POSTAGE STAMPS
(1923)

This page was last updated
16-Feb-2023 07:34

MICHEL 325
REGULAR ISSUE NUMBER IN CIRCLE WITH ROSETTE

The design of stamps Mi 313 to 330 are referred to as 'Basket lid' or denomination in circle with rosette. The stamps are printed typography on waffle watermarked paper and most of them were produced either flat plate printing or rotary press printing. In addition some of them exist perf comb 14 x 14¼ and rouletted 13.

The stamps exist with a large number of errors: damaged letters, numbers or posthorns, flattened numbers, shading errors, shifted print etc, but only the most common of these are described below.

Mi 319 was produced using flat plate or rotary press printing.



VALIDITY: 4th Nov 1923 until 31st Dec 1923
VALUE: 1 Milliarde MARK
COLOUR: dark sienna (shades) (variations)
WATERMARK: Waffle
PERF: comb 14 x 14¼
SIZE: 22 x 26mm
PRINT TYPE: Typography
AVAILABILITY: Sheets
QUANTITY PRINTED: Unknown

MAJOR VARIATIONS

There are two major variations



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 A P - flat plate printing
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 325 A W - rotary press printing

Flat plate printing and rotary press printing examples can be determined by the size of the stamp: Flat plate 17.7mm x 21.5mm and rotary press printing 18.0mm x 22.0mm.

COLOUR VARIATIONS

There are four major colour variations



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 A P a - dark sienna (lilac brown) perf 14 x 14¼ - flate plate
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Mi 325 A P b - black grey brown to blackish brown perf 14 x 14¼ - flate plate
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Mi 325 A W a - dark sienna (lilac brown) rotary press
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 325 A W b - dark to blackish brown rotary press

UPPER EDGE PIECES: (Flat Plate Printing Upper Margin Copies - P OR). There are seven types of upper edge piece.

Mi 325 A P a OR A (Plate A - upper margin only with row values)
Mi 325 A P a OR B (Plate B - upper margin with bar of dashes and row values)
Mi 325 A P a OR C (Plate C - upper margin with thin line and row values)
Mi 325 A P b OR A (Plate A - upper margin only with row values)
Mi 325 A P b OR B (Plate B - upper margin with bar of dashes and row values)
Mi 325 B P OR A (Plate A - upper margin only with row values)
Mi 325 B P OR B (Plate B - upper margin with bar of dashes and row values)



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 A P a OR A upper margin only with row values)
ABOVE CENTRE: Mi 325 A P a OR B upper margin with bar of dashes and row values)
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 325 A P a OR C upper margin with thin line and row values)

UPPER EDGE PIECES: (Rotary Press Printing Upper Margin Copies - W OR). There are two types of upper edge piece.

Mi 325 A W a OR: 1'4'1 / 1'5'1
Mi 325 A W b OR: 1'4'1 / 1'5'1

MARGIN COPIES (left or right) with rouletting

Mi 325 A P dgz

HAN: There are two different HAN

Mi 325 A P a: H6274.23
Mi 325 B P a: H6274.23

OTHER VARIANTS

Mi 325 A P a Uu: bottom imperforate
Mi 325 A P a U: imperforate
Mi 325 B P Ur: right not rouletted
Mi 325 A P F: without denomination
Mi 325 A P Pa: on glued paper web

'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). These two faults always appear together on a sheet in fields 43, 48, 93 and 98.

Mi 325 A P HT: crack (perf)
Mi 325 B P HT: crack (roulette)
Mi 325 A Pe 1: frayed margin (perf)
Mi 325 B Pe 1: frayed margin (roulette)



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 A P HT 1 Cracked plate flaw
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 325 A Pe 1 Cracked plate flaw

PLATE FLAWS

There are two major plate flaws



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 II - lower part or 'R' in 'Reich' closed 'Beich' (field 45)
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 325 III - line on top of inscription 'Deutsches Reich'

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 - P OR

ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 A P a OR A upper margin only with row values)
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 325 A P a OR B upper margin with bar of dashes and row values)



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 A P a OR C upper margin with thin line and row values

CRACK PLATE FLAWS

ABOVE LEFT: Mi 325 A P HT 1 Cracked plate flaw on left stamp
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 325 A Pe 1 Cracked plate flaw

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