Distinguishing The German Colonial Yachts

Some time ago, I put together this guide to distinguishing the German Colonial Yachts and posted it to several forums, but for some reason neglected to post it here. So, without further ado, here it is for anyone who has some of these in their collection.

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One of the more frequent questions I get on my website is how to distinguish the sub-types of German Colonial Yacht Issues. For most American collectors who use Scott, seeing the various sub-types is a bit of a shock at first, because Scott lists very few of them. Michel lists a lot, but the language barrier is often too much for English speakers to decipher. So, since I've been on a German Colonies kick lately, here's a handy-dandy guide to distinguishing the different yacht types.

First, a general overview -- the Yacht Issues were in use from approximately 1900 until the colonies fell during WWI. Despite the fact that most of the colonies ceased to exist by 1915, Germany kept cranking out colonial Yacht Issues out of a misguided belief that they would get the colonies back, and to satisfy the collecting market in Germany. Because of this, production of Yacht Issues for most of the colonies continued until 1919, and in one case until 1923.

For most of the colonies, there were two phases of Yacht Issues -- the first issues, which were without watermark (1900-1905ish), and the later issues with watermark (1905ish on). The unwatermarked sets tend to be very consistent, with only a few sub-types due to slight color varieties in a couple issues.

The later, watermarked issues are where the fun starts...

Peace vs War Printings

As the war took its toll on Germany, the production quality of the stamps changed slightly. For this reason, many of the later Yacht Issues have sub-types for "Peace Printings" and "War Printings" (in German, "Friedensdruck" and "Kriegsdruck", respectively).

For some issues, the differences in Peace & War Printings are easy to distinguish. For others, it's very gray. It really just depends on at what stage the stamp was printed, since the drop in quality was a gradual process.

Here's an example of a Peace Printing (left) side-by-side with a War Printing (right).



Color difference aside, note the slightly sharper appearance to the Peace Printing. It's especially notable in the wave details, the smoke above the stern, and in the lettering. The War Printing lacks the clarity in these areas, and has a slightly fuzzy appearance around the edges of the printing.

On the larger yacht Issues, it's easiest to spot in the edges of the letters, which will be sharper and clearer on the Peace Printings (note the "GU" in GUINEA)



So that's the first major sub-type difference -- Peace vs. War. 

Frame / Center Types

The other major area of confusion is within the 5 Mark values.  This is the 5 Mark value:



Unlike the other large denomination Yacht issues, the 5 Mark is multi-colored --  a green frame and a red center.  This led to several sub-types, as the printers didn't always get the correct center with the matching frame.

There are 3 frame (Rahmen) types and 3 center (Mittelstück) types.

Type I



The Type I is the basic frame/center type for 3 of the colonies -- German New Guinea, German Southwest Africa, and the Marshall Islands.

Type II

The Type II frame/center was the basic type in 4 colonies -- Cameroon, Kiautschou, Samoa, and Togo.



The Type II frames and centers are easily identifiable by the ribbon folds on the top frame, and the corresponding indentations in the center to accommodate the folds.



Here's a Type II as compared to a Type I or Type III.



Type III

The Type III was the standard design in only 1 colony, German East Africa.



The Type III can be difficult to distinguish from the Type I. The difference is in the size of the value areas of the frame -- slightly larger on the Type III -- and the corresponding indentation in the Type III center to accommodate the larger frame.

Here's a Type III frame as compared to Type I frame. Note the larger bulge in the Type III frame around the value (overlaid in red).



And a Type III as compared to Type I center. Note the smaller indentation in the Type I center (overlaid in red).



The trick in distinguishing the Type I and Type III is to look at the distance between the bow/stern of the ship and the edge of the red printing. The distance will be smaller on the Type III.



The real confusion comes in the inability of the printers to properly match the frame and center types. There are numerous sub-types of these issues in large part because the printer would use a Type II center with a Type I or Type III frame, or vice versa.

It may seem like a minor deal, but it can make a real difference in value.  For example, consider these two varieties of German New Guinea MiNr 23 / Scott 23.



These are both War Printings from 1918, with identical 25:17 perforations.

In Scott, both are listed as Sc 23, catalog value of $120 / $32.50 (MNH / MH).

In Michel, however, the first one is MiNr 23 II B I (Frame Type I, Center Type II).  Catalog value is €140 / €40.

The second is the much rarer MiNr 23 II B II (Frame Type I, Center Type III).  Catalog value is €2,200 / €1,000.

So if you have any 5 Mark Yachts, go pull them out and take a look.  You may have some hidden value.

Perf Counts

And finally, the easiest sub-type to distinguish -- 26:17 perfs vs. 25:17 perfs. Just count the perf holes on the long edge.



