On The Road Again - Eye To Eye With The Local Postal Authority

Bendix - this is, unequivocally, my favourite thread on SCF. Give us news from Elsinore!

And now, let's come to the end of the passage…and review Denmark philatelically.

Alas, from the Denmark expedition (1996) no postal item has been preserved or the recipients have not returned specific cards (one can't always force them to do so), but a visit at the counters of Denmark's post in Elsinore was successful.

A complete set of local palaces was for sale (in a presentation pack showing additional data and information in respect of the stamps – that is beautiful and comprehensive, but if one considers the amount of space such a presentation pack consumes and the number of issues of alone one country which can easily add up into the thousands, it becomes evident that storage problems might occur).



Furthermore, I could buy a few special issues sail boats (out of a set, which is proof for me, that these stamps could be bought as a single value without the necessity to buy the complete set) and some additional smaller issues of the definites (useful to get to the tariff for non-domestic mail).

Let's have a look at these definites. There are (status as of 2020) 54 different values, as well as another 35 with an additional inprint of heraldic hearts. This design is now over 100 years old, in 1921 the first ones were issued and that design has since been kept on. These stamps are always nominated in Oere = the hundredth part of a crown.



The frugality of the design matches well to the country, where I found it difficult to find an open shop or restaurant (I admit having then bypassed Kopenhagen and been travelling through the countryside, but even so the fact was evident).
Even the banknotes of that time were conspiciously without ostentation.

That soberness I found echoed in my stock of Danish stamps by the time, where the fact that stamps might as well be produced in multi-colour or using fresher hues has been discovered about 30 years later than in other European countries.

As a result of my impressions, and I ask the pardon of all Denmark-admirers, I bestowed the title of being the most lacklustring or dull country in the world.

And I will not change my mind, even if one qoutes Olsen-Gang-movies (locally produced slapstick movies - the Danish answer on James Bond, by the way honoured with a special stamp issue) or mentions the fact that Denmark was once the world leader in the production of adult entertainment movies (a fact not yet recognized philatelically) in the Seventies.

However, the number of stamps released is relatively scant and the stamps are inexpensive and easy to procure. Even though the charm of these stamps may disclose only at second sight, from a print quality point of view there is nothing to decry about. Twenty years after my visit I acquired a mint collection of stamps released between 1970 and 1987 for the small amount of EUR 40.00 (= 4 evenings of excellent entertainment during Corona-curfew). All stamps are still valid for postage (as every issue from 1933 on is), but the price for postal services has become that incredibly expensive (postage for the postcard in 1996 was DKK 4.00 – today in 2023 it would be DKK 36.00 – yes, that is approx. EUR 4.80), that an economic usage of such old nominals would be hard to manage (there might even not be enough space for a recipient's address).

Anyhow, it's fun to have a look what is philatelically going on in a neighbouring country.

So, should anybody have Danish stamps lounging around, one should take them out, take a good look and form one's own opinion on the subject.
That's the impulse I wanted to set today.

As maybe I am wrong and see only an ugly duckling, where others perceive a beautiful swan.

Opinion is hardly wrong, just misguided.
Obviously you have the bower bird gene, you like sticks and brightly coloured tinsel.

Denmark offers a wide palate of collecting interests, beautiful booklets,
The BYPOST, the Christmas Seals, The Cinderellas, the Railways AHT, HFHJ, HVJ, LJ and LFJS, NFJ, KNJ, OJ, OKMJ, OMB, RHJ, VLTJ.
Revenues, Viborg Bypost, West Indies.

If one is tired of Denmark, must be tired of life.

(As I currently sit through my second viewing of "Borgen" great Danish TV )
Borgen: The greatest political drama ever. Caryn James.

After the voyage is before the voyage, so or similarly so once said Sepp Herberger, a legendary German football trainer (his original quote was: After the match is before the match – very wise answer, applicable to any kind of question as now and then trivial sportive events are talked to death).

