POSTAGE STAMPS
(1923)

This page was last updated
31-Jan-2023 03:05

MICHEL 305 A
REGULAR ISSUE NUMBER IN RECTANGLE

VALIDITY: Sep 1923 until 30th Nov 1923
VALUE: 800 Tausend on 400 MARK
COLOUR: dark to black orange brown, overprint black brown
WATERMARK: Waffle
PERF: comb 14 x 14¼
SIZE: 22 x 26mm
PRINT TYPE: Typography
AVAILABILITY: Sheets
QUANTITY PRINTED: Unknown

MAJOR VARIATIONS

There are no major variations

COLOUR VARIATIONS

There are no major colour variations but there are shades

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)

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 OPD upper margin print (Bl, Ff, Hb, Hv, Kb, Ms, 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 305 - OPD A b W OR (Breslau) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD A b W OR (Breslau) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD B c W OR (Erfurt) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD C e W OR (Frankfurt) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD C e W OR (Frankfurt) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD D a W OR (Hamburg) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD D a W OR (Hamburg) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD E a W OR (Hanover) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD E a W OR (Hanover) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD F c W OR (Königsberg) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD F c W OR (Königsberg) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD G f W OR (Leipzig) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD G f W OR (Leipzig) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD I c W OR (Münster) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD I c W OR (Münster) 2'9'2
Mi 305 - OPD K i W OR (Stettin) 1'11'1
Mi 305 - OPD K i W OR (Stettin) 2'9'2

HAN: There are no HAN

OTHER VARIANTS

Mi 305 A DD: double overprint
Mi 305 A K: inverted overprint

PLATE FLAWS OF ORIGINAL STAMPS

There are no major plate flaws on the original stamp

PLATE FLAWS OF OVERPRINTS

There are four major plate flaws of the overprints



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 305 I - 's' in 'Tausend' like an 'f' (field 26, Hanover)
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Mi 305 III - left side of '8' in denomination '800' badly frayed (field 81, Königsberg)
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Mi 305 IV - left centre of '8' in denomination '800' broken (field 71, Erfurt)
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 305 V - upper part of second '0' in '800' flattened (field 7, Hamburg)

STAMPS FROM MY COLLECTION

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

MINT / POSTALLY UNUSED

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