Question About Swedish 1910-1919 Definitive Set

My Scott catalog lists eighteen King Gustaf V 1910-1919 definitive stamps (Sc 77-94) yet calls it a set of 16, apparently excluding Sc 90, 55 ore and Sc 92, the 80 ore stamps. Both of these stamps carry hefty premiums, but there is no addition information as to why they are excluded from the set.

Does anyone have an explanation for this listing aberration?

Don

Hi Don
According to Stanley Gibbons Scandinavia 2008 all 18 are listed, but they add a note that the 55 & 80 ore were issued at Varnamo, and it states 'beware of fakes'. SG numbers are 69 to 86 inclusive, the 55 ore is SG82 and the 80 ore is SG84. Hope this helps.
DavidR

Thanks, David. Sounds like the 55 and 80 ore stamps may not have been regularly issued, but still seems odd. Usually Scott will add a note of explanation about extraordinary issues.

Don

Yvert et Tellier, also lists 18 stamps on this series (#55 to 72), and does not record any 55 or 80 ore stamps.

This seems even odder.

Don

Facit has a lot more detail about these stamps. 1,000 copies of each of the 55 and 80 ore were issued to Varnamo on July 2, 1918. The same day, it was decided that these stamps would be used for production of the 27 ore stamps by overprinting. There's also notes about how many are estaimated to have been used, some were post dated in the 1920's and 1930's and remainders burned in 1985. About 982 stamps of each value are estimated to exist in the market.

Battlestamps:

Thanks for the added details.

So, the 55 & 80 ore stamps were regularly issued, but immediately set aside to be surcharged as 27 ore stamps. However, all were not used for that purpose and exist in their original denomination. Scott has decided to list them in the series, but excluded them from the set.

Seems like a strange decision on Scott's part, especially when the 10 ore, 25 ore and 65 ore from the same series were also surcharged (see Sc 99 -104).

The printing numbers your supplied from Facit don't quite square. If there were 1,000 printed of the 55 & 80 ore stamps and there are an estimated 982 of each in the market place, only 18 of each would have been surcharged. According to Scott the surcharged issues of these two stamps (sc 102 & 104) carry only a small premium. Indeed, the surcharged 65 ore stamp has a higher premium.

What is Facit, the source you mention? Is it available online?

Don

Don: The Facit Catalogue, printed in Sweden (in Svensk and English) and covers Scandinavian nations. John

Thanks, John. I'll have to try and find a used copy of the catalog as I do like the Scandinavian countries' stamps.

Don

Don: The 1,000 of each value is what was sent to Varnamo and did not receive the surcharge. The rest of the printings are those which received the overprints. According to Facit there's 921,700 of the 27 ore on 55 ore and 845,000 of the 27 ore on 80 ore stamps. Apparently there were 40,000+ of each value (55 ore and 80 ore stamps) without the surcharge that were destroyed in 1985.

Scott probably doesn't include the two rarer stamps in the set value since dealer's who offer sets will rarely if ever have them.

You're right Battle.
I've got an old Scandinavia album, printed in Amsterdam around 1950 (it goes up to 1949) and it has places for the 55 and 80 ö stamps, both with and without overprint.

Thanks again, Battlestamps. Makes sense now.

Don