LJP Postmark Catalog

After a long period, I had some free time today, which I used to develop a catalog of postmarks of the Ljubljana Province. Here is a preview for one of the post offices showing different periods and different postmark origins. There were a total of 101 post offices, so worth mentioning that a catalog could be generated programmatically. 

Anyway, there is still a lot to do, so I hope to have some extra time soon ...

Ljubljana Province postmark catalog -  preview for post office Vrhnika.

(click for larger image)

1945 MOSTAR, Overprint double

Overprint double occurred only on one horizontal row of No. 17, where one sheet was incorrectly inserted together with another sheet and received two plate strikes. So, altogether only 10 examples with double overprint could exist.

1945 Mostar provisional issue, No. 17 "War Tax" block of four from positions 1-2/11-12 showing overprint double on upper stamps. Ex Tiberio. Very rare!

1945 LJUBLJANA, Podlipa auxiliary post office

During WWII, Podlipa had a small auxiliary office of the Vrhnika post office. The German army left Vrhnika on May 5 1945, and the next day the abandoned area was held by the Yugoslav army. Nearby Ljubljana and other parts of Slovenia were liberated on May 9. The new regime immediately suspended postal services in the territory of Slovenia - first informally and then, on May 12, also formally. The ban was in effect until June 6. On June 7, the stamps of the Ljubljana Provisional Issue were overprinted and delivered to the post offices in the following days...

Money order for 125.- Lira sent to auxiliary post office Podlipa, cancelled at Vrhika with german canceller OVERLAIBACH / VRHNIKA on 4.V.45. After the Germans left and after the suspension of postal service, it was cancelled with nationalized Italian canceller VRHNIKA on 6.VI.45. The money was paid out on 12.VI.45, and the money transfer order was liquidated with No. 5 of Ljubljana provisional issue on 13.VI.1945.

This is an extremely rare postal item used in a small auxiliary post office during the transition period between the two regimes.

Partisan mail from evacuation hospital

Partisan mail was operated by couriers who carried mail between branched relay stations. The senders or recipients were usually in mobile partisan units or stationary bases such as military hospitals. One of such hospitals was SVPB-E, an evacuation hospital that operated in two locations in Bela Krajina near the partisan airport at Otok village. Patients waiting to be evacuated by plane gathered here. The first evacuations were to Italy and later to Dalmatia...

Partisan letter, sent from SVPB-E (= "Slovenska Vojno Partizanska Bolnica - Evakuacijska" = "Slovenian Military Partisan Hospital - Evacuation") to SNOS (= "Slovenski NarodnoOsvobodilni Svet" = "Slovenian National Liberation Council", transit via relay station "RS 15" on 9.III.1945. Very rare!

GLAVNA UPRAVA SVBP VII. KORPUSA NOV in POJ (= MAIN UNIT of SVBP of VII. CORPS of NOV and POJ)

NOV = "NarodnoOsvobodilna Vojska" = "National Liberation Army"
POJ = "Partizanskih Odredov Jugoslavije" = "Partisan Units of Yugoslavia"

Relay station "RS 15" was positioned in Kočevski Rog.

LJP, A letter from Tivat

After the Italian occupation of Montenegro and the province of Ljubljana in 1941, the post between these regions was a domestic mail. However, due to the war circumstances and the censorship centres, the shipment routes were quite complicated...

Express registered letter, franked with 3 Lire, sent from Tivat (5.IX.41) to Novo Mesto (14.IX.41), censored in Bologna, transit via Munich and Trieste.

The cancellations show a complicated route:

 

5.IX.41 TIVAT / ТИВАТ

9.9.41 BOLOGNA FERROVIA RACCOMANDATE / TURNO B

11.9.41 MÜNCHEN / HAUPSTADT DER BEWEGUNG

12.9.41 TRIESTE CORRISP. E PACCHI / (ARR. PART. RACC. B)

14.IX.41 NOVO MESTO / [LUBIANA]

PhilAdria's 26th auction

On October 23rd, the 26th Philadria auction will take place. A lot of exciting material and favourable starting prices. Online catalogue at http://catalog.philadria.com/en/catalog/index/26 or via Philasearch site at https://www.philasearch.com/en/country_topic.html?set_auktionnr=7174.

26th auction catalogues.

There are six lots with my certificates:

Lots 417, 420, 421, 447, 468 and 469.
(click the image for enlargement)

Exceptionally late use of Small Petar

The use of stamps and stationery with Small Peter's motif is considered late usage already for 1941. Therefore, we can examine that the usage at the end of 1945 is exceptionally late ...

1 Din stationery of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia "Small Petar" sent from Dubrovnik (13.XII.45) to Split. The post office in Dubrovnik allowed its use, as they cancelled it and put it into the postal traffic. Exceptionally late usage.