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Post by wgthomus on Jul 9, 2018 22:37:00 GMT
One of the fun things about collecting stamps is finding new treasures!! Below is a one of those finds, purchased from an online auction Sep 2016!!
After some time spent researching this sheet, the final result was that it is genuine!! Over time, I've been able to collect up images of almost all of the 11 known sheets! I believe that these were originally printed in pairs, so #12 is out there somewhere waiting to be discovered! My sheet was the 10th one discovered.
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 9, 2018 22:46:36 GMT
Sheet #11 was just recently sold (was unknown until it appeared at auction in Apr 2018). It is attached to a leaflet (#311), though unknown as to who bought it and if the buyer removed the sheet from the leaflet. It sold for $6,250 + a 15% buyer's fee.
Of note, the leaflet this sheet is connected to is #311, which is the same leaflet that another sheet I'm aware of is connected to, which is in the National Archives, Maryland.
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 9, 2018 23:00:44 GMT
Sheet #3 is one that just recently became expertised, which brings the number of expertised sheets to 4.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2018 23:34:14 GMT
Over time, I've been able to collect up images of almost all of the 11 known sheets! I believe that these were originally printed in pairs, so #12 is out there somewhere waiting to be discovered! My sheet was the 10th one discovered.
A purple double sheet of this item was auctioned for a significant sum. So, the green was probably a double also. Its history can be found HERE |
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 9, 2018 23:41:59 GMT
Yup, this is the one you are referring to (I believe it sold for somewhere around $50K the first time (Oct 2009) and a few years (Feb 2012) later sold again in the lower $30K range);  I have images of 12 different red sheets collected up so far. I don't remember the exact number, but there are 28 (or there abouts) known red sheets. 3 of them have the # "192" marked on them, which is the OSS Bern archive number of the sheet. None of the green sheets discovered are marked.
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 10, 2018 0:11:24 GMT
Michel Block # 7, issued 5 Apr 1937, the Hitler Birthday Sheet, was the inspiration for the propaganda forgery.  |
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 10, 2018 0:21:48 GMT
An "expertised" forgery of the propaganda forgery!!  |
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 10, 2018 18:59:57 GMT
Sheet #2 was once owned by Dr. Werner Bohne, currently now in the hands of a collector in Germany. This one is also expertised. It sold at auction Sep 2012 for 17,500 Euros + commission ( of 25% ! ! )!!
The story goes that this was once stapled to a memorandum written by Gen William Donovan explaining that the color green should be used as it would look closer to the original sheet also issued in green. That same memorandum goes on to explain that the block would be too big to fit a standard German envelope and leave room to fit an address. The memorandum has since disappeared, so just a story as part of the murky history of these sheets, some believe that the memorandum never existed in the first place! When thinking about it and the OSS being a government agency, any memorandums would have had a file copy along with the original, no file copy has ever turned up either.
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bluehens
Member 
Inactive
Posts: 51
What I collect: Greece, Cayman Islands, British Africa, US, history, geography, maps and religion.
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Post by bluehens on Jul 10, 2018 19:53:31 GMT
This is a very interesting piece of history. Hitler never smiled on a stamp and this once fits his persona
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 10, 2018 22:01:01 GMT
Sheet # 1 is the last of the known expertised sheets. This one has 2 folds in it and story has it that this was so the sheet could fit into an envelope when it was folded.
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 10, 2018 23:21:46 GMT
Sheet # 6 comes from the Hoover Institute's Archives. I can only speculate that it was not stored properly hence the discoloration of the sheet.
Sheet # 8 & 9 are housed in the National Archives. All they were able to send me was a B&W scan of one sheet, this is a green sheet and it is attached to leaflet # 311 (as addressed above).  |
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Post by wgthomus on Jul 22, 2018 5:04:54 GMT
Here is a color image of the red sheet with the "192" on it. The auction it is currently in ends mid August, so will see what it brings. Starting bid is 10,000 Euros for the sheet!!
Here is my scan of the second "192" sheet. I don't have a scan of the third known "192" sheet.  |
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Post by wgthomus on Aug 1, 2018 0:05:41 GMT
This is a replica that comes out of Taiwan. It is perforated, which the original was not. These should not fool any collector that spends at least an hours worth of research!
