Opinions Wanted On Flemmish Legion Auction(S)

I'm interested in these lots, but am not educated enough to know if these are legitimately used mini-sheets. Opinions?

http://www.kmphilately.com/index.php?a=2&b=9366006
http://www.kmphilately.com/index.php?a=2&b=9366022
http://www.kmphilately.com/index.php?a=2&b=9366004

I'm no expert but to me they're too pretty. I seriously doubt any of those lots are legitimately used. Caveat emptor.
Regards, Robert

Rileysan, I am not an expert on these either vut the one thing I can tell you is that there are a lot of fakes out there.

I am not sure of the cancellations. By saying that, I meant that they all look to be philatelically done (favour cancellations) and I am not sure if there were that many of these stamps that were legitimately used through the proper mail channels of the time??

Maybe they are known only used in this way?? Maybe someone with more knowledge on these can tell us?

Chimo

Bujutsu

Brian,

These are tough. It was common for philatelists at the time to create these covers, then have them favor cancelled or send them to family or friends via feldpost, then have them returned. Many that are on the market today did go though the contemporary postal system, but they were created for a philatelic purpose. But, without the contents of the cover, it's really impossible to tell for sure why they were mailed, only whether they were used contemporaneously (proper cancels, rates, etc.).

For the first two covers, it would really help to see the backs for any arrival marks, censor marks, etc., to tell whether they were actually processed by the mail system or just favor cancelled. I'd check the feldpost numbers to see if they match Flemish Legion units, but I don't have access to my feldpost number literature at the moment.

The first cover 9366006 -- the perfs look like they were cut cleanly. I would expect a little more irregularity if it was a regular joe tearing them from the sheet. The presence of all four stamps in the set on one cover is also indicative of philatelic use.

The second cover 9366022 -- the stamps were cut from the sheets, as evidence by the top and bottom margins. The top and bottom margins have also been trimmed so there's very little white space outside the yellow (compare to the margins of the full sheets in the third lot). That's not normal usage. The presence of all four stamps in the set on one cover is also indicative of philatelic use.

The sheets 9366004 -- these are probably CTO. Way too clean. You might inquire as to whether there's gum on the back, because it would be tough to soak entire sheets off and keep them that pristine. The paper on these is really thin, and very easy to damage or discolor in normal usage. Compare to these sheets that are still on cover.

Overall, good-looking covers. As I said above, it's almost impossible to divine whether the covers were created by philatelists of the average joe, but I don't see any red flags to make me think they're modern creations.

I only have partial list of F.P. #'s on my laptop but those do NOT look correct! Check those F.P. #'s before bidding. The cost of those should be MUCH higher. Even as a starting bid.

This is indicative of this seller and website. When he does have a reserve, it's rarely more than 10% of catalogue value so that was the lesser of my concerns. Mostly, I want to verify genuine vs philatelic usage.

If I had to make an informed guess -- philatelic. And those prices are about right for philatelic.

Those FP numbers are not those of the Flemish Legion recruiting units, which are the more common destination. I'd also be a little leery of FP 82727 -- seems a little early in the war for the 80000+ FP numbers, though I can't be sure without my reference materials.

I completely agree!




Also agree! It seems a little to early to me as well! All 8000 #'s appear to be 1944. On the list of over 3400 FP #s I have I do not have 82727.


FP 49872 [Einkreisstempel] 1.5.1942-19.10.1942 ammunition issuing office of the Air Force air-24/XI 12.3.1943-7.9.1943 field ammunition storage 6/XI,