Ndh III. Philatelic Exhibition Commemoratives

Here's another show-and-tell from the collection. The NDH issues commemorating the III. Philatelic Exhibition.

From 12-15 September 1943, the III. Philatelic Exhibition was held in Zagreb, Croatia. To commemorate the occasion, a special stamp was designed and printed.


Mi 115

The stamp is based on a painting by Prof. Vladimir Kirin. It was engraved by Prof. Karlo Seizinger. The stamp depicts the old St. Mary Church and the Cistercian Monastery in Zagreb in the year 1650.

The stamp was printed in sheets of forty stamps (4x10). Position 22 of each sheet features an engraver's mark "S" in the lower-right window pane above the door.


Mi 115 I -- engraver's mark

The stamp was sold only at a special post office erected at the exhibition. At the Exhibition, a special commemorative cancel depicting the Croatian Philatelic Alliance Emblem was available. The Croatian Philatelic Alliance also produced and brought to the Exhibition 10,000 souvenir covers depicting the originally planned dates of the Exhibition (5-12 Sep -- it was delayed due to the Italian capitulation). These souvenir covers were also signed by the engraver, Prof. Seizinger.


Croatian Philatelic Alliance souvenir cover signed by Seizinger

A separate commemorative stamp of the same design was issued in Block format. It is the same design, but in a brown-black color with different perf.


Mi Block 6, with stamp Mi 116


Mi 116

It can also be found imperf.


Mi 116 U

The Blocks were printed in panes of 6 Blocks. The fifth Block of each pane featured an engraver's mark -- an "S" in the sign to the left of the door.


Mi Block 6 I with stamp Mi 116 I -- engraver's mark


Mi 116 I -- engraver's mark

On 8 September 1943, Italy capitulated to the Allied forces. Croatia seized upon the opportunity to reclaim Croatian territories occupied by Italy. To commemorate the occasion, the Croatian postal administration ordered that 120,000 copies of the III. Philatelic Exhibition Issue be overprinted "HRVATSKO MORE / 8. IX. / 1943" in red. Unlike the previous issues, this overprint was available at all post offices in Croatia.


Mi 117

Since it is an overprint of the previous issue, it can be found with the same engraver's mark.


Mi 117 I -- engraver's mark

It can also be found with numerous overprint errors, including inverts.


Mi 117 K

It can also be found missing the vertical perfs.


Mi 117 Ur

So there it is! One of my favorite NDH issues.

It is good to know about the mark - I'll have to check. The sheet is a very striking piece.

(These are found at B39-B41 in Scott.)