But where could one travel to? Lets's have a look at three types of travellers
1. Those, who feel the need to always go to different places. Be it that this is a certain individual consume pattern or it is restlessness (out of curiosity, will to conquer or unconscious death wish) which drives one from one cultural area to the next. This specimen you will find well represented in the incorrigible "worldwide" collector.
2. Then there is the one, who dares to leave the country, but only goes to a certain cultural area, for example to France which names itself as "Grande Nation" which promises a certain range of variety - as he speaks French - or to some mountains because one likes climbing. For outside parties this might appear adventurous, but it is in fact a well calculated enterprise, comprising little risk (as one does only that, at one is good at), not a trip into the wild. And that could be the type collector of one's homecountry and covering one or two additional specific areas of collection.
3. Type three commutes from his hometown to his traditional place for holiday for years (in extreme occurrence I met such a character recently: travelling for over thirty years the dangerous distance of 250 km to one specific point at the at the North See). Such a person might collect his homecountry and nothing else in a preprinted album.

That might at first thought sound like a trivial generalisation, but there is more in it, than you might think:
• Type 3 considers Type 1 as someone who can't be taken serious, as unstable, conspicious and in the end even dangerous (as he is threatening public order and going well beyond one's own horizon).
• Typ 2 is the one of the well limited, well calculated risk, but someone who knows not to look like a bore.
• Typ 1 is an adventurer, but at the end he might be arriving after decades of travelling or hoarding hundredthousands of stamps nowhere, fool that he is.

If these types interact, an outburst of conflict or a latently felt sentiment of mutual non-understanding might occur.

That is only human and kindles a good discussion, which is all the fun of the game.

Well, how did we get there? Oh, yes of course – I consider myself with a tendency to type one, but as I have in my previous contribution backbitten Denmark (…most boring country in the world….), where did I go to next year…..?



Admittedly only with the intention to set over for Sweden. However, there was enough time for a visit of the Elsinore post-office, where I had the pleasure to acquire the above shown colourful assortment.

Now, and where is the adventure factor in that? Well,
• When was the last time you went 780 km (distance from my dear hometown to Elsinore) to buy stamps at the post-office.
• ...a train journey, - some nighttrain from Düsseldorf to Hamburg, which departed at some time around midnight. The folks hustling about at that time of the night are special and may be regarded as a latent threat for every overnervous bourgeoise person. The train rattling along the track through the night. The necessity to change the train in vibrant Hamburg, off with the next train on the German island Fehmarn. Then the train was put into a ferry to cross the Sea to Danish territory (bird migration-line). When Arriving in Kopenhagen, orientate oneself again in another metropolis, again changing trains.
• At such occasions you need to be on the qui vive.

Bird migration-line? Inaugurated in 1963. This was a traffic infrastructure with the pecularity of a train ferry element, connecting Western Germany with Denmark, as the traditional habour for the exchange of goods between Denmark and Germany was Rostock, which found itself behind the iron curtain. Today the train ferry traffic is suspended. The ferry is still operating (for passengers, trucks and cars).

Upon the opening there were special issues by the West German and the Danish postal authorities. Last time I voiced criticism in regards to Danish stamp design (to mundane, unspectecular). But please, judge for yourself…..



Well? Whatever your verdict is (simply form your own opinion and enjoy either the one or the other design, or both). I would like to add that the Danish specimen was etched by master Slania.

Now, I like both
• The German stamp is more informative. It is easier to comprehend at what the stamp is aiming. Clearly broader spectrum of colours and by that of a sanguine appearance. Theme and motif of bird migration as a metaphor for going long distance to Scandinavia as the shortest way and for freedom nicely combined.
• The Danish stamp is printed in illustrious intanglia in green and white. One needs to take a closer look to comprehend what is meant (above train, in the middle: a skidmark = sign for road traffic, symbols of flow meant for representing the water and the sea). The stamp is more ornamental (for which I have a liking).

Catalogue value about EUR 0,60 and therefore unworthy to being discussed? I take it, these stamps have entertained us well for at least five minutes. I strongly advice against attempts to measure cultural value in monetary units.

And that is fascinating: being reminded that the infrastructure honoured on that stamps, has at some time really been used by oneself.

Another splendid post, mein freund. I must be type 2 - just Eurostar and SNCF, flânerie, a bistrot, a Calva, a Gitane. I don't minding looking like a bore, though.

There are all the permutations of the three types of travellers and three types of collectors.

