Exploration of
Scandinavian Stamps
The early Danish stamps were synonymous with Burelage, Spandrels, Multi-Coloured, Inverted Frame and Numerals, the
spectacular stamps from the classic period of philately. Throughout philatelic, exploring Danish stamps features will be very interesting especially exploring on features of the stamps such as authentic, errors, colour shades, printing types and
denominations, despite catalogue values is not so imprassive.
In
the early period of Danish postal history, the Danish postal administration was
commenced preparation for the production of stamps as far earlier in 1849. The
proposal of official stamps were approved by Parliament in 1850, prior to an uniform postage rates and the creation of stamps. The official definitive
stamps were launched to public use just in year 1851.
On
March 11, 1851, the proposal changes became a law, uniform postage rate had
been introduced, the 4-Rigsbank Skilling (RBS) and 2-RBS were issued,
respectively. The 2-RBS was prepared early, due to some technical issues it was
issued on April 28, 1851, nearly 1 month after the 4-RBS.
The
denomination of 2-RBS was used in Copenhagen on letters sent within the city
vicinity. They had divided into 8 sections and postman have to walk prior to
deliver and pick-up twice a day.
The
first master die or cliché for 2-RBS was designed and engraved by M. W. Ferslew
under the firm of Drewsen and Sons. The printing process was required two
plates of 100 stamps each plate and a plate for the burelage (a root printing
of wavy lines to prevent counterfeit). According to Danish philately, Ferslew
actually printed only an engrave burelage and H.H. Thiele completed the
printing task.
A
proof sheet of 2-RBS was printed on plain paper with unwatermarked paper prior
to obtain approval for the blue colour used for the stamp. The Plate I die was
used with burelage type for the printing of Plate II. The top half of stamps
block could be seen in the Danish Postal History Museum and rest the lower half
of the proof sheet was sold to collector at an auction.
There
were two types of burelage; Type 1a and Type 1b, Type 1a for Plate 1 and Type
1b for Plate II. The “Ferslew” burelage printing then was takeover by “Thiele” printing
in 1852.
Type 1a
Type 1b
The
burelage of first printing was carried out at Ferslew’s printing shop and was
engraved. Whereas the burelage for second printing was carried out at Thiele’s
printing shop and was typographed burelage. Hence, Cancellation on the Ferslew
printing leave a corrugated impression in the margin, whereas Thiele printing
leave a smudged impression.
In
term of colour shades, the Ferslew printing varies from greenish-blue to blue,
whereas the Thiele printing clear deep-blue.
On
production quantities, the Ferslew printing was generated of 1,018 sheets of
100 stamps per block, whereas the Thiele printing was 3,775 sheets.
The Collection of Danish
Stamps
There
were seven types of early editions for the Danish postage stamps. Amongst
others, the 2-RBS is rarest with very high catalogue value. The Ferslew’s Plate
I with the buralage type 1a is a most valuable and a spectacular stamp.
Genuine Proof/Reprint 1851/1885, 2-RBS Blue, Scott #1a, Root
Print, Design by Ferslew. Yellow Brown Inverted Burelage Type 1b, Plate I, Heavy Yellowish paper, Unwatermarked, Imperforate, Position No. 3 Row 1 * flaw* broken at bottom 'B' of Rigsbank, Very clear corrugated impression, Superb gems, Good for Study
~CV $8,250 (M)/ $2,250 (U)~
Inverted burelage is rarest
Estimated value $100,000
Genuine Proof/Reprint 1851/1901, 2-RBS Blue, Scott #1, Without Root
Print, Design by Ferslew, Plate I, White paper, Unwatermarked, Imperforate, Position No. 4 Row 1*flaw* sharp serif at bottom & broken serif at top of '2' includes a line mark at bottom of inner circle.
Superb Gems, Good for Study
~CV $2,750 (M)/ $1,200 (U)~
2-RBS
Genuine Characteristic
There were 10 different types of flaws on the genuine stamps. Each type of flaws
having different characteristic and could be identified in the half-sheet proofs
in the Danish Postal History Museum.
Type "a"
*Double marks Inside Inner Circle*
Type 'b'
*Broken serif Of '2' & inner circle dented*
Type 'c'
*'LN" of Skilling sloping*
Type 'd'
*Unclear printing of Rigsbank Skilling*
Type 'e'
*Hyphen touch circle and defective 'S'*
Type 'f''
*'2' touch 'S' of Rigsbank*
Type 'g'
*Unusual serif shape of '2'*
Type 'h'
*Serif of '2' very sharp*
Type 'i'
*Mark on 'N' of Rigsbank*
Type 'j'
*A point mark under the Crown*
Noted:
Type 'a', 'c', 'f'', 'g' and 'j' occurs once in the setting of 100 per block.
Reference: The last reproduction of genuine proof in blue. The print was made before the left side of the printing plate was damaged. Plate 1 of 2-RBS.
