360 / Mai 2015 London

1914, stamps of Marshall Islands surcharged: 1 d. on 3 pf.-5 s. on 5 m. complete incl. the rare overprint variety ".GR.I." and straight top serif of 1 d. on 3 pf., all cancelled by favour with backdated violet oval "RABAUL NEW BRITAIN JAN 14 1915" to large piece, two folds between the stamps, otherwise very fine. A very rare set with the unique ".GR.I."-variety. Certificate BPA (2015)

4 d. on 40 pf. with variety "d omitted", setting II, pos. 6, tied by oval date stamp "RABAUL NEW BRITAIN JAN ... 1915 to piece. According to Gibbs only two examples of this variety have been recorded, both used, this the only one on piece; signed Kilian BPP and certificate BPA (2014)

5 s. on 5 m. carmine and black, setting III, pos. 4, fresh deep colour and good perforation, tiny faint corner crease at upper left, unused with large part of original gum, small private signatures; a fine copy of this rare stamp

1915, 5,5 mm spacing: 1 s. on 1 m., a fresh unused copy with large part original gum; slight surface marks at upper right (possibly printing colour), overall very fine and fresh, a rare stamp, several signatures and certificates Hoffmann-Giesecke (1967) and BPA (2014)

10 pf. with overprint inverted together with 3 pf.-40 pf., 80 pf. and 1d. on 5 pf., all cancelled "LOME 22.10.14" on cover addressed to Rhyl; some of the normal values with small faults, the variety in fine condition; an attractive and rare entire, signed Bloch, certificates RPS (1971) and BPA (2014).

Wide setting, lines 3 mm apart, 50 pf. black and purple on buff neatly cancelled by "LOME 14.9.14"; a fine copy of this scarce stamp, several signatures, certificates RPS (1984) and BPA (1938 and 2014).

1 m. carmine, type 1, pos. 18 with small part of lower sheet margin, cancelled "LOME TOGOGEBIET 17.9.14", fine and scarce, signed Holcombe with certificate and certificate BPA (2014).

50 pf. black and purple on buff, tied by clear cds. "LOME 29.9.14" to piece; a fine copy of this rare stamp of which about 20 examples were issued (all known examples are used); certificate BPA (2014).

1914, Narrow Setting: 1 m., unused, very fine, signed DF and certificate BPA

Narrow setting, lines 2 mm apart: 1 m. with full clear cds. "LOME 12.11.14", very fine and scarce, signed Georg Bühler with certificate (1979) and certificate BPA (2014)

3 m. violet-black, fresh colour and perfect perforation, neatly cancelled "LOME 7.10.14"; signed Herbert Bloch with Friedl Expert Committee certificate (1976) and certificate BPA (2014). Provenance: 59 Corinphila Auction (1976)

5 m. lake and black, fresh colour and perfectly well perforated, neatly cancelled with the same date stamp "LOME 7.10.14", signed Herbert Bloch with Friedl Expert Committee certificate (1976) and 2 certificates BPA (1936 and 2014). Provenance: 59 Corinphila Auction (1976)

1915, 'Anglo-French' 15 mm: 50 pf. black and purple on buff, tied by clear cds. "LOME 7.1.15" to piece; a superb copy of this rare stamp of which 19 examples were overprinted and Gibbs had recorded only 7 used examples; several signatures and certificates Luder and Co., Hans Grobe and BPA (1937 and 2014).

1900: REICHSPOST definitives with diagonal "China" handstamp overprint, four values 3 pf. ocre, 5 pf. green, 10 pf. carmine, and 20 pf. ultramarine, fine examples with very good perforation and vivid colours, unused with original gum, minute hinge remnants or traces. A scarce group, all signed and with certs. Jäschke-Lantelme (2005/06), the 10 pf. Jakubek (1997) Mi = € 3'450.

1900: REICHSPOST definitives with diagonal "China" handstamp overprint, four values 3 pf. ocre, 5 pf. green, 10 pf. carmine, and 20 pf. ultramarine, 10 pf. in two copies, fine examples with good perforation and centering, fresh colours, cancelled by "TIENTSIN DEUTSCHE POST" cds's between Jan 23 and Feb 7, 1901, all on dates not known for CTOs, one 10 pf. on piece. A scarce group, all signed, with certs. Jäschke-Lantelme and Bothe (3 pf. and one 10 pf. simply signed) Mi = € 4'850.

1900: REICHSPOST definitive with diagonal "China" handstamp overprint, 30 pf. red orange & black on dull orange, fresh colour and very good perforation, unused with original gum, tiny hinge remnant. A desirable stamp, signed Ph. Kosack, cert. Jäschke-Lantelme (2005) Mi = € 6'000. Provenance: 50. Stock auction (1931).