Also, here, it is traveller type 3 that is not taken serious by the other two types. Actually, he is not considered a traveller, but a herd animal.

So, let's return to Scandinavia, a for the cursory observer a completely idyllic and peaceful place, Sweden that was. It was a kind of tranquillity and insouciance I noticed that prompted me to return to the country, although with the intention to visit different places.

Everything felt so astoundingly relaxed, prosperous and unconstrained (and yes, the women showed beyond a beautiful complexion a proud assertiveness as well), that I recollect the time of my sojourn as a complete blithe one.

I sought advice in a guidebook beforehand the trip and was told, that in Sweden a reserved and cool personality of the folk was to be expected. In fact I was received kindly at every place I got to, was actively supported when it came to looking for accommodation and found much kindness in general in an intensity seldomly experienced in other countries.

So it was as well with my visit at the counters of the main post office in Göteburg, where I could trace the by the time operating collector's counter (as in the end every travel needs it's little philatelic event as a highlight – not to mention that it is not conceivable to be on the road unaccompanied by at least a basic supply of a few stamps, is it? And if possible, of course by the most beautiful ones, one can find.). There, in Göteburg, they were even better stocked than in Malmö the year before, and one could choose from issues going back to the year 1990.

Time to show some of the spoils:

How about Swedish movies – at the top right „Wild Strawberries" should be the most popular one on an international level – it received by it's time a lot of awards (it has now been 25 years since I watched the movie last time, since then stowed away in the intellectual poison cabinet).



Suitable for a summerly journey: the summer in the arts.



By the way, inflation was a an already by the time known phenomenon. The postage went up on a year to year basis by – by my troth – 7.7%!



Together with my purchases I was handed over the below shown card as an additional souvenir. As you see, it has survived the lapse of time.



And on it's back their service was advertised („vackra" by the way means "beautiful" and not „valiant" as one could surmise from it's Germanic word stem. Have they grown soft of late, these Vikings?). Besides with gratifyingly long opening hours, 9-19h00.

And had they not been located in a traditional representative postal building? Hm, I'm not completely sure, that is why I try to locate their current premises. All right, I found the post office in Nordstan. Now to be found in a shopping mall. And here is the picture google showed, when I searched for it (and yes, though it may be hard to believe – it shows the mall's lavatories!).



But wait a minute, wasn't there a telephone number displayed on the card? Well, let's give them a call and clear that question. It's ringing….a voice…. (why are they always employing women with a seductive voice sounding like an odysseussian sirene, I called twice) ...and she told me in Swedish, that no one could be reached under that number.... well, everything is only a distant memory now.

But it might have come worse - as think of that: the supervisor of the lavatory would have answered the call....

On the occasion of being to Sweden, what stands to reason? Of course: to visit Norway. So let's put ourselves on the road to Oslo, the unexcited capital of Norway.

Capital = GPO = philatelic counter = best service for collectors, so was the equitation I formed for myself. So, let's see if my expectations were met.

Norway shows an astounding continuity, namely one of the longest definite-designs in use in the world – that is the Norwegian post horn. The first issue dates from 1872, in decimal currency 1877….and these NOK-nominated issues are valid to this day. Yes, most stamps of this country are still or are again valid for postage. A gracious legislator has in 1981 even revalidated a large number of older issues dated from 1945 and before. Halleluja!

For all those who have until now not believed in wonders, here is a selection from 100 years of post horn-issues….and the one for NOK 0,30 I have bought in Oslo at that time.



It is remarkable how Norway has changed in the lapse of the 20th century, from a poor agricultural / seafarer country into a superrich welfare nation – by what, well - by oil and gas. In my opinion the stuff that makes rich the fastest way, and that without prejudice: regardless of race, sex, religious orientation or achievement. One only needs to have the luck to sit on an oil or gas bubble.

Here a selection of the loot from visiting the post office: two remarkable booklets (print run about 1,2 Mio.).

First, a – to my taste – rather conventional design: 350 years of postal service in Norway. I'm pleased by the quotations of the performance of postal transport: if on foot, by train, bicycle or plane, the post will transport it – over mountains, across the sea, to distant places as well. A phantastic service – the post overcomes all obstacles und connects people.