Genuine
Characteristic of 2-RBS Vignette
1. Front
tail of “2” is very sharp and pointing to “G” of “RIGSBANK”.
2. Back
tail of “2” is curls up and toward shoulder of the figure.
3. Cross
stroke to the top and bottom of the “R” of “RIGSBANK”.
4. “I”
of “RIGSBANK” is taller than “R” and “G”.
5. Top
of “G” of “RIGSBANK” goes forward and level with the bottom of it.
6. “S”
of “RIGSBANK” is nearer to the “G” than to the “B”.
7. “A”
of “RIGSBANK” is squeezed up and pointing to tail of “2”.
8. The
two tail strokes of the “K” of “RIGSBANK” meet is larger than the lower “K” of
“SKILLING”.
9. “S”
of “SKILLING is exactly under the “R” of “RIGSBANK”.
10. The
bottom letter of “KILLIN” all touch each other.
11.
A hyphen after the “K” of “RIGSBANK” and not
touch to “K” and border line.
12. The “G” of “SKILLING” is smaller than the “N”.
13. The stop after SKILLING almost
touch to the round circle.
In
producing 4-RBS, his staff worked so hard to produce around 400 sheets of
stamps, as a target of daily printing. The first printing had the Yellow Brown
burelage printing from a copper cliché, giving a clear impression with the
lines slightly relief.
1851 Royal Emblem with Rootprint, 4-RBS Chocolate Brown, Design
by M.W Ferslew, Imperforated, heavy 4-Rings target cancellation, corrugated
impression on the cancellation, 4 Margins, Plate I, Type 1 a – wavy lines going
from NW to SE, the shaper waves pointing upward, Wmk. small crown, Scott #2a, First printing,
VFU
~CV $65.00~
1851 Royal Emblem with Rootprint, 4-RBS Chocolate Brown, Design by M.W Ferslew, Imperforated, 3-Rings cancel, corrugated impression on the cancellation, 4 Margins, Plate II, Type 1 b – wavy lines going from NW to SE, the shaper waves pointing downward, Wmk. small crown, Scott #2a, First printing, VFU
~CV $65.00~
1851 Royal Emblem with Rootprint very weak, 4-RBS Reddish
Brown, Design by M.W Ferslew, Imperforated, 3-Rings Heavy numeral cancel ‘4’, 4
Margins, Wmk. small crown, Scott #2b, VFU
~CV $55.00~
3rd. Edition – Dotting in Spandrels
1855 2S Blue, Scott #3, Dotted background, Wmk. Small Crown, Design
& engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel, VFU
~CV $ 60.00~
1854 4S Brown, Scott #4, Dotted background, Wmk. Small Crown, Design
& engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel “72”, VFU, Superb
Gems
~CV $ 15.00~
1854 8S Yellow Green, Scott #5a, Dotted background, Wmk. Small
Crown, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, CDS, VFU
~CV $ 70.00~
1857 16S Grey Lilac, Scott #6, Dotted background, Wmk. Small Crown, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, Numeral Cancel '1', CDS, VFU
~CV $ 175.00~
1854 4S Yellow Brown, Scott #4a, Dotted background, Wmk. Small
Crown, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel “51”,
VFU
~CV $ 15.00~
1854 4S Brown, Scott #4, Dotted background, Wmk. Small Crown, Design
& engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, adjoining margin 1 mm, 3-Rings Numeral cancel
“4”, VFU
~CV $ 15.00~
4th. Edition – Wavy Lines in Spandrels
1858 Yellow Brown, Scott #7, Wavy line in background, Wmk.
Small Crown, With Root Print, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, Nearly 4
Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel “51”, VFU
~CV $ 9.00~
1862 4S Brown, Scott #7b, Wavy line in background, Without
Root Print, Wmk. Large Crown, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel, VFU
~CV $ 10.00~
1858 4S Brown, Scott #7a, Wavy line in background, with Root
Print, Wmk. Small Crown, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel “4”, VFU Superb Gems
~CV $ 9.00~
1858 8s Green, Scott #8, Wavy line in background, with0ut Root Print, Wmk. Small Crown, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel “62”, VFU, Superb Gems
~CV $ 95.00~
1863 4s Brown, Scott #9, Wavy line in background, without Root Print, Wmk. Big Crown, Rouletted 11, Design & engraving by J. Buntzen, 4 Margins, 3-Rings Numeral cancel “67”, VFU, Superb Gems
~CV $ 15.00~
5th. Edition – Royal Emblems
Expertizing
is not an easy task especially giving opinions on the genuineness of philatelic
material.
1864 – 1870 4s x 5 stamps, Scott #13, Design by O.H.B. Olrik
and engraving by P.C.Batz, Perforation Rouletted 13 x 12 ½ , VFU
~CV $8.00~
Note:
The height of stamp for stamp No. 5 is 24.5mm and rest 25.5mm, 1.0mm shorter.
