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Post by PostmasterGS on Oct 17, 2022 16:01:43 GMT
I like it like it is. To me, it would be more distracting having extra space around the mount than it would be having different sized boxes. If you typically add a set amount around the stamp (ex. 3 mm), do that for all rather than attempting to make the boxes the same size regardless of the stamp sizes.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Oct 17, 2022 4:03:03 GMT
Andy,
Looks good. You might try combining paragraphs 2 & 3 to buy yourself enough space to move the bottom text up and keep the last paragraph from crowding the Foreign Mail - W title at bottom.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Oct 3, 2022 3:00:21 GMT
Andy Pastuszak, One variation you might try is flipping the bottom half of the second design I posted -- put the vertical stamp at left and the text and horizontal stamp at right. Moving the text to the right is another subtle way to distinguish it from the text above.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Oct 2, 2022 3:46:53 GMT
Or maybe something like this:
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Post by PostmasterGS on Oct 2, 2022 1:47:05 GMT
Andy Pastuszak , IMHO, the layout of the boxes seems a little haphazard. I'd do one of two things: 1. Separate the first issues and the second issues into two pages, each with their own write-up; or 2. Consolidate the text by combining paragraphs 2 & 3 and, if necessary, trimming a word or two in paragraphs 2/3 & 5 to save a couple lies of text, then using a box layout more like this:
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Post by PostmasterGS on Sept 24, 2022 3:07:00 GMT
New version (v1.58) uploaded that fixes a bug that was preventing files from being processed if all these conditions were met:
1. Batch Folder or Files 2. "Output to:" unchecked 3. Overwrite prevention checked 4. File extension set to "Same as Source"
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Post by PostmasterGS on Sept 2, 2022 21:34:15 GMT
Received another of these today. It's another cover from Mrs. Naval Chief Paymaster Schürnich in Münster. She must have bought quite a few of the China stamps in Wilhelmshaven! This cover was sent a couple weeks after the previous one. It doesn't include the return address like the first one, but the handwriting matches, so I'm confident of the sender ID. It does, unlike the previous cover, include an arrival postmark from Tsingtau, Kiautschou, 5 Jan 02 (transit time of about 5 weeks from Berlin to China).
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Post by PostmasterGS on Aug 31, 2022 22:32:58 GMT
When Germany first established a presence in China in the 1880’s, mail from German Post Offices in China to Germany was transported almost exclusively via the sea. The various shipping lines serving the Far East were the quickest, most efficient manner of transportation. In 1891, Russia began construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. As longer portions of it were completed, Germany experimented with sending mail from China back to Germany via the railroad. These trials could only be conducted during the winter because there was still a significant gap in the line at Lake Baikal, and transportation across the lake was easier when it was frozen over. After three trials in the winters of 1896-1897, 1897-1898, and 1898-1899, it was determined that the transit times were actually slower than via the existing sea routes, and this routing was temporarily abandoned. In October 1903, Germany once again began routing mail through Russia. There were several periods of interruption (Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905, Mongolian plague outbreak in 1911), but from 1907-1914, mail traveling this route became more popular, with transit times of approximately 2 weeks. It's common to see mail from German China / Kiautschou during this period with a “Via Siberia” route marking. However, with the outbreak of World War I, Russia intercepted and returned to German China/Kiautschou any German mail traveling this route. The mail then had to bent sent via alternate routes, often through the US. Much of the mail was censored prior to its return from Russia, and four Russian censorship markings are known (shown here in increasing order of rarity). The first is a framed Cyrillic “Д.Ц.” (short for Дозволено Цензурой, or Doswoleno Zensuroi — meaning it passed censorship). The second states contains similar language (Passed Censor / Military Censor) and a signature, “Babaew”? The third, which is only known on mail from German China (not Kiautschou), contains the same language, but is signed “Geivochu” or “Geiwotschu” The fourth, which is only known on mail from German China (not Kiautschou), is a circle with a Cyrillic “Д.Ц.” At the same time, however, there were German naval vessels in Chinese waters. The use of Russian censor marks on these Marine-Schiffspost items is exceptionally rare. The framed “Д.Ц.” is known on four Marine-Schiffspost covers, three unfranked and one franked. The second censor mark is known on two unfranked Marine-Schiffspost covers and one franked Marine-Schiffspost postcard. I recently acquired both franked copies: This cover was sent from the river gunboat S.M.S. Tsingtau (MSP No. 78) on 20 July 1914, on which date it was in the upper reaches of the Hsikiang river (now called the Xi River). It was addressed to Fräulein Ilse Goltsch in Naumburg, but was redirected to Grunewald, Berlin. As evidence of the return to Kiautschou and subsequent re-routing, it didn’t arrive in Naumburg until 28 November 1914. This postcard was sent from the gunboat S.M.S. Jaguar (MSP No. 45) on 23? July 1914, on which date the Jaguar was in Shanghai — though it was written several days earlier when the gunboat was in Hankau (modern Wuhan). It was addressed to Fräulein Gertrud Mackeldey in Cleve, but was re-directed to Neunkirchen. There are no arrival or transit markings, so the address change is the only indication this item was ever sent to Germany after being returned from Russia. The text reads:
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Post by PostmasterGS on Aug 20, 2022 16:12:28 GMT
Anyone here using StampFix on Win11, and if so, are you having any issues?
