Danzig Stamps Need Some Assistance

Hi Everyone,
Please hang in there with me. I am fairly new to stamp collecting, but loving it! I inherited a large collection from my grandfather. Right now, I am learning about Danzig (where my family is from). I have been studying the Scott Catalog and researching each stamp as I go. I have three stamps that I need some input. I have 2 that look like AP3 2m orange/brown. My question is that they are not clear at all like my other ones. They look like the ink pooled or maybe printed twice. It is probably nothing exciting, but I was curious to know why it looks different. The next looks like a 22 A16 60 pf on 30pf. Someone told me it was a double surcharge. I am so confused at this point. I thought it just had a single surcharge? Is it a double? If so, what makes it a double? Okay, last stamp for the night is a 96 A11 6m on 3m car lake (I think). I have a bunch with the 6 overprint, but this is my only one that has the six and the DM. I can't seem to find it in Scott. Does anyone know what this one is? I really appreciate your help!!

Welcome to Stamp Community Family, Waltini!

In the top picture, the stamps are either overinked or the plate was dirty. Although not common, it does occur more often than normal on Danzig stamps.

In the 2nd picture, the stamp is NOT a double surcharge. It is a double overprint, in which one of the overprints is a surcharge -- or more appropriately, it is a surcharge on an overprinted stamp.

In the bottom picture, the DM overprint indicates official usage. Your stamp is Danzig #O28(1922) in the Scott catalog.

k

A million thanks! I was stumped on those three. I find the stamps so enjoyable that I am up to all hours looking at them. I am so glad I found this forum. I really appreciate your help :)

You are welcome! I haven't touched my Danzig stamps in a long while, so seeing your Danzig stamps was great!

You might want to check your watermarks on your Danzig stamps. The honeycomb/webbing watermarks (wmk 108/109) often have upright/sideways varieties. Some of them are listed in the Scott standard catalog, several more are listed in the Scott Classic catalog, but I've found several that aren't listed at all. Most of the minor varieties are relatively common, so you should be able to find at least one or two in your collection. Plus, these 2 watermarks are usually pretty easy to see just by flipping the stamp face down on a dark surface.

Enjoy your stamps!

k

We saw our first watermark last night! It was very cool. Thanks for the help!

It is so cool to hear of someone new to collecting. Did you get German states along with your collection? Usually a collection with a bunch of Danzig has an assortment German states as well. There are a lot of forgeries and reprints in the German states, but you will find a lot of people here with a ton of knowledge to share.

Yes, there are a lot of Germans stamps too. I just found some that are German stamps with a Chinese surcharge on them. There is also a ton of Chinese stamps as well as other countries. It is a bit overwhelming, so we are working on tackling the Danzig stamps.

Welcome to stamp collecting. It's very very cool!

k