POSTAGE STAMPS
(1923)

This page was last updated
07-Feb-2023 08:16

MICHEL 339
REGULAR ISSUE NUMBER IN CIRCLE WITH ROSETTE

New currency - the Rentenmark, later Reichsmark.



VALIDITY: 1st Dec 1923 until 31st Jan 1928
VALUE: 5Pf
COLOUR: dark green (variations)
WATERMARK: Waffle
PERF: comb 14 x 14¼
SIZE: 22 x 26mm
PRINT TYPE: Typography
AVAILABILITY: Sheets
QUANTITY PRINTED: Unknown

SIMILAR STAMPS

ABOVE: Mi 100 - Identical to Mi 339 but now with 'Dienstmarke' overprint and for official use only

MAJOR VARIATIONS

There are two major variations



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 339 P - flat plate printing
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 339 W - rotary press printing

COLOUR VARIATIONS

There are four major colour variations



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 339 P a - dark green - flat plate printing
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Mi 339 P b - blackish opal green - flat plate printing
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Mi 339 W a - dark green - rotary press printing
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 339 W b - blackish opal green - rotary press printing

UPPER MARGIN PIECES - P OR

FLAT PLATE PRINTING

OR A - upper margin only with row values
OR B – upper margin with bar of dashes and row values
OR C – upper margin with thin line and row values

Mi 339 P a OR C
Mi 339 P b OR C

UPPER MARGIN PIECES - W OR

Rotary Press printing

Mi 339 W a OR - - / 3'7'3
Mi 339 W a OR - 0'6'0 / 2'9'2
Mi 339 W a OR - 0'6'0 / 3'7'3
Mi 339 W a OR - 1'4'1 / 3'7'3
Mi 339 W b OR - - / 3'7'3
Mi 339 W b OR - 0'6'0 / 2'9'2
Mi 339 W b OR - 0'6'0 / 3'7'3
Mi 339 W b OR - 1'4'1 / 3'7'3

HAN

There are five HAN variations

Mi 339 HAN: H5432.23
Mi 339 HAN: H6358.23
Mi 339 HAN: H6721.23
Mi 339 HAN: H6835.23
Mi 339 HAN: H7292.23

COILS

Mi 339 W R - strip of 11 stamps

OTHER VARIANTS

Mi 339 a U: imperforate
Mi 339 a Uu: imperforate below
Mi 339 F: horizontal pair, right stamp with row number not value
Mi 339 I: missing value
Mi 339 a DD: double print of value

'CRACK' PLATE FLAWS

There is a crack on the left side of the rosette as well as other anomalies. Besides the crack (HT), the other most common flaw is fraying of the margin beneath the posthorn (PE 1). Some of the crack flaws were reworked with varying degrees of success and they are catalogued as Mi 339 A KT and Mi 339 b KT.

Mi 339 a HT: crack
Mi 339 b HT: crack
Mi 339 a Pe 1: frayed margin
Mi 339 b Pe 1: frayed margin

PLATE FLAWS OF ORIGINAL STAMP

There are no major plate flaws

PLATE FLAWS OF OVERPRINTS

There are four major overprint flaws



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 339 II - foot of '5' broken off
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Mi 339 III - '5' is thicker by approx 1mm
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Mi 339 IV - curve of '5' dented
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 339 V - curve of '5' dented signioficantly below (field 75)

STAMPS FROM MY COLLECTION

All of the stamps from here until the end of the page are from my collection

MINT / POSTALLY UNUSED

PLATE FLAWS - HT1

REFERENCES:

1. MICHEL Deutschland-Spezial 2022 Band 1: 1849 bis April 1945. ISBN: 978-95402-401-8.
2. www.colnect.com
3. Plattenfehler Katalog Deutsches Reich 1872-1945 inkl. Dienstmarken, 4th Edition 2003. Thomas Schantl Verlag. ISBN: 3-932769-25-2