5-Franc Marie-Adélaïde Definitive with Gemen & Bourg Double-Impression Perfin

 

 

Occasionally a perfin prompts me to blink twice.  And so it was when I saw this 5F Marie-Adélaïde definitive (Prifix 109) in a general Luxembourg collection.  Any perfinned  5F definitive is welcome in my Luxembourg perfin collection.

And when the collection with the 5F perfin arrived, I was even more surprised.  The perfin pattern is a double-impression of the scarce
G B pattern used by Gemen & Bourg Rosiéristes in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg.  The cancel is dated 28 November 1921.

The FSPL Catalogue des Timbres Perforés Luxembourgeois (2002) lists the G B perfin as used between 1916 to 1922.  It is known on only 7 stamps – the 10c, 2½F, 5F, and 20c/17½c Marie-Adélaïde definitives, the 30c Charlotte (1st series), 5F Adolphe Bridge, and 50c Charlotte (2nd series). 

The other 300 or so stamps in the collection must be just a little jealous of this beauty!

The octagonal CAISSE cancels

 

 

I occasionally find octagonal caisse cancels, such as this one from Arsdorf dated August 11, 1971, on documents – in this instance, on a deposit receipt.

 

I would be interested in learning more about the uses of the caisse cancels.  In particular, why were they used instead of the office’s regular postal cancel for documents such as the one shown here?  Could a postal cancel have been used instead?  Were these cancels ever used to cancel stamps?  When were the first introduced?  Were they issued to all post offices?

 

 

On this deposit receipt above, the Arsdorf double-circle postal cancel dated October 28, 1935, is seen.

 

 

Update – August 8, 2011

 

These cancels and their cousins are no longer a mystery!  The FSPL’s Commission d’Études in March 2011 published a comprehensive study and listing of these cancels as chapter 8 of the Handbuch zur Philatelie in Luxemburg. 

The Handbuch illustrates the various types of octagonal kassenstempel, as shown below.  

 

 

Thanks to the dedicated work of the FSPL, I now better understand and appreciate my Arsdorf caisse cancel! It was one of those philatelic mysteries that I thought might never be solved.

Incoming mail during WWI censored in Brünn

 

1.  Unusual WWI Dual Censorship

 

We sometimes see dual censorship of incoming mail to Luxembourg from other European countries during World War I.  But I’ve never before seen dual censorship of incoming mail from the United States.

This letter, which was sent from San Francisco, California, January 6, 1915, to Schieren, shows two censor marks:  one from the  Czechoslovak Moravian town of Brünn [Brno],  as well as the usual German censorship mark applied in Trier.

Perhaps a postal clerk distracted by the nice franking – the 1c and a pair of the 2c Pan-Pacific Exposition commemoratives paying the 5c UPU 20g letter rate – deposited the letter into the wrong mail sack!  There are no marks on the back to provide clues.

 

2.  Typical WWI Dual Censorship

 

Picture postcard incoming to Mondorf-les-Bains from Fixheim in the then-German Lorraine.  The card is dated November 24, 1915, and was censored at Diedenhofen [today:  Thionville] in the Lorraine and Trier, Germany. 

Censoring Luxembourg’s mail during World War I must have provided full employment for many German functionaries. The same probably could be said today for Rupert Murdock’s functionaries, who recently were found to have snooped through many 21st century electronic communications, but without the excuse of an ongoing war to justify the intrusions.

 

From Boma to Arsdorf in 1926

 

 

 

Being connected ancestrally to the small Ardennes village of Arsdorf, the birthplace of my maternal grandfather, I enjoy collecting the village’s postal history.

International incoming mail to Arsdorf is understandably elusive, so the postcard seen here from Boma in the Belgian Congo was a delightful recent discovery!  The card is dated 25 December 1926 at Souga and was posted from Boma.  The Arsdorf receiving cancel is dated 17 January 1927.  The card shows a real photo of children in Souga.  It’s franked with three singles of the 1923 25c basket weaving pictorial.

