POSTAGE STAMPS
(1923)

This page was last updated
29-Jan-2023 06:07

MICHEL 338
REGULAR ISSUE NUMBER IN CIRCLE WITH ROSETTE

New currency - the Rentenmark, later Reichsmark.



VALIDITY: 1st Dec 1923 until 31st Jan 1928
VALUE: 3Pf
COLOUR: dark orange brown (variations)
WATERMARK: Waffle
PERF: comb 14 x 14¼
SIZE: 22 x 26mm
PRINT TYPE: Typography
AVAILABILITY: Sheets and coils
QUANTITY PRINTED: Unknown

SIMILAR STAMPS

ABOVE: Mi 99 - Identical to Mi 338 but now with 'Dienstmarke' overprint and for official use only

MAJOR VARIATIONS

There are two major variations



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 338 P - flat plate printing
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 338 W - rotary press printing

COLOUR VARIATIONS

There are four major colour variations



ABOVE LEFT: Mi 338 P a - dark orange brown - flat plate printing
ABOVE CENTRE LEFT: Mi 338 P b - blackish brown - flat plate printing
ABOVE CENTRE RIGHT: Mi 338 W a - dark orange brown - rotary press printing
ABOVE RIGHT: Mi 338 W b - blackish brown - 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 338 P a OR C
Mi 338 P b OR C

UPPER MARGIN PIECES - W OR

Rotary Press printing

Mi 338 W a OR - / 1'5'1
Mi 338 W b OR - / 1'5'1

HAN

There are four HAN variations

Mi 338 HAN: H6357.23
Mi 338 HAN: H6720.23
Mi 338 HAN: H6834.23
Mi 338 HAN: H6979.23

COILS

Mi 338 W R - strip of 11 stamps

OTHER VARIANTS

Mi 338 a U: imperforate
Mi 338 a Uu: imperforate below
Mi 338 a I: missing value
Mi 338 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 338 A KT and Mi 338 b KT.

Mi 338 a HT: crack
Mi 338 b HT: crack
Mi 338 a Pe 1: frayed margin
Mi 338 b Pe 1: frayed margin

PLATE FLAWS OF ORIGINAL STAMP

There are no major plate flaws

PLATE FLAWS OF OVERPRINTS

There are no major overprint flaws but there are lots of minor flaws including flecks, blunted numbers and letters, spots etc.

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