Poland 145 Bi-Color ?

Here is another oddity from a collection I am working on.

Could be a colour changeling, no mention in the catalogues of this.

The 5 Mark (Scott 152A} was first issued in 1921, no precise date is available, & at the time it was the standard domestic letter rate (15 VII 1921- 1 IX 1921)

The main Polish Catalogue (Polskie Znaki Pocztowe 1960) lists 7 shade varieties from dark violet to light brown-violet, on 5 types of paper, & with 45 (!) different perforations. Total printing 1921-1922 is 142,221,800

There are imperf copies on the market usually with a red crayon through them, as was the case with many imperf stamps from this era. Many of them were looted from the official archive during WWII & placed on the philatelic market.

Here's a postcard adressed to Andre Collet, a busy philatelist of the era, utilising the 5Mk stamp


24 III 1922 Warsaw to Paris.
Int. postcard rate = 15 Mk, Registered + 25Mk, Express + 50Mk, Total = 90Mk

For those who read French, here's the reverse, the sender seems most concerned that Andre is not responding & is making certain this missive gets to him