1910 Ponape Provisionals

In 1899, Spain sold the Caroline Islands to Germany, who quickly incorporated them into the Protectorate of German New Guinea.


Link to Google Map of German Post Offices in the Carolines

Germany would maintain a colony in the Carolines until the outbreak of WWI.


German ships at Ponape, 1910

On 2 July 1910, the East Asian Cruiser Squadron of the Imperial German Navy unexpectedly arrive at Ponape, remaining there until 7 July 1910.


SMS Scharnhorst -- cruiser, flagship


SMS Leipzig -- light cruiser


SMS Nürnberg -- light cruiser

Due to the dramatic increase in postal traffic during that 6-day period, Ponape exhausted its supply of 5- and 10-Pfennig stamps.


Carolines 5- and 10-Pfennig Issues of 1900

The Postal Administrator at Ponape was Herr Hollborn, a storekeeper who inherited the job in 1908 when the official postal administrator transferred to Truk. Due to the shortage of stamps, Herr Hollborn resorted to alternate measures until new stock could arrive from Germany.

A variety of provisional methods were used, but two stand out from a collector's perspective -- the use of 3 Pf and 20 Pf issues.

(1) Carolines 20-Pfennig issues bisected for use as 10 Pf issues


Carolines Mi 10 H on piece

(2) Carolines 3-Pfennig issues surcharged "5 Pf"


Carolines Mi 7Pv K with inverted overprint

The "5 Pf" surcharges and 20-Pfennig bisects were in use for a single day, 12 July 1910. A total of approximately 500 of each were issued. To confirm their validity as postage, the official seal of Ponape was affixed next to the cancel.


Post-July 1909 Ponape seal

Though both were issued in roughly equal amounts, the "5 Pf" overprint is preferred by collectors, and generally sells for a about 50% more than the 20-Pfennig bisect. Because 5 Pf was the postcard rate and 10 Pf the letter rate, it's common to find the "5 Pf" on complete postcards, with the 20-Pf bisect more commonly found on piece.

Fantastic information PostmasterGS.

Superb images.

Thank you.

Nice display, PMGS

Ponape is now called Pohnpei is the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Another great post, thanks for the info.

Golly, if I had made that much smoke as shown on the Scharnhorst,
I would have been kicked out the Navy.
More air! More air!

great postcard, I love it!

Another nice addition to this collection — one of the two Ponape cash payment cancels for this period.

Though I only mentioned the provisional overprint and bisect above, there were actually five provisional methods of franking mail during the stamp shortage:

1. 5 Pfennig Germania stamps -- presumably from the ships' stocks of German postage -- cancelled in Ponape
2. 5 Pfennig overprints of 3 Pfennig issues (see above)
3. Bisected 20 Pfennig stamps used as 10 Pfennig issues (see above)
4. Cash payment of postage (Barfrankierung) on 13 and 31 July 1910
5. Postage of the Marshall Islands cancelled in Ponape on 31 July 1910

Of these, the two shown above (bisect and overprint) are the most common.

I recently acquired a postcard that was cancelled using the case payment method (Barfrankierung). When this method was used, the postal clerk would simply make a handwritten notation that the postage had been paid, then apply the cancel.

There are two known Barfrankierung types for this period -- the 13 July notation and the 31 July notation.

The 13 July notation was used on mail accumulated between 1-13 July. It reads Porto u. 5 Pf. (or 10 Pf) bez. in Ermangelung von Freimarken 13.7. Hollborn") (Postage of 5 pfennig paid in the absence of postage stamps 13 July Hollborn"). I don't have one of these, but here's a sample;

The 31 July notation simply says 5 Pf. bez. (5 Pfennig paid). It looks like this:

And here's the full card:

Received the other cash payment franking in the mail yesterday. The 13 July 1910 usage:

The card reads:


The recipient, Capt John Victor Melander ran a copra plantation on Kusaie, Karolinen, and captained his company's inter-island trading ship. The sender, Dominic Etscheit, was a Portuguese settler who was one of the few Europeans in Karolinen, and who was apparently a philatelist, showing up quite frequently in Karolinen philately.