1945 LJUBLJANA, Letter from two periods

Letter, correctly franked with 50 cent. and cancelled with a bilingual stamp LAIBACH 1 / LJUBLJANA 1 from the period of German occupation, was sent the day before the liberation of Ljubljana, on 8th of May 1945. The letter was censored and delivered just under the new military government, sometime prior to the suspension of all postal traffic that happened on 12th of May.

Letter sent loco Ljubljana under the German occupation (8.V.45) but censored and delivered by the Partisans after the liberation of Ljubljana (9.V.45). The acronym "V. K. P. Lj. 1" most likely means "Vojna Komanda Pošta Ljubljana 1" - "Military Command Post office Ljubljana 1".

1944 SENTA, Third phase proof

As already stated, overprinting was done row by row in multiple phases: first five-pointed star in red color and then, on top of it, inscription: 8.X.1944. / Jугославија in black color. For values: P1, XIII, XIV, PI, PII and PIII the third overprint phase was also required.

PIII, showing all three phases.

1944 Senta local provisional issue, third phase proof for PIII. Positions A1-10. This is the only example of third phase proof known to me.

1945 LJUBLJANA, Overfranked letter

I found an interesting letter where everything looks authentic and correct except the rate that was used. Until the 01.07.1945 the tariff for an ordinary letter was 1 Lire and not 1,50 Lire! It could be that it was simply a mistake of the sender, although there is also the possibility that it was a mistake of the postal staff.

It is important to know some circumstances at that time:

a) In an official circular letter of 26.06.1945 new postal rates were announced and new DFJ dinar was introduced. A tariff for an ordinary letter was set as 1,50 Din.

b) In an official circular letter of 27.06.1945 post offices in the Ljubljana region were instructed that they will have to use stamps of the Ljubljana provisional issue as long as they are not supplied with new federal stamps. The exchange ratio was set as 1 Lire = 1 Din.

So, taking a) and b) plus a general situation of that time with full of changes and turbulence, someone can easily imagine that the mistake could be also done by the postal worker who charged 1.50 Din = 1,50 Lire.

1945 Ljubljana, local provisional issue, letter franked with 1,50 Lire, sent from Ljubljana (27.VI.45) to Samobor. Censored by the military censor in Croatia. 

1945 SARAJEVO, Sent from abroad

Recently I found a stationery sent from Trieste what at first appeared to be something impossible. However, thanks to Mr. Novaković, one of the most reputed experts in this field, it turns out that stationery is an authentic postal item used as a reply postcard. Furthermore, it turns out that this is the only known instance of postal usage of 1945 Sarajevo provisional issue sent from abroad.

1945 Sarajevo local provisional issue, postal stationery, type Ia, used as a reply postcard (risposta), sent from Trieste (3.7.45) to Bosansko Grahovo. Unique item.

1945 GUŠTANJ, Porto provisorium

Stamps of Maribor provisional issue were used internally as porto provisorium before and after the end of general validity. 

1945 Guštanj porto provisorium, letter sent from Ljubljana (29.6.45) to Guštanj (2.7.45) with arrival postage due stamps (24 pf) cancelled with "Guštanj," / "PORTO / -2.7.45".

1945 Guštanj porto provisorium, letter sent from Ljubljana (2.7.45) to Dravograd, forwarded to Guštanj with arrival postage due stamps (24 pf) cancelled with "Guštanj," / "PORTO".

1945 MOSTAR, Souvenir cards

On the occasion of the International Labour Day (May 1st, 1945), the postal department of the National Liberation Committee issued 50 sets of souvenir cards. One full set of 20 stamps was affixed to five cards.

1945 Mostar local provisional issue, complete set on five souvenir cards. Signed Marjanović.

1944 ŠIBENIK, "T" provisionals

Every so often, you will find something interesting that was hidden for a very long time... Recently, I bought items from the ex Zorić collection where there was also a cover with stamps with additional "T" overprints. Most probably a private "experiment", however, it looks like that cover was actually traveled.

1944 Šibenik, local provisional issue, registered letter, franked with stamps with additional "T" overprint, sent loco Šibenik (21.III.44).

Stamps enlarged.

1941 BANJA LUKA, Raised "o"

Two typical overprint errors exist: raised "o" in "Slobodna" (position 10) and "Basanska" instead of "Bosanska" (position 23).

1941 Banja Luka, provisional issue, complete set in block of four. Positions 4-5/9-10. Typical error raised "o" in "Slobodna" at position 10.

Note: if you are not familiar with the raised "o" error, see this.

NDH Ministerial Albums - sale

I am selling some of my NDH Ministerial Albums...  