Red
Single Cancellation of Numeral
Carmine
Dual Cancellation of Numeral and CDS
Note: Carmine is 2 x times higher value in comparison with
Red.
Denmark Stamps
Issued in 1864~1870
Denmark 1865 2S Blue
Scott 11, Perf. 13, 3-Rings Cancel, VFU
~CV $35.00~
Denmark 1870 2S Blue
Scott 11b, Perf. 12 1/2, Postmark CDS, VFU
Rare
CV $350.00
Denmark 1870 3S Red Violet
Scott 12b, Perf. 12 1/2, VFU
Rare
~CV $650.00~
Denmark 1870 16S Olive Green
Scott 15b, Perf. 12 1/2, VFU
Rare
~CV $1,450.00~
6th. Edition - Multi-Coloured Stamps
Hingeless Beginner Page Album
Multi-Coloured & Numerals
Note:
The 48s Scott #24, perf. 12 ½ is the highest catalogue value of $450(M)/$275(U)
followed by the 16s Scott #20, perf. 14 x 13 ½ of $275(M)/$175(U).
Specialist Page Album
Denmark 1871 2Sk Grey & Blue
Scott 21, Perf. 12 1/2, VFU
Rare
~CV $3,250.00~
Denmark 1871 2Sk Grey & Ultra,
Scott 16, Perf. 14, VFU
~CV $25.00~
Denmark 1870 4Sk Grey & Carmine
Scott 22, Perf. 12 1/2, VFU
~CV $125.00~
Denmark 1870 48Sk Brown & Lilac
Scott 15b, Perf. 12 1/2, VFU
~CV $275.00~
Denmark 1871 3sk Grey Scarlet Purple
Scott 17, Perf. 14, VFU
~CV $100.00~
1870-1871 4s, Scott #18 & #22, Grey & Carmine, Design
& Engrave by Philip C. Batz, VFU
Perf. 12 ½
Scott #22
~$125.00~
Perf. 12 ½
Scott #22
~$125.00~
Perf. 14
Scott #18
~CV$8.00~
Perf. 14
Scott #18
~CV$8.00~
Hingeless Page Album
Multi-Coloured & Numerals
6th. Edition - With Inverted Frame
The
inverted frame is an error stamp when the frame is printed upside down. Danish
Multi-Coloured stamps are one of them, when the printing process is used more
than one die, resulting miss-printing when applying 2nd. die.
The
arabesques in the corners have a main stem and a branch. Normal frame in the
upper left corner, the branch leaves of the main stem is half way between two
little leaflets, whereas inverted frame, the leaves is longer.
By
draw a line at the juncture of the ‘vines” on the lower left side of the upper
corner. Notice for the normal frame, the line drawn was slanted up from SW to
NE, whereas inverted frame, the line drawn was slanted down from NW to SE, a
reverse direction.
Normal Frame
Inverted Frame
Collection of Inverted Frame
1895 3 Ore, Slate & Grey, Scott #41c, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 13, Inverted Frame
~CV $5.75~
Front
Reverse
1902 3 Ore, Blue & Grey, Scott #41d, Wmk. Large Crown Type
II (113), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $40.00~
1875 4 Ore, Grey & Ultra, Scott #26be, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $17.50~
1875 4 Ore, Slate & Ultra, Scott #26ce, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $16.50~
1875 8 Ore, Slate & Carmine, Scott #28c, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $0.50~
Front
Reverse
1875 8 Ore, Grey & Carmine, Scott #28ac, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame & Inverted Watermark – Dual Errors, A rarity & elusive stamp
~Estimated Value $3,000.00~
1875 12 Ore, Slate & Dull Lake, Scott #29c, Wmk. Large
Crown Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $4.00~
1895 12 Ore, Grey & Carmine, Scott #46a, Wmk. Large Crown
Type II (113), Perf. 13, Inverted Frame
~CV $4.50~
1875 16 Ore, Slate & Brown, Scott #30b, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $4.25~
1875 16 Ore, Light Grey & Brown, Scott #30ab, Wmk. Large
Crown Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $9.25~
1875 20 Ore, Rose & Grey, Scott #31b, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $32.50~
1875 50 Ore, Brown & Violet, Scott #33b, Wmk. Large Crown
Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $32.50~
1875 50 Ore, Brown & Dull Violet, Scott #33b, Wmk. Large
Crown Type I (112), Perf. 14, Inverted Frame
~CV $32.50~
Hingeless Page Album
There was 2 types of
Corner Numeral consisted Large Corner Numeral and Small Corner Numeral. Small Corner
Numeral is scarce.
1884 20 Ore, Blue, Scott #40, VFU
Large Corner Numeral
1.2mm~1.4mm
White line around crown and bottom oval touch frame
~CV $5.00~
Bottom serif of “2” is rounded
1882 20 Ore, Blue, Scott #37, VFU
Small Corner Numeral 1.0mm
No white line around crown and bottom oval do not touch frame
~CV $60.00~
Bottom serif of “2” is sharp