1900: REICHSPOST definitive with diagonal "China" handstamp overprint, 30 pf. red orange & black on dull orange, fine and fresh example with good perforation and centering, cancelled by crisp "TIENTSIN DEUTSCHE POST 27.1 01" cds (no forwardslash between day and month) on piece, presumably CTO. Cert. Bothe (1978) Mi = € 3'500.

1900: REICHSPOST definitive with diagonal "China" handstamp overprint, 50 pf. violet & black on brown orange, fine and fresh example with good perforation and centering, cancelled by crisp "TIENTSIN DEUTSCHE POST 7/1 01" cds. A desirable stamp, one of the major rarities of German colonial philately. Sign. Senf, Brandes, Richter, Pfenniger, and Kilian BPP, cert. Bothe (1986) Mi = € 17'000.

1900: REICHSPOST definitive with diagonal "China" handstamp overprint, 80 pf. red carmine & black on dull carmine, fresh colour, good centering and very good perforation, unused with original gum, tiny hinge remnant. A desirable stamp, signed Friedemann and Köhler, cert. Jäschke-Lantelme (2006) Mi = € 6'000. Provenance: 42.. Köhler auction (1926).

1900: REICHSPOST definitive with diagonal "China" handstamp overprint, 80 pf. red carmine & black on dull carmine, fine and fresh example with good perforation and centering, cancelled by crisp "TIENTSIN DEUTSCHE POST 8 2 01" cds. A rare and scarce stamp,. Sign. Grobe, certs. Pfenniger (1967) and Jäschke-Lantelme (2005) Mi = € 6'000. Provenance: 141. Grobe auction (1968).

1905: DEUTSCHES REICH, compl. set of 13 definitives from 3 c. on 3 pf. ocre to 6 p. 25 c. on 5 m. green black & dark-carmine, all with add. handstamp "SPECIMEN", fresh colour (minute perf. problems), unused without gum or with small part gum. This set was part of the stamps given to the UPU administration in Bern to be dispersed to its member postal administrations, in this case to British Bechuanaland where the stamps were marked SPECIMEN and were glued in albums. A rare set of unique reference samples, certs. Bothe (1978) and Jäschke-Lantelme (2014).

1910 (12 July): 2nd Provisional Ponape issue, Hohenzollern definitive 3 pf. ocre brown with inverted overprint "5 Pf", tied by neat "PONAPE (KAROLINEN) 12.7 10" cds to picture postcard, sent to Dattenfeld a. d. Sieg with official cachet "KAISERLICH DEUTSCHE POSTAGENTUR PONAPE KAROLINEN", type II alongside. A fine and fresh postcard showing this rare provisional use of overprinted 3 pf. stamps issued for printed matter during a shortage of 5 pf. stamps to pay the postcard rate, in this case even with inverted overprint, written by the post office clerk Carl Kammerich. Cert. Bothe (1983) Mi = € 7'000. Provenance: Jakubek auction (April 1985), lot 2589.

1910 (12 July): 3rd Provisional Ponape issue, Hohenzollern definitive 20 pf. violet ultramarine, right half of a vertically bisected stamp, tied by neat "PONAPE (KAROLINEN) 12.7 10" cds to envelope of the "Südsee-Expedition der hamburgischen wissenschaftlichen Stiftung", sent to the Museum of Ethnology in Hamburg with official cachet "KAISERLICH DEUTSCHE POSTAGENTUR PONAPE KAROLINEN", type II alongside. An attractive and fresh cover, cert. Bothe (1983) Mi = € 9'000. The addressee of this cover is Prof. Georg Christian Thilenius (1868-1937), director of the above mentioned museum. He organized an expedition in 1908-1910 to the German colonies in Micronesia and Melanesia.

1900: 2nd Tsingtau issue, 10 pf. carmine, with diagonal "China" overprint at a 45 degree angle, letterpress "5 Pf." surcharge in the rare type 3a and additional handstamp "5 Pf." surcharge as well as blue crayon "Blaustrich" line, a fresh example of this very scarce stamp, rich colour on white paper, ideal centering and perforation, tied by crisp "TSINTAU KIAUTSCHOU 31 / 8.00" cds to piece. The additional handstamp overprints were done because the letterpress overprints had been very small in the fifth and tenth stamp row of the sheet. Very small printrun of only 200 copies. Cert. Steuer (2003) Mi = € 15'000+.

1900: 2nd Tsingtau issue, 10 pf. carmine, with diagonal "China" overprint at a 45 degree angle, and with "5 Pf." surcharge as well as blue crayon "Blaustrich" line, a fresh example of this very scarce stamp, vivid colour on crisp white paper, ideal centering and perforation, tied by crisp "TSINTAU KIAUTSCHOU 31 / 12.00" cds to piece. A rare stamp with a small printrun of only 1'700 stamps. Signed Stuckert, cert. Pfenniger (1971) Mi = € 5'000+.