These are not listed by the catalogs, because they are considered to be local and private in nature. It's a little confusing, because over a period of time in German history, you are looking at provincial and then the state railroad system. Your stamps are "State Railroad". However, even though the German railroads had an official sounding name, they were operated by many different companies throughout the country. Each company would issue its own railway parcel post stamps. Since the stamps are not issued by a governmental entity to pay postage, the stamps don't qualify for catalog listing status. They may be listed in revenue catalogs or other catalogs that deal with unlisted material.
Thanks Michael - I appreciate that. I wasn't sure because my Belgium Rail Stamps are of course listed.
I'll take a look around to see if I can find more info on these ones - thanks for pointing me in the right direction. We all learn something new everyday.
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
The German Railway stamps (Wurttemberg and other) are not listed in Michel because they are considered fiscal in nature, i.e., meant to pay some kind of fees or taxes, but not to prepay postal or parcel post service. This must be different for the Belgian railway stamps.
Michel lists German local stamps in the regular catalog and has a separate catalog for the postage stamps issued by private posts. For revenue stamps, including the railway fiscal stamps, a stamp catalog is no help. Most of the German revenue catalogs are available from the ArGe Fiskalphilatelie. The "Erler" catalog numbers are to the revenue collector what Scott or Michel is to the stamp collectors. For the railway stamps you need Vol. 17 of the German revenue catalog (= Katalog der Stempelmarken von Deutschland). I believe the catalogs are in German and English and pricing is in US$.
There are always some random Erler catalogs offered on ebay in the US, but sourcing European literature here to cut down on the shipping costs is commonly a real challenge. Just this week, I incurred EUR15 shipping on a EUR28 catalog I ordered in Germany, and GBP10 shipping on a GBP19.50 catalog purchased in the UK. Well, this is getting off topic ...
Arno
Thanks Arno - I'll check those out
I have a number of Wurttemburg stamps that say "Staatsbahnen" (which I presume to mean railway).
Can anyone direct me to a listing of these? I cannot find them in Michel or Stanley Gibbons (they're possibly there, but I can't find them).
Thanks in advance.
Kelly
re: Catalog for Wurttemburg Railway Stamps
These are not listed by the catalogs, because they are considered to be local and private in nature. It's a little confusing, because over a period of time in German history, you are looking at provincial and then the state railroad system. Your stamps are "State Railroad". However, even though the German railroads had an official sounding name, they were operated by many different companies throughout the country. Each company would issue its own railway parcel post stamps. Since the stamps are not issued by a governmental entity to pay postage, the stamps don't qualify for catalog listing status. They may be listed in revenue catalogs or other catalogs that deal with unlisted material.
re: Catalog for Wurttemburg Railway Stamps
Thanks Michael - I appreciate that. I wasn't sure because my Belgium Rail Stamps are of course listed.
I'll take a look around to see if I can find more info on these ones - thanks for pointing me in the right direction. We all learn something new everyday.
Kelly
re: Catalog for Wurttemburg Railway Stamps
Hi Kelly,
The German Railway stamps (Wurttemberg and other) are not listed in Michel because they are considered fiscal in nature, i.e., meant to pay some kind of fees or taxes, but not to prepay postal or parcel post service. This must be different for the Belgian railway stamps.
Michel lists German local stamps in the regular catalog and has a separate catalog for the postage stamps issued by private posts. For revenue stamps, including the railway fiscal stamps, a stamp catalog is no help. Most of the German revenue catalogs are available from the ArGe Fiskalphilatelie. The "Erler" catalog numbers are to the revenue collector what Scott or Michel is to the stamp collectors. For the railway stamps you need Vol. 17 of the German revenue catalog (= Katalog der Stempelmarken von Deutschland). I believe the catalogs are in German and English and pricing is in US$.
There are always some random Erler catalogs offered on ebay in the US, but sourcing European literature here to cut down on the shipping costs is commonly a real challenge. Just this week, I incurred EUR15 shipping on a EUR28 catalog I ordered in Germany, and GBP10 shipping on a GBP19.50 catalog purchased in the UK. Well, this is getting off topic ...
Arno
re: Catalog for Wurttemburg Railway Stamps
Thanks Arno - I'll check those out