• 1942 Red Cross - Issued 25 albums, only two or three with white covers - SOLD
• 1943 Pavelić - Issued 15 albums - SOLD
• 1943 Legionnaires - Issued 15 albums - SOLD
• 1944 War victims - Issued 25 albums - SOLD

Albums are great rarities of Croatia philately, they are complete and in very fine condition.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested...

1944 SENTA, Award for the manual

I am happy to announce that the Senta manual received the large vermeil at the national philatelic exhibition "Koprivnica 2016".

Senta 1944

First Yugoslavian Local Provisional Issue

The Manual

1945 MARIBOR, Hindenburg

Hindenburg 4 pf with the Maribor provisional issue overprint is the rarest stamp of all 1945 Slovenian provisional issues.

1945 Maribor local provisional issue, 4 pf Hindenburg in block of four.

Certificate Bar and Veličković.

1945 SARAJEVO, Complete set in block of four

Only four complete sets in block of four have been recorded so far. Today I found out where is located one of them. So, one is with me, one is in London and the third one is in Essen. Location of the fourth set is still unknown.

1945 Sarajevo local provisional issue, complete set in block of four. Certificate Ercegović and Veličković.

1943 ŠIBENIK, War propaganda stamp

The rarest of the overprinted values are:

• 1 Lire - 2 pieces
• 5 Cent porto - 11 pieces
• 10 Lire - 17 pieces
• War propaganda stamps (different) - 49 pieces (altogether)
• Packet stamps (pacche) - a few pieces

1943 Šibenik local provisional issue, hand overprint on 30 cent war propaganda stamp.

An exceptionally rare item.

1941 BANJA LUKA, One of the most rare FDC

The literature states that the philatelic club in Banja Luka issued only ten FDC envelopes, make this as one of the rarest FDC on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

1941 Banja Luka, provisional issue, complete set on the Banja Luka philatelic club cover, cancelled 21.IV.41 - first day cover. Certificate Ercegović.

1945 SPLIT, 30 kn red color proof

Until now the following proofs have been known:

• one full sheet of 10 kn in red color
• one full sheet of 10 kn in black color
• one full sheet of 30 kn in green color, tête-bêche
• one-half sheet of 30 kn in black color
• one-half sheet of 30 kn in dark green color
• one-half sheet of 30 kn in green color

Now I can confirm that there is also:

• another full sheet of 10 kn in red color
• another half sheet of 30 kn in green color
• and the most striking finding: the half sheet of 30 kn in red color

1945 Split local provisional issue, overprint proof with a value of 30 kn in red color, complete half sheet.

1941 BANJA LUKA, A mystery of position 10

For some time I have been dealing with the dilemma regarding the typical error on position 10. Reading the "Croatian Philately" book by Velimir Ercegović, "Croatian Local and Unofficial Issues" handbook by Mladen Vilfan as well as the Michel Kroatien Spezial Katalog 2004 you will find following about typical errors:

a) Raised "B" in "Bosanska" (position 10)
b) "Basanska" instead of "Bosanska" (position 23)

While I had no problem with the second, the raised "B" was a real mystery! The fact is that there is no raised "B" in "Bosanska" but raised first "o" in "Slobodna". It looks like that Ercegović made a mistake while all others just automatically took this as granted.

Position 10 - Raised "o" in "Slobodna".

1945 LJUBLJANA, Shifted overprint

 Large displacements of the overprints are quite rare...

1945 Ljubljana, local provisional issue, 1L with large horizontal shift of the overprint. First stamp almost entirely without the overprint.

1941 Međimurje, 75th Anniversary

Today (15.04.2016) we mark the 75th anniversary of the Unofficial Local Issue of Međimurje.

See posts tagged with the NDH 1941 Međimurje.

1943/44 ŠIBENIK, Mixed franking stationery

A few philatelically motivated letters and stationery are known - those that are properly franked and actually passed through the regular postal channels are rare and valuable.

1943/44 Šibenik local provisional issue, registered stationery, properly franked with 11,7 kn (0,3 * 4 = 1,2 kn of Šibenik I, 3,5 * 2 = 7 kn of Šibenik II and 3,5 kn of NDH definitive), charged with 5 kn war tax, sent from Šibenik (18.VIII.44) to Imotski (1.IX.44). 

1945 CETINJE, Single stamp cover

Yesterday I spent a very nice day with my new philatelic friend. We had a long and interesting conversation, plus we exchanged some items... here is one of them...

1945 Cetinje, local provisional issue, single stamp cover, properly franked with 5 Lir, send from Jošica (30.III.1945) to Split. 