Important moments of the Norwegian post war era – from an artistic point of view more to my taste. One of which: commemorating 1971 the opening of the first oilfield: Ekofisk (as to the merit of the oil cashflow for Norway the stamp ought to have been printed on genuine gold foil). So, eight stamps cover a range of 40 year of national history. Information more compact? Hardly possible!



The result of that prosperity is a – even for Scandinavia – breathtaking price level. Thus, Oslo constantly ranges together with Tokio or Zürich in the first ranks of the cities with the highest cost of living.

There aren't so many stamps issued per year, I counted about 25 for 1997. At Oslo's Frimerkerketj (so the Norwegian name for the philatelic counter) the issues of the last two years were on sale.

Now, I wrote from memory, but see you here, the receipt has survived.



Orginally, I wanted to go to Bergen and cross the Hardangervidda, but I dropped the plan and have postponed it until later, as my travelling allowance melted away like snow under a Norwegian sun on the south side of a mountain (no beverage, no simple food could be bought under DEM 10,00. I visited a restaurant, thought it doesn't need to be an alcoholic beverage for dinner – and ordered an beer without alcohol. Cost: DEM 12,00 that was DEM 1,00 less in comparison to a normal beer - a whammer. Return to Germany by ferry to Kiel (and I said to myself: one day you will return….).

But before that let's send a card home…..



…here some aspects in regards to the number of prints. The stamp has been printed 6,374 Mio. times. Germany (to serve as an example) has 14,8 times the number of inhabitants of Norway. Let's calculate that – that would represent a print run in Germany of about 89 Mio. pieces (by the time 30 Mio. for a special issue was the usual print run for a special issue without surcharge in Germany). So, the Norwegian stamp is not a rare one – but it marvellously fitted for a summerly greeting by card (as if oneself would be waving jovially from aboard a yacht).

To return to Germany was in some aspects unpleasant – as the people in Germany can be harsh and inconsiderate at times - (I include myself in that and may, if my temper get's the better of me, be a representative of that attitude). 15 minutes at the Kiel main train station and I had returned to German reality (in some regards ruthless, in comparison to Scandinavia scruffy and bland, drunken people – in the morning. A rough awakening!.

So, let's start a new voyage, why not to Austria, for me as a Rhinelander not around the corner but on the other hand not to far away.

For Germans hard to believe but at the age of 29 I hadn't seen the Alps.

As you see, it was time to have a look.

I went there in 1998 and experienced philatelists will connect something with that date.

Important changes were looming, that was the invention of the Euro in exchange for the numerous local currencies that could be found in Europe. All right, notes and coins were not emitted until 2002 but book money had been introduced in 1999.

The threat for us collectors was the question, what would become of our hoarded mint stock in stamps. Austria's devastating answer was the denomination of all ATS-nominated stamps in 2002.

Those who start to show tears, need not to feel ashamed, an extremely sad incident. Rest in Peace you from 10.12.1947 until 30.06.2002 valid ATS-(Schilling)-stamps.

18 years later a collection of some Austrian stamps fell for a fistfull of Euro into my hands. There I could found at least 100 mint but hinged issues in New Schilling-stamps, including the 1948er reconstruction-issue und Salzburg Cathedral (where were you, when I needed you). Masterpieces in intanglia.

Oh, how I wish I could use them still and put them on my mail as embassadors of culture and my own cause. But alas, it is over.



If I remember correctly, this disaster to come was in 1998 already known to the public or at least with high probability to be expected. Consequently. everything had to go.

So, before the departure I looked what could be used up. Here is what I found….



In Landeck I went to the post office, and that went in some regards not to well, as the Christel of the Post (obsolete nickname for female postal clerks) hadn't had a good day (and if I remember correctly, not much enthusiasm either. Yes, I had the impression that she didn't fully understand what I wanted. First, there was to much colour, then the postmark was put on somehow and without passion, very dimly, hardly, discernable.)

A pitty, but that is postal everyday live. Not every postmark is a success. And the Austrians have a lot of intanglia prints that don't absorb postmarks to easily.

…and this time I didn't bring any new material home. The coming demonetisation had hardened my heart. Not to bring back a souvenir is difficult for me, but the grudge I felt in regard of the coming expropiation (and the depriviation of thousands of wonderful motives for postage) prevailed.