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Post by PostmasterGS on Aug 9, 2022 0:52:30 GMT
If you have an iPhone, take a photo of the text, copy it & translate, much better than typing! If you have the Google Translate app, you can just point the camera at the page and it will translate it live on the screen.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Aug 4, 2022 13:01:38 GMT
I received another of these recently. It's a postcard that was sent from a man named Rudolph in Wilhelmshaven to his cousin Edmund Praël in Lautenthal, Germany. It reads:
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Post by PostmasterGS on Aug 4, 2022 12:48:45 GMT
I recently received a couple more of these. The first was sent 7 July 1902 when the Pisa was in Port Said, Egypt, on its outbound cruise to China. This date is the earliest date on which these uses are known. It was from a Private in the 4th Transport Company to Fusilier Johann Voss of the 10th Company, Grenadier Regiment König Friedrich I (14th Ostpreussen) No.5, located in Danzig. The handwriting on this one was especially tough, so the translation isn't complete: And on the album page: The second new addition is a rare one -- one of the very few to have been addressed to China instead of Germany, and therefore bearing a German Offices in China stamp and Tientsin cancel. It was sent on 2 September 1902 while the Pisa was in Singapore on its return voyage to Germany. It was from a soldier named Rohrbach of the 34th Transport Company to Private Büscher, First East Asiatic Infantry Regiment, Third Battalion, 9 Company, in Shan-hai-kwan, China. It reads, roughly: And on the album page:
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 30, 2022 21:11:25 GMT
You should consider converting it to a publicly accessible website. You've already got it built, and good hosting can be had for only US$10-15/month. If you decide you want to and need tech support, don't hesitate to ask.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 30, 2022 21:06:05 GMT
Look who decided to make an appearance today. Luckily, the auctionhouse was slow in issuing a refund, so all's well that ends well without any additional effort. The tracking record's a keeper, though: I filed a missing mail request back on 21 June, but the USPS hadn't even started searching yet. Guess it just took forever in Customs.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 27, 2022 0:32:09 GMT
Welcome!
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 24, 2022 14:21:45 GMT
Unlikely, because they're dysfunctional and their systems don't talk to each other.
Over the last several years, I've filed about a dozen missing mail reports for registered parcels coming from Germany that got lost in the NY ISC. A couple of those packages did eventually arrive, but I never stopped getting emails saying they hadn't found those packages yet.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 24, 2022 13:28:21 GMT
I finally got the last remaining piece from this set -- MiNr. 1 e -- with the short blue line used only on the afternoon of 9 May 1900. And here are the completed album pages for this set:
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 17, 2022 16:57:48 GMT
I've stopped using USPS for any stamp shipments. I'm approaching $10,000 of lost auction lots from Germany this year alone. I'm able to get my money back from the auction houses, but the irreplaceable rare stamps are presumably gone forever.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 15, 2022 19:19:54 GMT
I looked at the PERFOMaaster4000, but it doesn't seem to work with OSX Monterey. I get a "Can't read input file" error when I try to preview/scan looks like it has some nice features If you haven't let the publishers know, you should drop them a note. That's a common Java error, and it's usually pretty easy to fix.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 15, 2022 18:06:55 GMT
I'll go in a slightly different direction. I use these two.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 11, 2022 21:53:19 GMT
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 7, 2022 0:07:31 GMT
That's Peking.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 6, 2022 13:41:00 GMT
I'm not certain whether they were valid postage in Germany proper or not. My instinct is to say yes, as they were issued for use with the German post, and there was obviously not a problem with the issuance and acceptance of them by a large German PO in this instance. The only thing that gives me pause is that one would expect to occasionally see domestic use from people bringing back postage from the German PO Abroad of the Colonies, and you don't see that.