Two-line military censorship cancel ВOJНA ЦEНЗУРA / ХEРЦEГНOВИ (VOJNA CENZURA / HERCEGNOVI)

Additional stamp on the back: КОМАНДА БОКЕ КОТОРСКЕ (KOMANDA BOKE KOTORSKE)

1941 MEĐIMURJE, Single Frame Exhibit

I just finished my first exhibit...

Unofficial Local Issue of Međimurje

The First Croatian WWII Local Issue

Digital version of the exhibit is available here.

1945 SPLIT, Letter with unusual route

Recently I found an interesting letter, addressed from Kaštel Stari to Zagreb and traveled via the Zadar. The normal route for mail from Šibenik and Split to Zagreb was by train through the Knin, but it looks like that this letter traveled unusually, first by boat to Zadar and then to Zagreb. 

1945 Split local provisional issue, registered letter, properly franked with 50 kn, sent from Kaštel Stari (17.V.45) to Zagreb. Censor cancellation No. 3 (Split). Via Zadar cancellation (20.V.45).

Zadar cancellation POŠTA (?) / 20.V.45 / ZADAR.
I have never seen this cancellation before, so I will be grateful for any information.

1941 MEĐIMURJE, Overprint forgeries

Only one type of forgeries is known to me. It was produced immediately after the WWII and it is so poor that can only confuse those that did not see the originals.

The differences are visible at a first glance: different typography was used, text is narrowed and the relationship between overprinted elements is quite different. The most obvious distinction is invalid type of coat-of-arms. The originals have coat-of-arms of the Banovina of Croatian, while forgeries have coat-of-arms of the Independent State of Croatia (different sequence of white and black squares).

Original on the left and forgery on the right.

Note that two types and four subtypes of the coat-of-arms exists. For details, see: 1941 MEĐIMURJE - The Clasification of Overprints.

1945 SPLIT, Zagreb suspended mail service

On the day of the liberation of Zagreb (8.5.1945) the military government temporarily suspended mail service for civilians. Shipments were detained in post offices and delivered to the recipients only after the release of postal traffic, somewhere around 7.6.1945.

1945 Split local provisional issue, postal stationery, type 2/IIb, sent registered from Split (28.V.45) to Zagreb (4.VI.45).

4.VI.45 Zagreb cancellation on the back side. Stationery was probably delivered to the recipient only after a mail traffic was released again.

Croatian Stamp Examiner Association

... next step in my philatelic "career" :) ...

I am now a member of the Croatian Stamp Examiner Association. My areas are: Provisional issues of the D.F. Yugoslavia 1944 - 1945 and Local and unofficial issues of the Independent Croatian State 1941 - 1945.

1943 ŠIBENIK - Hand overprints

I don't have much blogging time lately, I have to finish some projects at work, while already preparing an article about 1943 Šibenik hand overprints - probably the most difficult overprinted issue I studied so far.

I have a double size sheet with 200 overprinted stamps what is a unique source for the study. Due to the rubber stamp each overprint depends on: a) the amount of the color, b) the strength of the print and c) the angle and the rotation under which the stamp hit the base.

1943 Šibenik local provisional issue, 50 cent double sheet (2x100) with hand overprints. 

Enlarged detail, showing some of the overprint variations.

1941 MEĐIMURJE, Inverted overprint

Inverted overprints are very rare. So far, I saw less than ten such items...

1941 Međimurje, unofficial local provisional issue, 0,25 din, pair with inverted overprint. Cliche a2/3 and b2/1.

Inverted overprint overlapped with the setting of four cliches from the second printing.
For details see: 1941 MEĐIMURJE - The Clasification of Overprints.

1944 VIS, Partisan mail

Before the liberation of Dalmatia a partisan post was sometimes used for personal letters, especially if addressed on high officers.

Small format letter from Kaštel Lukšić (18.8.1944) to the partisans military headquarters on the island Vis, two-line censorship cancel POŠTA VIS/CENZURISANO.

Censorship cancel enlarged.

1944 SENTA, The manual

The manual is a logical continuation of some previous Senta articles and new findings with the most complete set of information about this issue you can find in one place.

Authors: Vid Žiberna and myself, publisher: Philatelic Society Ljubljana, language: slovenian, 58 pages, A4 format, price 20,00 EUR + P&P. To order please contact me at alesmarinsek67@gmail.com.

Senta 1944

First Yugoslavian Local Provisional Issue

The Manual

1945 MOSTAR, Stationery

Stationery without additional postage were tolerated by small post offices outside the Mostar until the end of the use.

1945 Mostar local provisional issue, stationery sent from contractual post office Široki Brijeg (7.6.45) to Beograd. Certificate Viflan.