A short look at catalogue prices for the 1960ies issues of Germany (which all had a limited validity) showed me what was coming, i.e. a devaluation of the price level beyond it's nominal value. And that has become real in an intensity, which I at the time didn't believe to be possible.

I live in the downs (40 meter above sea level), so mountains are something very special – what a panorama (returned by train via the phantastic Arlberg-railtrack). – and the weather was remarkable, in September from warm 25 degrees centigrade and blue skies to 20 cm of newly fallen snow everything was in array. So, I felt myself well compensated.

By the way „Christel von der Post", is a figure of a Carl Zeller-musical / operetta (The Tyrolean) popular around 1890 – a female good hearted, young and beautiful postal clerk, who finds it luck with a Tyrolean bird catcher. How wonderful, more Austrian? Impossible!

For all (post-)nostalgists the following



It would be of advantage to understand German (for all who don't: she is singing in regards to postal work, it's about delivering letters, how people wait for news…and that the post is always to slow...). If you don't: enjoy the tune, the coach, the uniforms. Why don't you have a glass of sparkling wine with that. Should you decide to look for the whole piece – have a bottle. My recommendation: while listening have a look at your Austrian stamps from the 1960ies - great pieces of art!

So, it is „Servus" for today (informal greeting to say hello or goodbye – typically used in Austria).

Not only the Austrians had to say good bye to their pre-EUR stamps, us Germans as well.

From a local day trip the following has been preserved.



Cancelled in one of the smallest post offices in Bad Neuenahr, office No. 11, presumeably closed since then for years.

Business was quite on the day of my visit, the female clerk served my stamp order thoroughly.

One may observe that the stamps have not been used close to the time of their emission or in other words contemporarily and have not been sold by this particular post office as well.

And this is why: as I only started in 1981 with the acquisition of mint domestic material, the first years of stamps with unlimited validity from 1969 on were missing in my stock. By the coming introduction of the Euro in 2002, hoarded stock of older stamps suddenly came on the market (according to my perception from 1995 on). So, in summer 1998 I visited a local Cologne stamp dealer and brashly asked for fivetimes the stamps of the years 1969-1974 (which until then were unattainable for me, as a lot of stamps from this period were in the 1970ies and 1980ies part of a price-frenzy, and have been traded at 10-20-times their face value)….and got them for 80% the nominal without the surcharge. Quite satisfying!

From then on, my postage got much more colourful than before. It simply was great fun to sit down and work out combinations for a postal items and surely make a lot of recipients happy.

I was always pleased as well, when a client or a friend arranged postage with a little effort. It was my pleasure to reciprocate the kindness. With that material I could make a go.

A small but fine trip. From Euskirchen (150 meter above sea level) one directly enters a low mountain area (always one of the most beautiful sites in Germany, on 400 meter) a part of the Eifel (so the name of the region) via winding roads over the mountains, up and down, passing the Nürburgring (racing course), entering the Ahr(river)-valley, from there to the Rhine, where from Sinzig to Bonn one can get an idea of the scenic Rhine valley, until north of Bonn the industrialised part of the Rhineland begins, until you ride in (bicycle tour) to Cologne with its famous cathedral. After such toils you best end the day with a few beer and a solid local Rhinish dish.

Well, I am from the Northern Rhineland region in Germany. When leaving my home and turning west it is about five kilometers and I will find myself on the banks of the river Rhine, on the right side of the stream.

Now, one simply looks at the direction of flow and follows the river downstream. I live exactly on the culture border of Electorate Cologne and the Lower Rhineland. And off one goes, north, about 100 km through the landscape of the Lower Rhineland. When the river splits in two, we have arrived – at our neigbours, the Netherlands.

Once formally a part of Germany, they declared independent in 1648 – after an 80 years war for independence from Spain, the then by the time nominal territorial sovereign. It was a war about religion and culture (calvinists vs. catholics – ethnic Dutch vs. Spaniards …..and - naturally - is was about money).

Since then, religiously the reformed church is preponderant and with that comes a remarkable success in economic regards, as well in trade and culture. Real heavyweights of economy and as to the commercial culture it is somewhere in the middle between Britain and Germany. Excellent businessmen!

