German 1916-19 Wmkd 2.5 & 7.5. Use, Value, Info, Anything?

I can't seem to find much information as to 'why' on these stamps. Why would there be a rough right vertical side - it doesn't look like it was perfed, or had it been. They had been previously hinged but, with the gum, it doesn't look like they were used. Would they have been a type of revenue stamp?

I read that German collectors were as avid as US or UK counterparts - or more so - what are the chances of them being a forgery?

Any information would be appreciated.

Not a forgery. Those are from a roll, and it's likely the roll was just trimmed incorrectly.

PostmasterGS - Thank you. I hadn't thought about them being from a roll. Why would they have the two different denominations on a roll? Did they do anything like that in the US? I think I remember booklets like that, but a roll .....

Anywho, thank you, again.

That's a very neat piece. But then, I'm a sucker for the out-of-the-ordinary item.

Cjd - Thank you for commenting. I was looking at a 1 1/4m on the same page and saw them and thought 'What the heck?' Isn't it amazing how the out-of-the-ordinary can spur the imagination?

It is why I cannot collect to an album. There is too much out there that does not fit within the tyranny of the catalogues' numbering systems.

Pre-1945, Germany issues a few definitives in rolls. These Germanias, 4 and 6 Pf Hindenburg Medallions in 1939, and 4 and 6 Pg Hitler Heads in 1942. All had alternating values.

Here are some German semi-postals I got today in a collection

Did these come on rolls too? I don't see any mention of pairs in my catalog

Mike,

Those are pairs from booklet panes.

Apparently the Hitler heads were also overprinted Ostland.

Thank you PostmasterGS

Cjd - Perhaps it is time somebody updated or re-designed the catalogue(s). It doesn't seem like it would be that hard. Granted, filling in the data (names, types, etc.) would be time consuming (what are computers for, anyway?), but the names, types, values and the rest of the information is already there. It isn't like someone having to go out and discover everything all over again.

Designing the outline, including new areas and re-ordering the catagories shouldn't be that hard for someone that knows stamps and then run it by someone with a sense of logic. Expense would depend on how much time a person had and how much they wanted to farm out, I would guess. Even I can see where something that is done right would be jumped on and pay for itself in a fairly short period of time.

Oh well, give it enough time and somebody will put it in the works.

Mike33, John Freibergs and PostmasterGS - Thank you for the additional examples.

Dunno...I guess I am so far removed from the catalogues that I don't really worry about what they do. Which is not to say that I don't love catalogues...I do. I have dozens. But if something is not already in the catalogue, it gains my interest. Probably a sickness.

Cjd - Sickness, probably. Hope I never get cured of it. >;> Fits right in with my housefull of 'What in the world is it?'

There are many of those stamps in Germany. They look pretty, but they are not really valuable.