My favorite St. Willibrord cover

 

 

Having grown up in a small Minnesota village where Luxembourg pioneers in the 1880s dedicated the local Roman Catholic church to
St. Willibrord, I enjoy collecting covers with a ‘Willibrord’ connection.  Here is my favorite:

1.75 F + 50c
1938 St. Willibrord semi-postal

Sole Luxembourg franking — two-country airmail cover

Until May 1, 1939, Luxembourg franking paid the applicable UPU or treaty rate on outgoing international airmail, with the airmail charge paid with stamps of the neighboring country from which the airmail service began — France, Germany, or Belgium.

Here the visually striking 1.75 F Luxembourg semi-postal commemorative issued for the 12^th centenary of St. Willibrord’s death pays the UPU rate for a 20g letter to Italy.  A 75c French definitive pays the additional charge for airmail service from Strasbourg. The foreign stamp was stocked and sold at the Luxembourg post office and applied when the letter was mailed in Luxembourg, but the regulations provided that it was to be cancelled upon arrival at the foreign (in this instance, French) airport of dispatch.

On 20 September 1938, this cover was routed to Strasbourg’s airport postal facility and then apparently flown from Strasbourg to Bâle [Basel], Switzerland. It then traveled on the Luxembourg A Bâle and Chiasso [Switzerland] to Milan [Italy] TPOs the next day, reaching its destination of Merano in the southern Tyrol region of Italy early on the morning of 22 Sep 1938. 

 

Here is my explication of the cancels:

Front:

· Luxembourg-Ville, 20 Sep 1938 (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon)

· Strasbourg Pl. de la Gare, 20 Sep 1938 (9:00 p.m.)

Back:

· Strasbourg Gare Avion, 20 Sep 1938 (11:00 p.m.)

· Luxembourg a Bale, 21 Sep 1938

· Amb. Chiasso Milano, 21 Sep 1938

· Merano (Balzano), Italy, 22 Sep 1938 (6 a.m.)

 

Semi-postals were seldom used on these airmail covers with two-country frankings.  This cover is a remarkable exception.

The 1924 Marie-Adélaïde Caritas Semi-postals

 

Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde died an untimely death on
January 24, 1924.  As a memorial, Luxembourg overprinted the 12½c, 35c, 2½ F, and 5 F Marie-Adélaïde definitives with the word CARITAS, adding surcharges of 7½c, 10c, 1 F, and 2 F, respectively.  The surcharge proceeds were donated to the Luxembourg Red Cross.

Although 104,745 sets of these semi-postals were issued on April 17, 1924 (valid to July 1, 1928), we seldom see them used on properly rated covers, and almost never on non-philatelic covers.  This is perhaps explained by the absence of contemporary rates that required these denominations!

Thus, my recent acquisition of the cover seen below was very special.  Here a pair of the 12½c+7½c denomination exactly pays the 25c 20g domestic letter rate for a letter from Remich to Belvaux posted on March 19, 1925. 

 

 

Has anyone seen a commercial use of the 2½F+1F or the 5F+ 2F?  Sometimes I like to dream about what such a cover would look like.  The 5F+2F registered sole use shown below from the Administration des Postes et des Télégraphes to Paris, France, April 19, 1924 (two days after issuance) is obviously overfranked.

 

 

 

And this correctly rated registered cover from Wilwerwiltz to Monaco bearing a block of the 35c+10c was posted January 11, 1929, after the Caritas stamps had been demonitized more than seven months earlier!

 

 

Communal Revenues from 71 Luxembourg towns UPDATED!

Vianden

Junglinster

Kayl

Boevange-sur-Attert

Update 2016!  The communale revenues now have their own blog - enjoy viewing revenues from more than 100 Luxembourg communes, past and present:

www.luxcommunalrevenuestamps.blogspot.com

At www.luxrevenuephilately.blogspot.com (under the “Communal Revenues” post), I’ve posted images of communal revenue stamps from 71 Luxembourg towns, including uses on documents.

