Private local stamps of Hamburg
One of the rules I follow when buying bizarre looking stamps (of which I know usually nothing in advance) is simple question “will I ever see a similar item?” When I came across with these beauties few years ago, I knew from the start I had lost the battle. And I was right, I haven’t seen similar ever since.
The above is a part of 1888 “Privat – Beförderung Hamburg” set (also known as Hammonia II in stamp literature). They are private local stamps from city of Hamburg in Germany. In total this specific set should contain 8 different stamps, so I’m missing 3 values.
I know these are not big rarities (nor expensive), but outside German stamp markets private local stamps are rather scarce. The history of German private local stamps is very interesting and complex. Before year 1900 there were more than 250 private post offices / couriers in nearly 170 cities and towns. This practise was terminated by law on 31st March 1900 with the creation of German postal monopoly.
BTW. Did you notice the blind tooth at the bottom of 1 Mark stamp?
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Hi,
.
interesting blog about stamps.
If you like to see more Private and local stamps, check out my website
The locals from Finland are not upload yet …
Collector Greetings from Germany
Volker Kleiner
PS: Card via snail mail will comming soon
Hi Volker,
I must say I like your site very much. It’s amazing to see some of those stamps in good quality color pictures (as catalogues usually provide small b/w images).
Best of summer,
-keijo-
Are there any books that describe forgeries of the Hamburg Boten stamps?
Mark
Hi Mark,
AFAIK there are plenty of books and other literature about these stamps; such as “Die Marken der Hamburger Boten-Institute” issued in 2002.