Own country – own culture – own stamps (even if from a linguistic point of view the Dutch and the German language show many similarities. When I take up a paper in Dutch I will understand its contents to a degree of 80%, I dare say).
And as to Dutch stamps, they show a preference for noticeable designs. In that always ahead of the time with demanding graphical designs (using collages and abstracts), one looks a second or third time at them and wonders.

I have been touring there in 1999, amongst other things to see Amsterdam. That fell in the procedures of the introduction of the Euro, so I used up duplicates and minor quality stamps.



That might look unspectecular at first sight, but consider this
• The special issue: When first I looked, I could only make out some historic drawing with a background in beige in red. That could have been in commemoration of anything (some historic event). Then I had a closer look at the imprint and could make out that the stamp was in honour of the botanic garden in Leiden. Allright. Then I marvelled, garden? I would have expected plants. And it was then, that I recognised, that the colours where not only simple background colours, but formed a tulip blossom, which was completely spreading over the stamp including its dents. So, we see a optical delusion: personage and buildings on the stamp are of small scale, whereas the tulip blossom is overlarge in comparison. Furthermore, a garden is formed by lawns and beds, by trees and forbs, but here only one particular blossom of a flower is used to quote plants, and that is the plant the Netherlands are famous for and which by the way, can be seen in the millions in springtime. That is an extraordinary concept and it is so with many Dutch stamp designs.
• Additionally franked with a stamp out of the numeral definite stamps series, the typical supplementation stamp.
• Furthermore, we see a Queen Juliane design definite from the 1950ies. These we already declared void since 1985. So, it seems that I have obtained the conveyance surreptitiously. Well, there is evil in the world at times. Is that the death sentence for the item? That would be regrettable – as the portrait of the Queen is displayed. And that tradition remained constant for decades and is typical for post from the Netherlands. And I will proof that



I assert, most of us will recognise these designs at once, whilst the design itself modernises slightly from issue to issue – the key presentation is preserved. It is this recognition factor which is crucial for an object of utility and its users.

Now that we are coming to the end, should you find yourself exhausted after my lecture, how about strengthening oneself with a typical local dish: fries speciaal. Allright, French Fries with mayonnaise you will get as well in my home region as in the Netherlands. The speciality is the topping consisting of one to two table spoons of chopped white onions.

Enjoy (the dish and the stamps of the area)!

You, probably, meant 'illusion'.

Issues up to the end of 1976 (that were valid at the time) remained valid until 31 December 1985. Stamps thereafter in Dutch Guilders remained valid until 31 October 2013. In practice, it was quite difficult for post office clerks to determine which old stamps were still valid and which were no longer valid. The 'Juliana Regina' stamps from 1969 remained current until the early 1980s. Therefore, they were not invalidated on 31 December 1985. The same goes for the 'Crouwel' low value definitives that remained current until the introduction of the Euro in 2002.

One interesting example of how confusing the regulations were are the stamps issued to advertise the Amphilex 1977 stamp exhibition. The 1976 and 1977 issues are similar in design. Yet, the former was valid until 31 December 1985 and the latter until 31 October 2013.

The drawings are not buildings but a detail from an 1801 map of the Hortus Botanicus (Botanic Gardens) of the University of Leiden. There are flower beds and an arch as well as 'visitors.' These might be scientists from the university. The gardens were founded as medicinal gardens.

In 1593, Carolus Clusius, became the first director of the botanical gardens. He was the first to, successfully, grow a tulip in the Netherlands.

The flower depicted is the Tulipa 'Wapen van Leiden' (coat-of-arms of Leiden).

As for the historical information: that is quite a reframing of Dutch history.

A little late to the game in this thread, but it's interesting how tastes run in philately. Denmark is one of my favorite countries due to the many excellent and long-running definitives they have issued. My collection of Denmark starts in 1905, so I don't have any of the "Oval" definitives, or any designs earlier than the Ovals. Denmark was one of the first countries I started collecting when I became bored with general British Commonwealth and a specialization in KGVI.

Among my favorites designs from Denmark:

Wavy Lines definitives 1905 - present (?)

King Christian definitives 1913-1928. Over a period of years and a lot of effort, I managed to assemble a complete MNH collection of these stamps

Caravel definitives 1927-1940

Small State Seal definitives 1946-2010 (?)

