POSTAGE STAMPS
(1923)

This page was last updated
03-Mar-2023 08:14

MICHEL 289
REGULAR ISSUE NUMBER IN RECTANGLE, CIRCLE and WORKER

VALIDITY: 20th Sep 1923 until 30th Nov 1923
VALUE: 100 Tausend on 100 MARK
COLOUR: dark to blackish grey purple
WATERMARK: Waffle
PERF: comb 14 x 14¼
SIZE: 22 x 26mm
PRINT TYPE: Typography
AVAILABILITY: Sheets
QUANTITY PRINTED: Unknown

SIMILAR STAMPS

ABOVE: 1923 issue Mi 268 Original stamp without overprint

COLOUR VARIATIONS

There are two major colour variations



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 289 a: dark to blackish grey purple
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 289 b: bright grey violet

UPPER EDGE MARGINS

This stamp was overprinted with the folllowing OPD:

OPD A (Breslau - Bl) (overprint subdued gloss)
OPD B (Erfurt - Ef) (overprint subdued gloss to glossy)
OPD C (Frankfurt- Ff) (overprint subdued gloss)
OPD D (Hamburg - Hb) (overprint subdued gloss)
OPD E (Hanover - Hv) (overprint glossy to highly glossy)
OPD F (Königsberg - Kb) (overprint dull, drab)
OPD G (Leipzig - Lz) (overprint glossy)
OPD I (Münster - Ms) (overprint drab, dull)
OPD K (Stettin - St) (overprint sooty)
OPD L (Stuttgart - Sg) (overprint glossy)

Determining which OPD printed a certain upper margin piece can be very difficult since the 11 OPD overprints vary only in the overprint colour glossiness. The margin overprint style can help since some of the styles only existed for certain OPD. For example: below margin overprint type 'i' only exists from sheets overprinted in Stettin. Therefore if your margin piece has a style 'i' then it can only come from a sheet overprinted in Stettin. If your stamp has a margin style 'a' then it is impossible to determine the OPD since this style was used in 7 of the 11 OPD.



ABOVE LEFT: Type 'a' - without upper margin OPD (Bl, Ff, Hb, Hv, Kb, Ms and Sg)
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Type ‘b’ – three thin lines (Bl and Mc)
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Type ‘c’ – 4.5mm thick bar (Ef, Ff, Kb, Ms)
ABOVE RIGHT: Type ‘e’ – 6mm thick bar (Ff)



ABOVE LEFT: Type ‘f’ – overprint in small numbers (Lz)
ABOVE RIGHT:Type ‘i’ – overprint with large Antigua font or block letters (St)

The following are valid upper edge pieces for this stamp

Mi 289 a - OPD A a W OR (Breslau) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD A a W OR (Breslau) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD C e W OR (Frankfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD C e W OR (Frankfurt) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD D a W OR (Hamburg) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD D a W OR (Hamburg) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD E a W OR (Hanover) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD E a W OR (Hanover) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD F a W OR (Königsberg) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD F a W OR (Königsberg) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD G f W OR (Leipzig) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD G f W OR (Leipzig) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD I a W OR (Münster) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD I a W OR (Münster) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD K i W OR (Stettin) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD K i W OR (Stettin) 2'9'2
Mi 289 a - OPD L a W OR (Stuttgart) 1'11'1
Mi 289 a - OPD L a W OR (Stuttgart) 2'9'2

Mi 289 b - OPD A a W OR (Breslau) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD A a W OR (Breslau) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD C a W OR (Frankfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD C a W OR (Frankfurt) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD C e W OR (Frankfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD C e W OR (Frankfurt) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD D a W OR (Hamburg) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD D a W OR (Hamburg) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD E a W OR (Hanover) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD E a W OR (Hanover) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD F a W OR (Königsberg) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD F a W OR (Königsberg) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD G f W OR (Leipzig) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD G f W OR (Leipzig) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD H b W OR (Munich) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD H b W OR (Munich) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD I a W OR (Münster) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD I a W OR (Münster) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD K i W OR (Stettin) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD K i W OR (Stettin) 2'9'2
Mi 289 b - OPD L a W OR (Stuttgart) 1'11'1
Mi 289 b - OPD L a W OR (Stuttgart) 2'9'2
Mi 289 F - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 289 F - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 2'9'2

HAN

Since this stamp was only printed rotary press there are no HAN

OTHER VARIANTS

Mi 289 a DD: double overprint
Mi 289 b DD: double overprint
Mi 289 a K: inverted overprint
Mi 289 b K: inverted overprint
Mi 289 b F: pair, one with and one without overprint
Mi 289 a III: bar of dashed with 20 instead of 21 lines (line damaged)
Mi 289 b III: bar of dashed with 20 instead of 21 lines (line damaged)

PLATE FLAWS OF ORIGINAL STAMPS

There are no major plate flaw on the original stamp

PLATE FLAWS OF OVERPRINTS

There are three major plate flaws of the overprints



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 289 IV: upper part of second '0' of '100' broken ('0' with a hat) (field 6)
ABOVE CENTRE: Mi 289 V: upper part of '1' in '100' damaged (field 7)
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 289 VI: '1' without head, and scratches on both '0' of '100' (field 7)

STAMPS FROM MY COLLECTION

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

MINT / POSTALLY UNUSED

UPPER EDGE PIECES

ABOVE LEFT: Mi 289 OPD a
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 289 OPD b



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 289 OPD c
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 289 OPD e



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 289 OPD f
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 289 OPD i

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