Help To Identify German Stamps

Hi,

Exactly distances from the large 2.

1a 0.9mm Large 2 to small 1 and front base of large 2 rounded.

1b 1.2mm Large 2 to small 1 and front base of large 2 squared

Distance between large 2 and small 2 always the same 1 mm.

Regards

Hornet

I saw these stamps on a sales site.
They are issued on 14-19 February,1920 in Upper Silesia (French administration) with manually applied overprint (Michel # 1-17)
The stamps I think are the ones specified in Michel's catalog, but about the overprint I need your help: genuine or forgerie?
Thank you.

The CIHS overprints are all forgeries. Here is a link to show the difference between genuine and fake (scroll down to the bottom):
https://www.stampsx.com/forum/topic...=&page=2100&

Thank you very much Germania
The difference is very clear.

It's the first time I've seen this inscription on the bottom of a sheet.
It is a block of 4 of the Michel stamp # 116-General Gouvernement (1943/1944)
Michel's catalog mentions # 116P5 = Verschiedene Phasendrucke (Various printing phases).
I guess so ENTW. is the abbreviation for Entwicklung (development) it is possible that this block comes from the 5x5 test sheet.
I guess that the last phase of printing is the approved sheet.
Any comments / corrections are welcome. Thank you

How about Entwurf: design? Or Entwerfer: designer?

As NSK mentions ENTW.: stands for designer Carl Fahringer
Right margin is STICH: = engraved = engraver = Ferdinand Lorber
It was printed by the State Printer in Vienna as noted in the center.

My Michel (2014) notes that the designer of the stamp is Gessner. And the signature does look somewhat like that; so nice item. Fahringer designed the 2 and 4 Zl stamps of the same set.

The margin credits seem to be the norm for many Generalgouvernement issues.

As stated by others above, those are standard margin markings for GG sheets. If you'd like to see more, I have hi-res scans of most of the non-overprint GG sheets available here.

As to the phase printings, this is what they look like, from the ArGe Generalgouvernement's Handbook #H55E, Documentation on Stamp Designs, Proofs and Essay Proofs in the Generalgouvernement.

Germania you are of course right about Gessner.
I was going by what it showed in an old Michel.



I should have checked the other sheets were Fahringer's
signature is plain as day.

GG Michel 114

Many, many thanks to all.
Another chapter regarding the phases of preparation for stamp printing is clear to me now.
@PostmasterGS-your beautiful philatelic collection (stamps and philatelic books) amazes and demoralizes me at the same time.
It is obvious to me that choosing to collect Germany is too difficult for me as a novice collector (especially since I do not know German)
I thought that if I have the specialized catalog Michel and Michel Color Guide is enough, but the more I learn the more I realize that a series of specialized books are needed.
I hope to get over this moment of dilemma (I only buy stamps or invest part of my small budget in specialized books)
I'm lucky with your kindness to help me. Thanks.

cupram,

Don't be discouraged — it's a learning process, and we all started as novices in our collecting areas. I'm here to help, so feel free to keep posting questions. I have a large collection of German philatelic references, and I'm happy to look-up and share anything that helps you out.

And by the way, I still don't know much German, so don't let that stop you.

lithograving, thanks for showing an entire sheet. I had not seen them before.
cupram, just keep going. If it weren't challenging, why bother? I have been collecting a long time and think I know a lot, and even though I learn more everyday, I also realize how little I know compared to other collectors on this forum.

With regard to the sheets of that series (MiNr. 113-116), there are slight differences in the margin markings between the issues.

MiNr. 113 — facsimile signatures of designer C. Fahringer and engraver Ferd. Lorber.
MiNr. 114 — facsimile signatures of designer C. Fahringer and engraver Ferd. Lorber.
MiNr. 115 — facsimile signatures of designer E. Puchinger and engraver Rud. Zenziger.
MiNr. 116 — facsimile signatures of designer Gessner and engraver Ferd. Lorber.

The lower three values were printed with 4 sheetlets of 25 (5x5) in a plate. The letter/number at bottom center (ex. I/4) is a sector number that denotes the plate (ex. I) and position (ex. 4).

The 10 Zloty value was printed with only two sheetlets per plate, so it's sector numbers only go to 2.

The 3 lower face-value sheetlets can be found imperforate, and they're actually not uncommon (Michel doesn't price an intact imperforate sheetlet, but the imperf singles catalog for 10€ per).

The 10 Zloty is another story. I don't recall where I saw it, but I remember reading somewhere that there was a single imperforate sheet. I don't recall if that meant a single imperforate sheet (2x25 stamps) or sheetlet (25 stamps). Regardless, it's no longer intact.

EDIT to add: I found where I saw it. It's on the certificate for my copy. The cert states:

The stamp comes from the only known sheet (certificate from July 2013). This contained 25 stamps with the sector number I/2s. The stamp comes from unfinished stocks of the Staatsdruckerei Wien.