In summary, here are the standard types for each colony, and the varieties which exist with mixed types:

German New Guinea

Standard design:

• Type I

Exceptions:

• MiNr 23 I A II (Frame Type I, Center Type II)
• MiNr 23 II B I (Frame Type I, Center Type II)
• MiNr 23 II B II (Frame Type I, Center Type III)

German East Africa

Standard design:

• Type III

Exceptions:

• MiNr 21 I (Frame Type III, Center Type I)
• MiNr 39 II A II a (Frame Type III, Center Type II)
• MiNr 39 II A II b (Frame Type III, Center Type II)
• MiNr 39 II B II (Frame Type III, Center Type II)

German Southwest Africa

Standard design:

• Type I

Exceptions:

• MiNr 32 B (Frame Type I, Center Type II)

Cameroon

Standard design:

• Type II

Carolines

Standard design:

• None

Exceptions:

• MiNr 15 (Frame Type I, Center Type I)
• MiNr 16 (Frame Type I, Center Type I)
• MiNr 17 (Frame Type I, Center Type I)
• MiNr 18 (Frame Type I, Center Type I)
• MiNr 19 (Frame Type I, Center Type II)
• MiNr 22 I A (Frame Type II, Center Type I)
• MiNr 22 II A (Frame Type II, Center Type I)
• MiNr 22 II B (Frame Type II, Center Type I)

Kiautschou

Standard design:

• Type II

Exceptions:

• MiNr 17 (Frame Type II, Center Type I)

Marshalls

Standard design:

• Type I

Exceptions:

• MiNr 27 A I (Frame Type I, Center Type II)
• MiNr 27 B I (Frame Type I, Center Type II)

Samoa

Standard design:

• Type II

Togo

Standard design:

• Type II

Postmaster

Thank you. Interesting that, despite wartime pressures on paper, and presumably ink, the Germans, like Petain's government between 1940-44, kept pumping out stamps for colonies they no longer controlled, and where the stamps were never sold. And interesting - and rather depressing - that, despite the carnage going on around them, stamp collectors were trotting along to buy this stuff.

Your posts are always fascinating - carry on!

Geoff

Sometimes, one just runs out of superlatives.
Another mind boggling study by the Postmaster.
Bravo !

Excellent information and illustrations. Thanks for posting.

Postmaster

Thanks for posting this invaluable information. Filed away under "useful" Some of your points I'd worked out for myself, but there are also some very useful things I'd missed, particularly so the description of the quality of the printing. Now on my "things to do" list is a re-evaluation of all my spare yachts to see exactly what I have, and whether I can make up sets of both. If not, then my stamp dealer will be getting a visit soon!

Thx, Tim

Postmaster GS, this may be a dumb question, but do you submit your research articles for journals to publish? Your posts are usually solid and would be fantastic in print

No, I don't. There's no original research in any of my posts, just compilations from catalogs, journals, and other sources.

Great work! I love to see what others are doing so I can step up my presentation.

"The Bookshelf"
Stamp Collecting Magazine 1st May 1980

The Postage Stamps and Cancellations of the Post Offices in German South West Africa.

Rod,

For collectors of the German Colonies, the Friedemann work is invaluable. He published the individual component parts in the 1900-1920s, but AFAIK, there wasn't an English translation until the 1980s. A few years after the individual English sections were translated, they were assembled into a single, large volume that was published in very limited numbers. The Germans handbooks are still easy to find, but the English volume is definitely not. Someone almost has to die to find one for sale. I bought mine many years ago, and it's one of my most go-to references.

Postmaster: as always, your posts here are incredibly informative.

For those interested in the German colonial issues, and the colonies in general, here are some references that may be worth your review: and from my personal literary collections:

The Great War in Africa: 1914-1918. Byron Farwell. W.W. Norton and Company, 1986.

World War I: the African Front. Edward Paice. Pegasus Books, 2008.

Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck: A Grand Award Winning Exhibit. Dr. Edwin J. Andrews. Exhibitors Press, 2017. ( http://exhibitorspress.com )

I saw the very impressive Von Lettow-Vorbeck exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show in the early 2010s. Lettow-Vorbeck was the field commander in German East Africa and led the only German colonial army that was still in the field on Armistice Day in November, 1918. Before the war, he also spent time with the German forces in S.W. Africa, now Namibia.

Dr. Andrews is the current president of the Polonus Polish Philatelic Society and I'm a member. I traded e-mails with him a year ago about the exhibit. He sold the exhibit some years ago. I did observe that pieces of it appeared in the past year at the Daniel F. Kelleher auction house.

Wunderbar!