These much neglected pictorials and key types exhibit a diverse range of artistic beauty.  They also offer unparalleled challenges for the philatelist who enjoys doing original research about stamps that are scarce but not excessively expensive.

Here is a list of the communes (I’d welcome scans of those in your collections to add to the website - send them to Arsdorf@gmail.com)  I’ll be adding more in the future Many more have been added at the new communal revenue blog:

Arsdorf

Bascharage

Beaufort

Beckerich

Bertrange

Bettembourg

Bigonville

Bissen

Boevange-sur-Attern

Boulaide

Bourscheid

Bumerange

Contern

Diekirch

Differdange

Dippach

Dudelange

Echternach

Ell

Esch-sur-Alzette

Esch-sur-Sûre

Ettelbrück

Feulen

Fishbach-Mersch

Folchette

Garnich

Goesdorf

Grevenmacher

Grosbous

Heiderscheid

Hesperange

Hosingen

Junglinster

Kayl

Kehlen

Larochette

Lenningen

Lintgen

Lorentzweiler

Luxembourg-Ville

Mamer

Mersch

Mondercange

Munshausen

Nommern

Perlé

Pétange

Rambrouch

Reckange/Mess

Rédange-sur-Attert

Reisdorf

Roeser

Rosport

Rumelange

Saeul

Sanem

Schieren

Schifflange

Steinfort

Strassen

Troisvierges

Useldange

Vianden

Wahl

Walferdange

Weiler-la-Tour

Weiswampach

Wiltz

Wincrange

Wormeldange

My new website for communal revenues lists ALL of the Luxembourg communes, past and present.  Take a look!

Belgo-Luxembourgeoise License Revenues

 

Luxembourg revenue philately – little appreciated by most Luxembourg aficionados – remains a fertile ground for original research and new discoveries.  Like postage stamps,  Luxembourg revenues paid government fees.  They are undeserving of the philatelic discrimination they suffer!  I’ve listed a few at www.luxrevenuephilately.com, but there are many more to be added to that site.

For example, here you see the Belgo-Luxembourgeoise license revenue stamps, which were used jointly by Belgium and Luxembourg to pay import permit charges. 

Type 1

5F BELGISCH-LUXEMBURGSCHE

COMMISSIE

Denominated ‘Fr-‘

Type 2

BELGISCH-LUXEMBURGSCHE

COMMISSIE

Denominated ‘Frs B.‘

Type 3

10F BELGISCH-LUXEMBURGSE

COMMISSIE

Denominated ‘Frs B.‘ 

Cancelled:  Office Central des Contingents & Licenses, 17 December 1974.

 

20F BELGISCH-LUXEMBURGSE

COMMISSIE

Type 4

2.50F BELGISCH-LUXEMBURGSCHE
VERREKEMINGSDIENST BRUSSEL
(OBLC logo design)

 

John Barefoot’s Benelux Revenues [2nd ed.], lists only four of the Belgium & Luxembourg License revenues. 

• My Type 1 5-franc shown here (denominated simply in francs rather than Belgian francs) is unlisted in Barefoot. 
• My Type 2 10-franc with spelling LUXEMBURGSCHE is the only denomination Barefoot lists with this spelling. 
• Barefoot lists 5F, 10F and 20F Type 3 denominations with the spelling LUXEMBURGSE. 
• My Type 4 design is unlisted.

You can help by sharing your research.  I would like to know:

• What stamps were issued? When? In what format?
• Who printed the stamps?
• What quantities were printed?
• What were the import license tax rates? 
• What are the pertinent laws and regulations?
• On what documents were the stamps used?
• Why are some denominated in francs; others in Belgian francs?
• Has the use of licenses revenues been discontinued (if so, when)?
• What is known about the Commission Belgo-Luxembourgeoise?

You can be the first to do the research and publish your findings, if you like, as a guest blogger on this website!   