I suspect the reason for the inclusion of "Kaiserl. Hofpostamt Berlin" (Imperial Post Office Berlin) is because at that time, all German naval mail entering or leaving the country transited through the Marine Postbureau (Naval Post Bureau) of the Berlin C 1 post office.
The letters are "Hof", which literally translate to "Court". I believe Hofpostamt was simply another term for referencing the post offices of the Imperial period.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 5, 2022 17:23:04 GMT
Just to be clear, the German stamps overprinted "China" are common. They were issued for use at the German POs in China. It's the use of those China stamps in Germany that's unusual in this case.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 5, 2022 15:08:12 GMT
I am wondering why donations are requested on the first page at this time, without explaining the free trial I'm not sure what you mean. There is no free trial. The site is free. Donations are accepted if someone wants tho help with the cost of hosting.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 5, 2022 14:59:23 GMT
Here’s another rare one to be on the lookout for — the Wilhelmshavener Aufbrauchsausgabe (Wilhelmshaven Use-Up Issues) of the German Offices in China. From September - November 1901, an unusual event occurred for which there isn’t a good historical record of why — the issuance of postage from the German Offices in China at the post office in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The stamps known to have been issued in this fashion were: The 5- and 10-Pf “China” overprints of Germania Reichspost issues (German Offices in China MiNr. 16-17 / Sc 25-26) and possibly the 20-Pf value as well (MiNr. 18 / Sc 27): And a single known copy of a diagonally-overprinted 10-Pf (either MiNr. 3 I or 3 II / Sc 3 or 3a, my references are unclear which). At the time, German steamships and naval vessels were making far more trips from China to Germany than normal, as they were returning German troops that had been deployed to China for the Boxer Rebellion and subsequent punitive expeditions. It was initially speculated that the stamps could have come from the stocks carried by individual soldiers, as Wilhelmshaven would have been their disembarkation point. However, the quantities rule this out — eyewitnesses reported being able to buy full sheets from the counter at the Wilhelmshaven PO. Now, they are believed to have come from the stocks carried by the on-board post office of one of the steamships transporting troops or of a returning German naval vessel. In his master work on German colonial philately, Albert Friedemann speculated that they were from the protected cruiser S.M.S. Irene, which made port in Wilhelmshaven on 22 September 1901 and turned over its postal equipment to the Wilhelmshaven PO. Regardless, the stamps are known with cancels from the Wilhelmshaven PO, as well as from Münster. The Münster stamps are believed to have also come from the Wilhelmshaven PO’s supply. Current Michel CV is €1,000 used, €3,500 on cover/postcard. I recently received these two items which I won at auction, both cancelled in Münster. One is a cover from the wife of a German sailor to her husband, and as the other is a newspaper wrapper addressed to the same, in the same handwriting, and mailed from the same PO, I suspect it's also from her. The first is a cover sent from Münster to Tsingtau, China. It translates as follow: The second is a newspaper wrapper sent from Münster to Tsingtau, China. It translates as follows:
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 2, 2022 21:22:34 GMT
In light of the untimely demise of Retro-Reveal, I put together a new site that offers many of the same features. It's a work in progress, so please let me know if you encounter any odd behavior. They may be the occasional hiccup as I continue tweaking. Feel free to give it a try. Hopefully it doesn't overwhelm my hosting. Postmark-Reveal.comIt's free, though donations are always appreciated.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jul 2, 2022 17:50:58 GMT
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jun 28, 2022 23:11:03 GMT
I recently bought a new binder for my German collection and noticed that you posted a photo of the same back in 2016. I have yet to add the pages, though. I was wondering how the binder has held up over the years. Any splits or cracks in the plastic? No, no issues with the binders. They even survived traveling around the world in my carry-on suitcase a couple times.
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Post by PostmasterGS on Jun 27, 2022 17:57:30 GMT
Added pages for the WWII Occupation of Lorraine. Pages are available in basic or specialized; Letter, A4, Leuchtturm/Lighthouse, or Schaubek sizes; with or without stamp photos; StGB compliant/non-compliant versions. As usual, downloads are here. Also, I updated the StGB-compliant versions of the Alsace pages uploaded a couple days ago to fix a typo on the title page.
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