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Post by wgthomus on Aug 1, 2018 0:08:48 GMT
A red Taiwan replica was also produced. It is also perforated, again, a little effort with research and there would be no doubt about it being a modern made fake. From what I understand, these can come "aged" or new.  |
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Post by wgthomus on Aug 1, 2018 0:43:30 GMT
The FDR red sheet, the first time that this item appears in public. This is from the the book "Forged Stamps of Two World Wars" by L.N. & M. Williams, 1954 (pg 38). It was also featured on the front cover of this publication.
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Post by wgthomus on Aug 3, 2018 21:26:54 GMT
Here is a nice scan of one of the red sheets. I have scans (in various quality, poor to good) of 12 different red sheets. I know there is a group out there that have been studying these sheets for quite some time, hopefully one of them will see this thread and contribute info and scans!!
Enjoy!  |
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Post by wgthomus on Aug 3, 2018 21:38:44 GMT
When I initially purchased my sheet, as a copy which is what I thought it was, I found scans of a few original greens. I did a digital comparison to the expertised sheet and matched up points as demonstrated;
Of course, 6 months of research proved to be valuable as my sheet became the third known expertised sheet, with the 4th known following a few months later!!
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Post by wgthomus on Aug 19, 2018 3:39:01 GMT
So, the sheet sold (the red sheet with the 192 designation) for 12,500 Euros plus buyer pays a 22% commission on top of that, so 15,250 Euros would be final selling price!!
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Post by wgthomus on Jan 27, 2023 3:24:06 GMT
It has been awhile since I have reviewed this thread. I have come across sheet #13, it was offered at auction (June 18-20, 2020) and sold for 13,000 Euros.
This is also expertised, making it the 5th sheet as such.  |
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daveg28
Member
Posts: 1,015 
What I collect: U.S., Canada, Great Britain & Commonwealth, France (esp. 1950-80), DDR, USSR
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Post by daveg28 on Jan 27, 2023 13:39:25 GMT
That's pretty interesting. I've never seen these before. I don't read German, so I had to Google the translation of the inscription: "He who wants to save his people must think heroically." When I was a younger collector, I was always under the impression that it was somewhat illegal to own anything that had anything to do with the Third Reich, or had Hitler's face on it. When I cam across my first Hitler stamp, I felt a little naughty for having it. I was quite naive then, obviously. lol Now I find WWII era German stamps quite fascinating. What is the origin of these sheets with the gruesome caricature of Hitler? My Google search has yet to enlighten me on that.
Boy, a dive into 1930's Germany on Stamp World shows me some pretty intriguing stamps. Almost as interesting as the WWII era stamps. I may have to rethink my decision to only collect DDR from Germany. But then, these war era stamps are probably all fairly pricey.
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Post by wgthomus on Jan 27, 2023 15:38:48 GMT
That's pretty interesting. I've never seen these before. I don't read German, so I had to Google the translation of the inscription: "He who wants to save his people must think heroically." When I was a younger collector, I was always under the impression that it was somewhat illegal to own anything that had anything to do with the Third Reich, or had Hitler's face on it. When I cam across my first Hitler stamp, I felt a little naughty for having it. I was quite naive then, obviously. lol Now I find WWII era German stamps quite fascinating. What is the origin of these sheets with the gruesome caricature of Hitler? My Google search has yet to enlighten me on that.
Boy, a dive into 1930's Germany on Stamp World shows me some pretty intriguing stamps. Almost as interesting as the WWII era stamps. I may have to rethink my decision to only collect DDR from Germany. But then, these war era stamps are probably all fairly pricey.
These are a propaganda forgery created by the OSS (now called the CIA) and were supposed to have been smuggled into Germany to create dissension with the German population. Still researching the green sheet as they may have been produced simply as file copies whereas the red sheets were supposed to have been placed in envelopes and "mailed" to families of fallen soldiers. If you are really interested, do a search for Operation Cornflakes, it will line out a history for you. |
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Post by daniel on Jan 27, 2023 16:36:58 GMT
daveg28 You can find some information for these and other propaganda stamps at this Psywar.org link via Waybackmachine Daniel
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Post by wgthomus on Jan 29, 2023 1:59:20 GMT
The above sheet is actually #13, here is sheet #12. Sold at auction Nov 2019 for roughly 31,000 Euros.
And the certificate for this sheet, making this the 6th one expertised.
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