POSTAGE STAMPS
(1923)

This page was last updated
04-Mar-2023 07:52

MICHEL 333
REGULAR ISSUE NUMBER IN CIRCLE WITH ROSETTE

This series of stamps is known as the second Basket lid series or 'regular issue number in circle with rosette'. This series has new denominations and a dashed bar.



VALIDITY: 16th Nov 1923 until 31st Dec 1923
VALUE: 5 Milliarden on 4 Millionen MARK
COLOUR: greenish olive (shades)
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: flat plate and rotary press



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 333 A P - flat plate printing
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 333 A W - rotary press printing

COLOUR VARIATIONS

There are no major colour variations

UPPER EDGE MARGINS

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 'e' only exists from sheets overprinted in Frankfurt. Therefore if your margin piece has a style 'e' then it can only come from a sheet overprinted in Frankfurt.



ABOVE LEFT: Type 'b' – three thin lines (Bl and Mc)
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Type 'c' – 4.5mm thick bar (Ff)
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Type 'e' – 6mm thick bar (Ff)
ABOVE RIGHT: Type 'f' - number and value on two lines



ABOVE RIGHT: Type 'g' – two thin bars (Mc)

UPPPER EDGE PIECES - 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 333 A P - OPD A b OR A (Breslau)
Mi 333 A P - OPD A b OR C (Breslau)
Mi 333 A P - OPD B c OR A (Erfurt)
Mi 333 A P - OPD B c OR C (Erfurt)
Mi 333 A P - OPD C e OR A (Frankfurt)
Mi 333 A P - OPD C e OR C (Frankfurt)
Mi 333 A P - OPD E Ut A (Hanover)
Mi 333 A P - OPD F c OR A (Königsberg)
Mi 333 A P - OPD F c OR C (Königsberg)
Mi 333 A P - OPD G f OR A (Leipzig)
Mi 333 A P - OPD G f OR C (Leipzig)
Mi 333 A P - OPD H g OR A (Munich)
Mi 333 A P - OPD H g OR C (Munich)
Mi 333 A P - OPD I c OR A (Münster)
Mi 333 A P - OPD I c OR C (Münster)

UPPER EDGE PIECES - ROTARY PRESS PRINTING

Mi 333 A W - OPD A b OR (Breslau) 0'6'0 / 1'5'1
Mi 333 A W - OPD C e OR (Frankfurt) 0'6'0 / 1'5'1
Mi 333 A W - OPD F c OR (Königsberg) 0'6'0 / 1'5'1
Mi 333 A W - OPD G f OR (Leipzig) 0'6'0 / 1'5'1

HAN: There is one HAN

Mi 333 A P HAN: H5886.23

OTHER VARIANTS

Mi 333 A P F: pair, one with and one without overprint
Mi 333 A P DD: double overprint
Mi 333 A P K: inverted overprint

'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 333 A P KT, Mi 333 A P ST I, M 333 A P ST II and Mi 333 A P ST IV but these are seldom seen.

Mi 333 A P HT: crack
Mi 333 A Pe 1: frayed margin

PLATE FLAWS OF ORIGINAL STAMP

There is only one major plate flaw



ABOVE: Mi 333 PF I - lower part of 'R' in 'Reich' closed('Beich')

PLATE FLAWS OF OVERPRINTS

There are four major plate flaws as well as a large number of other overprint errors including holes and notches in the numbers and letters, dashes, scratches and stains.



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 333 PF II - lower part of '5' more open (Erfurt) (field 5)
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Mi 333 PF III - large hole in the upper part of the '5' (Breslau) (field 59)
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Mi 333 PF IV - flag of the '5' much thicker (Breslau) (field 49)
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 333 PF V - 'O' in 'MILLIONEN' with horizontal bar (fields 76 and 91)

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