Failed Frugality — A taxed letter from Boulaide in 1921

 

James Newcomer writes that “[i]n the modern world of 1919-1920 political Luxembourg came of age.”[1] Amidst the economic uncertainty of the postwar years, the Grand Duchy’s economic orientation toward Germany ended. The country’s economic union with Belgium – the L’union économique belgo-luxembourgeoise (U.E.B.L.) — was negotiated in 1921, taking effect the next year. And about this time, the 15c domestic letter rate was increased to 25c, effective April 1, 1921.  Perhaps this context helps explain the cover shown here.

The Grand Duke Adolphe definitives were demonetized on
January 1, 1909. But here a frugal Luxembourger from Boulaide uses the 5c and 10c denominations in combination with the then- current 10c Marie Adélaïde definitive to pay the new 25c domestic 20g letter rate. The letter was posted July 21, 1921, to Buchholtz (post: Grevenmacher).

Ah, but the attempt to save 15 centimes by using the long-invalidated stamps failed. A postal clerk has marked off the Adolphe definitives, showing with a ‘0’ that they no longer have any postal value. At Grevenmacher the next day a strip of three 10c postage due stamps is used to pay the 15c deficiency, doubled of course to impose a fiscal penalty on the unlucky recipient.

[1] The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg:  The Evolution of Nationhood 963 A.D. to 1983 (University Press of America, 1984), p. 238.

Privately printed registry label used in 1886

 

 

Ant. Berger's privately printed registry label in red anticipates those that Luxembourg used in the 1930s.  Here we see it used on  a registered cover from Luxembourg-Ville, May 30, 1886, to the Royal Irish Rifles Quartermaster at New Barracks, Gosport, England. 

The oval transit marking on the front is the London registry cancel of May 31, 1886.  On the back is the Luxembourg-Gare, May 30, 1886 transit, and the Gosport, England receiver dated June 1, 1886.  A p. 12x12½ 50-centime Allegory pays 25c UPU postage for this 13-gram letter and the 25c registry fee.  The red wax seal is still nicely intact.

Ant. Berger was, I think, a dealer or collector.  I can't recall having seen the privately printed registry label before.  This cover turned up at the FIP Show in Lisbon last year.  It's a compelling registered cover in all aspects.  It would have been a shame to leave it in the dealer's stock!

Absender Grossherzogin d'Luxemburg in 1916

Mourning Cover in the Hand of
G.D. Marie-Adélaïde

Who was Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde mourning when she posted this cover from Schloss Berg at Colmar-Berg on December 4, 1916,  to the Baroness Ritter in Munich, Germany?  Perhaps I'll find the answer in Edith O'Shaughnessy's detailed biography of the Grand Duchess, or maybe a reader of this blog will offer a suggestion.

Marie-Adélaïde's distinctive handwriting sometimes perplexed postal clerks.  Here someone, after deciphering the cover's destination, has written München in colored pencil across the front with strong underscoring!

Update

Indeed, Edith O'Shaughnessy, in her fine biography, Marie Adelaide: Grand Duchess of Luxemburg Duchess of Nassau (1921: Harrison Smith, New York), tells us that it was Marie-Adélaïde's paternal grandmother, Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau, for whom Marie-Adélaïde was in mourning when she posted this cover (pp. 139-140).  She writes:

Towards the end of October, 1916, Marie Adelaide left her Duchy for the first time since the outbreak of the war.  It was to go to Königstein, near Frankfurt, the estate that years before the Grand Duke Adolf had given to his consort, Adelheid Marie of the House of Anhalt.  There she stood by the bedside of that mortally-stricken, beloved figure of her childhood, of her adolescence, of her reign.  Again on November 20th, she went to bury her.

Adelheid-Marie, seen in the images below, was born in Dessau on December 25, 1833, and died at Schloss Königstein on November 24, 1916.  Sadly, Marie-Adélaïde's visits to her dying grandmother were used by her political opponents as evidence that she had been sympathetic to Germany during World War I.