King Frederik IX definitives 1948-1955

King Frederik IX definitives next design 1961-1967

Queen Margrethe first definitives 1974-1981

Queen Margrethe second definitives 1982- 1990. Although these are stated in Scott's to be a commemoration of Margethe's 10th anniversary of assecion, there is no mention of this on the stamps. Additionally, these stamps continued to be issued long after the 10th anniversary.

There are 2 additional Margrethe definitives that run up to at least 2014. All these definitive series have been finely engraved from 1933 to the present. Makes for an awesome display in my books!

Let's go back to the Netherlands. As now that we find ourselves there, it would be unforgiveable not to visit the seaside as well. From Amsterdam to the coast it is less than 30 km.

To all friends of the sophisticated may I commend Scheveningen. If I remember correctly, it is possible to go by tram to the nearby capital Den Haag.

If one follows the coastline you will arrive via the Rhine- / Schelde-delta to Zeeland, which is all but the bathtube for Western Germans from the Rhine- / Ruhr-area, which is why in regards to the tourist-Euro spent in the lapse of decades there, the wide beaches should consist of golddust.

To a postbox in Domburg I entrusted the following

Dump? Trivial? Wait a moment!

• In that particular combination not so common to be found
• With the december-issue – unorthodoxly shaped, in the form of a rhombus. The stamps are pierced as well (officially). The stamp is full of motifs as to the new year and christmas. I alone after a superficial glimpse have found five quotes of the season. That may look like a special issue, but if one considers the print run (105 Mio.!) its closer to a definite issue.
• Together with a pleasing block of four of the cipher-definite-issue (by the designer Crouwel)
• As to the postmark: have I not stated I had put the item in a postbox in Zeeland. And now, what is shown in the postmark? Rotterdam! So, the post must have been gathered with other mail and been brought to a regional postcenter in Rotterdam and there it was processed and machine cancelled. To me as a postcard romanticist that takes a bit of the effect of such a card. We are sending home card as to show where we were. Normally, these are places which we commemorate as special and which we want to flag. Card, stamps, text and postmark form a oneness which works best when harmonising. And that impression has now been derogated. Collectors specialised on a certain locality will know what I mean.

Well, as to the cipher-issue here is another Dutch speciality. Last time I have highlighted the queen-issues, this time I will focus on the supplementary issues consisting of a cipher.

Now, let's take the typical shape of the queen-issues and turn them by 90 degrees, then we have…exactly, the supplementary-issue-format. Look here - one hundred years of design of objects of utility:

My favourite is the orange 5-cent-stamp in typical design of the fifties (minimalistic but powerful) - nothing to valuable, nevertheless, fascinating and worth being pointed to.

Oh the sea, the wide sand beaches, the grey and rough North Sea. Build a sandcastle, have a swim, have a walk along the beach, breath in this wonderful sea air…After the elements have worked at you, visit a beach bar and have a strong Dutch coffee or have a small blond beer. Beyond price.

Maybe the best moment to compose a greeting card home.

Best wishes!

Strictly speaking, there are no trams running from Scheveningen to The Hague. There is no lack of busses and trams calling near the Scheveningen seafront. However, any bus calling there is in The Hague, so it cannot go to The Hague. Scheveningen ceased to be a village and now is a neighbourhood within the town of The Hague.

The Christmas stamps were issued in sheetlets of 20 stamps, 10 of each design. The 55 cent was a reduced tariff for use on seasonal cards (if send in an envelope, it should be open) to inland addresses, during December. The stamps, officially, are known as 'decemberpostzegels.' When used in any other way or at any other time, they were just worth 55 cents and the full tariff of 70 cent had to be paid. The discount only applied if the card was franked with these stamps, otherwise the full tariff should be paid.

5,252,800 sheets were printed. This meant there were 52,528,000 stamps of each design printed. Stamps were sold by the sheet, not as singles.

Numerals were used for tariffs below the basic letter rate. In the 1990s, this was not adhered to as the 'Crouwel' stamps also appeared for letter rates.

The last two stamps are not 'numeral' stamps, but non-value indicated stamps. They are for the first and second inland weight steps.