed by the Generaladjutant of the Army's office to
overprint them as the stamp for the new year.
But not only the high command issued orders on the soldiers-stamps. Also the
Fieldpostdirectorate had some important ruels on soldiers-stamps.
Order Nr. 10 (5.10.39)
The military charity stamps may be canceld with the troops standard cachet BUT NOT
by the dated cancels of the fieldpost offices.
Oder Nr. 12 (24.10.39)
The military charity stamps are to be designed in size that a confusion with PTT
stamps is not possible. Also no value is allowed to be printed on the stamps.
Collectors have to use an additional PTT franking on their letters.
Posted 02/26/2021 09:17
|
|
|
|
Post by daniel on Oct 18, 2023 17:46:49 GMT
Hi Daniel, Seeing your recent post (above) reminded me that I had 8 pages of Swiss Army Stamps tucked away in a cupboard. I got these with another lot of stamps and never looked into this topic. I don't collect this area of philately so don't know much about them. I know that they will have some value, but how much value? Are they worth offering on eBay, or here? I would be grateful for any info on these 8 pages. Cheers Dave Hi Dave, That's a nice lot. Thanks for sharing. Valuation can be tricky. World War 1 stamps are more valuable than World War II. Blocks of 4, imperforate stamps and progressive proofs are also more valuable. It appears that yours are, mainly, World War II. Looking on eBay, individual stamps seem to sell for around £2 - £3 and this also seems to be the case with sold listings. My main catalogue is arranged by military units and is not easy to use nor well illustrated. Better catalogues are very expensive and not easy to find. I have seen, in the past, listings from Switzerland for soldier stamps with a broader range of prices. A collection might sell quite well. I hope this helps a little, Daniel |
|
DK
Member
Posts: 1,210
What I collect: Classic NZ, Closed NZ Post Offices, New Zealand Postal History, Classic Br. Empire, Pacific Islands, France
|
Post by DK on Oct 18, 2023 19:46:30 GMT
Thanks daniel & rod222 for both of your responses. Interesting area to collect it seems. With a military theme. There are 121 items if my count was right and therefore at approx. £2 each would be around £240 !! I would be happy with US$100 + postage for the lot so if anybody reading this wants them then just PM me. Otherwise in a week or two, when I get around to it, I will probably list on eBay and see what happens. Thanks guys  Dave |
|
|
|
Post by daniel on Mar 13, 2024 4:23:45 GMT
A complete sheet of the 1917 overprint on the 1916 issue for the 3rd Division.  |
|
rod222
Member
Posts: 9,854
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps, Ephemera and Catalogues
|
Post by rod222 on Mar 14, 2024 0:25:28 GMT
Swiss Army Stamps.  Postmark Number 86 SAILLON  |
|
|
|
Post by daniel on Apr 3, 2024 2:32:10 GMT
My latest addition to my Swiss Soldier collection is this pre-World War I (1912) postcard depicting a soldier. The address side shows a purple handstamp which translates as Military Service Barracks-Basel and is postmarked Basel for the 23 June 1912. The Army Barracks was located in the centre of Basel but was abandoned in 1966 and after undergoing significant restructuring is now a centre of culture.   |
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 6:58:56 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 6:59:46 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:00:30 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:01:12 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:01:51 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:02:34 GMT
More: Bottom 2 have different perforations.    |
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:03:49 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:04:28 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:05:08 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:05:42 GMT
|
|
darrenk
Member
Posts: 87
What I collect: German Privatpost German post war locals Australia Papua New Guinea New Zealand Canada
|
Post by darrenk on Apr 17, 2024 7:06:27 GMT
|
|
