DDR 1953 Series. Booklet Panes, Gutter Blocks, Strips, Etc

I received these items today which are part of a much larger group I purchased at auction. Scott is terrible at listing multiples, booklet panes, gutters, etc. so I humbly ask for help categorizing and on cat values from those who might have a Michel specialized catalogue.

Thanks in advance!

Brian


Two complete booklets with all values present.


Individual booklet panes not in a cover. I have 6 of these panes.





Gutter blocks, strips, and pairs galore! I have 6 blocks, and more than a dozen strips & pairs.

Brian

These are from the "Five Year Plan" series. The booklets look to be from 1955 or 1957. It is not possible to give a specific cataloging because they differ by watermark.(Sc Wmk 297 or 313). It also makes a difference on how they are perforated, how they are arranged in the booklet, printing marks and even the advertising between the panes. Note that in your first scan the perforations do not go through the top on the left pane. (That is a "type B") The one next to it is a type A.
Without watermarking and a lot of closer scans, that's about the best I can do. Regardless, they do have good CV's.

Welcome to the wacky world of the "Five Year Plan"

Dan

Dan, I really appreciate the input. As I stated above, Scott catalogues give very little information on these, so the best solution for me is to get Volume 2 of the Michel specialized catalogue for Germany.

Brian
You're welcome! I agree that the best thing to do is locate a copy of Michel Specialized, Vol. 2. It will be a lot easier with the catalog in front of you and the stamps in hand (er, tong).

Michel isn't the easiest German to read but with the pictures, symbols and their English guide: http://www.briefmarken.de/pdf/Englisch.pdf even a non-German speaker can get a lot of information.

Have fun with the "Five Year Plan" series!

Dan

Do you know, by chance, how well these are covered by the new English version of Michel's specialized catalogue? I know that the German states were not covered in it, so I didn't buy one.

Sorry, Brian, can't help you on that one. I've never seen the English version.

Dan

The five year plan series have given me fits! I mean one "with lines" and one "without" and I think there's another variation that I haven't
even gotten around to looking at yet. I had friends who preferred to buy them out of a collection "already sorted" or from a dealer just to
avoid the hassle. In my opinion, that's cheating! :)

It did me too until I sat down one day and drew up a flowchart. There are some good "helps" online but it didn't sink in for me until I did it myself. It's like any other series. The more you work with it, the easier it gets.

The Five-Year Plan series was printed in both offset lithography and letterpress so some (letterpress) do have lines. Then you can add the reprints (slightly different), the watermark and perforation differences, overprints, and designer/engraver names to make things interesting. Just for grins you can also look for the different size and directions of the watermark!

Dan

Riley

I see from your reaction you started working on the Five Year Plan series? Great!

Dan

I too am working on the 5 year plan and I am doing it with a German Michel and I had never seen crossgutter blocks til you showed them here. Thank you and if you do the complete set, plkease have patience because it is a lot of collecting and I have only started on the singles. I think we should have a support group for people who collect just this series. ROFLMBO!

Yes!

I see you replied to one of my other posts, William. You need to seek professional help (IE - a psychiatrist) if, after reading my posts, you still intend to collect all of Germany as I do.

I have since purchased Michel specialized catalogues for Germany, and as I learn how to use them, learning about these has become much easier. It also helps to have members of this forum available to learn from. PostmasterGS (http://www.germanstamps.net) and BAYERN1kreuzer have both been really helpful (I know there are others who have helped and I apologize for not mentioning you)

Welcome to SCF!

Brian

Ive got a bunch from this set, reading all this seem like I want to say away from it it looks like a head ach