Two Stamps Or Labels From Unknown Country

These two stamps have stumped me - there's no country mentioned, just a value.

Try looking at it being cut-outs from postal stationary from Switzerland.

An in-focus picture would help!

I believe the first one is cut out from a Swiss postcard, and the second from a Swiss envelope, circa 1867.

The cross should be a dead giveaway that it's most likely Switzerland, your neighbor just 1000km from you. And, I'd dare add for you and anyone who may come across this thread in the future, If you have a round or oval, old-looking "stamp" for which you can't find a catalog listing, 95+% it's been cut out from a postcard, envelope, or some other stationary. Non-rectangular stamps were essentially unheard of before WWII.

Here is a 10 c postcard with similar design elements from a David Feldman auction



https://www.davidfeldman.com/dfsa-a...ion_page=934

This lot has the actual design in a few denominations.
https://d2xqn5t7wr4wg1.cloudfront.n...26972d00.jpg
see lots 8768 and 8769
https://stampauctionnetwork.com/cCa...SrchSale=265

Maybe these ones

Well, the closest to these stamps are the British embossed issues 1847-1854. The stamp image, is not square. They are relatively rare, and best collected with the surrounding stamp paper. Many, however, were cut-to-shape. You might argue the stamp image is what makes the stamp.



The Netherlands and Belgium issued hexagonal telegraph stamps in the 1870s.


Dear Santa (tomorrow is Saint Nicholas Eve here), I have been a good boy, this year. If possible ..., please!



The Netherlands issued a triangular supplement stamp for airmail carried on special flights.



But the most famous example from the nineteenth century:



Note: only the 1933 Dutch airmails are my own.

NSK, you forgot about Tannu Tuva.


To be fair to the OP, he said "Non-rectangular stamps were essentially unheard of before WWII." Not that they do not exist, just that they are uncommon.

For those who like them, make sure to see the thread with some more (mostly modern) "Odd Shaped Stamps. Be Cool, Don't Be A Square " https://goscf.com/t/3122 or "Round Stamps" https://goscf.com/t/19247

Plus Turkey did octagonal stamps in 1898 for use by the armed forces in Thessaly.

I limited myself to what I am familiar with.

I do agree with classic_paper that odd shapes pre WWII, very likely, are cut outs from postal stationery. He may even have understated the probability at 95%.

Thank you for all the answers - what a lot there is to learn!

I didn't think of postal stationery. These two items are of the same thin-ness as normal stamps.

The Victorian British postal stationery (that I have) was thick paper - much thicker than these items.

Liberia, Lithuania, and Mozambique Company come to mind as countries who issued triangulars/odd shapes prior to WW2.

Obock and French Somali Coast issued triangles and diamonds in 1894.
See my avatar for an example.

I had completely forgotten the ordinary postage stamps the Netherlands issued for the 300th anniversity of the University of Utrecht, in 1936. I had those in my collection.

[url=https://www.seemystamps.com/image/RSXxh][/url]




[url=https://www.seemystamps.com/image/RSWFB][/url]

These countries also had rectangular shaped issues before 1945 - Bolivia,Fiueme, Spain,Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala.