Any Idea What This Is?

I can't find this in any catalog. Anyone know what it is?

I don't know much about the specific imprint shown, but I assume it was for some sort of revenue duty on commercial sewing needles. Leo Lammertz was a German manufacturer of sewing needles that was founded back in the 1860s. In fact, on their website, the Triumph Needle Corporation offers this historical fact:

"Needle or Pin Factory" Building, Aachen, Germany

My Daughter lived in Aachen, Germany for five years, so I have some interest in the city.

I can't answer your philatelic question, but "NadelFabrik" literally means "Nail or Needle or Pin Factory". See photo. It is an old building in Aachen that has served many functions. Today, it is a cultural center, I believe (Best guess).

Another excerpt as to duty paid on German imported needles is shown here:

Aachen is the home of the needle.

You have a North German Confederation revenue stamp that is completely washed out. If it is perf 14, then it would be Forbin #1, dating to 1869, which fits with the company's cancel.

My 2d.

Thanks, guys.

Zipper,

I can't tell you what it is other than it appears to be quite faded. I ran the image through retroReveal and was able to get a slightly better view of the stamp design. Hopefully someone may recognize it.

Seeing the enhanced image makes me even more comfortable with my i.d., above, but I'll welcome any second opinions.

cjd, would you happen to have an image of the stamp that you could post so that we can see what it is supposed to look like? I didn't have any luck with a Google image search.

I'm not home right now, but here is one from an ebay auction:



The best bet for a Google search is probably Norddeutscher Wechselstempel.

If I am remembering Forbin correctly, they are all lilac, and it looks like they don't hold their color too well...or they were never that assertive to begin with.

I'm virtually certain I don't have a mint example, and I don't recall that I've even seen a mint example. I didn't spend any time with Google looking for one. If you go looking, and find a mint one, please post it.

Thanks, tomiseksj, Cjd. I'll just hinge in onto a Germany revenue page. It's not any good, but I like the old manuscript cancel.