1945 MOSTAR, Unique No. 13

Only one sheet of No. 13 was overprinted inverted, so any constant flaw on this sheet is unique...

1945 Mostar provisional issue, No. 13, 30 kn / 3.50 kn - Petar Zrinski with inverted overprint. Constant flaw Jugosiavija instead of Jugoslavija, overprint position 85, base stamp position 42. Ex Tiberio. Unique.

1945 SPLIT, Censorship numbers

After the liberation of Dalmatia, the partisans established a censorship service in most major cities. Uniform (but not identical!) censorship rectangular framed rubber stamps with the inscription "CENZURIRANO / Br. No." were used. All known numbers are listed below:

  1 Drniš (RR)
  2 Hvar (R)
  3 Split
  5 Vis (RR)
  6 Šibenik
  8 * Biograd na Moru (RR)
  9 * Obrovac (RR)
10 Dubrovnik
11 * Omiš (RRR)
12 Zadar (RRR)
13 Knin
15 * Novigrad (RR)
16 Korčula (R)
17 Sinj (R)
18 Makarska (RR)
19 * Preko (RRR)
20 * Vrgorac (RRR)
21 * Supetar (RRR)

* The identification of the location of the censorship office is uncertain and based on a limited number of preserved items.

Except for 3 Split, 6 Šibenik, 10 Dubrovnik and 13 Knin, all other censorships are rare. To my knowledge, the rarest are Nos. 11, 12, 19, 20, and 21. Whether the numbers 4, 7 and 14 were in use is unknown.

Forerunner of the 1945 Split provisional issue, letter sent from Obrovac (13.III.45) to Dubrovnik, free of charge as the sender was a military person, censored in Novigrad "CENZURIRANO / Br. 15".

1945 SPLIT, Letter to NY

Censorship in Yugoslavia was officially ended on July 2, 1945. However, it was still carried out for shipments to or from abroad ...

Registered letter, sent from Dubrovnik (20.VII.45) to New York (9-17 / 1945) via Naples (22.8.45), correctly franked with 9 Din (foreign tariff valid from 10 May 1945: 4 Din for letter + 5 Din for the registration). Censored in Dubrovnik (CENZURIRANO / Br. 10) and Naples (MILITARY CENSORSHIP / 0146 / CIVIL MAILS).

Cancellations on the back: NAPOLI FERROVIA / 22.8.45 / ESTERO, NEW YORK, N.Y. / 9 - 17 / 1945 / REG'Y. DIV. and ??? / SEP / 18 / 1945 / REGISTERED. Note that Allied Censorship in Naples still uses old Italian censorship labels.

8.1M EUR for 1847 Mauritius cover

Just sold at Gartner’s auction for € 8,100,000 plus commission...

1847 Mauritius "Post Office" issue, one penny red-orange on the cover (SE 27 1847).

1945 MARIBOR, Unopened letter

It does not often happen that you find a 76-year-old unopened letter, a really nice surprise. Although I am tempted to open it and read the content, it will remain unopened...

1945 Maribor provisional issue, letter sent from Kranj (4.VII.45) to Jesenice, correctly franked with 12 pf. Unopened with original, 76 years old, content.

1945 SPLIT, Small Petar No. 2

Only five “Small Peter” stationery that travelled are known. So I am happy to have found another one for my collection ...

1945 Split provisional issue, "Small Petar" stationery, sent from Sinj (20.VI.45) to Split. Censor cancellation No. 17, Sinj. Extremely rare item. Certificate Marinšek.

1945 ZAGREB, The earliest known mail

Zagreb was liberated on 8th May 1945. The Communists immediately closed all post offices and suspended postal traffic. No official documents are known regarding the operation of the post office at that time and nothing is known about the date of the re-establishment of postal services...

Forerunner of the 1945 Zagreb provisional issue, picture postcard sent from Zagreb 2 (1.VI.1945) to military position, free of charge as the recipient was a military person. Rare censor cancellation CENZUR-ZAGREB. 1st of Jun 1945 is the earliest known date for a shipment after the Communists took power and suspended all postal traffic.

Online meeting

We had an interesting zoom meeting yesterday. Three different topics, among which I was personally most interested in the presentation of the Wiki website https://worldstampsproject.org.

Participants

Local Issues of Independent State of Croatia

A random page from my book...

Page 103 - Chapter IV - Local Issue for Dalmatia - Overprint Errors - Double overprint.

Click for enlarging.

The Philatelic Manual

Local Issues of Independent State of Croatia

Međimurje • Banja Luka • Šibenik I & II • Dalmatia

1941 BANJA LUKA, 80th anniversary

Today marks 80 years since the release of the Banja Luka local issue. 

Shortly after assuming powers, the Ustasha Command - which had several well known Banja Luka collectors in its ranks - considered the possibility of overprinting postage stamps. Politically motivated three-line overprint read "Slobodna / Bosanska / Hrvatska" (= "Free / Bosnian / Croatia") implying the liberation of northern Bosnia and the new status of the area as the Bosnian part of the new Croatia. Banja Luka Philatelic Society issued "First Day Covers" with Society's logo to the upper left, and both values cancelled with Banja Luka counter code 6 canceller (Cyrillic inscription removed) for 21st April 1941. Given these covers and the absence of provable alternative dates, Monday 21st April 1941 should be considered the date of issue.

1941 Banja Luka local issue, Banja Luka Philatelic Society's FDC, 21.IV.41. Only about ten such covers exist.

NDH Revenue Issues Book

My philatelic colleague Phil Hughes has a free gift for all buyers of his NDH Revenue Issues Book. Here is his message:

"As some of you know, my book on NDH revenues was published in late 2015. Over the last five years, a lot of new information has been found about this interesting area of NDH collecting. This includes previously unknown stamps along with information on such things as plate numbers, pane sizes, security network varieties, etc. Consequently, I have put together a revision to the original 153-page book which adds over 80 pages of additional information. This version is in electronic format and only in English. I am making it available as a free download to anyone who purchased the original book. If you are a purchaser of the original book and wish a copy of the new version, please contact me at pj_in_sb@yahoo.com."

NDH Revenue Issues by Phil Hughes

1941 MEĐIMURJE, 80th anniversary

Today marks 80 years since the release of the first NDH local issue. A group of officials led by Dr Ivan Gliha, Chef de Cabinet of the temporary Međimurje Government and Dr Stjepan Wolf, a lawyer and renowned stamp collector, decided to prepare and release a local stamp issue of the Independent State of Croatia for the Međimurje area. The overprinting was executed in Kraljek & Vezić Printing Works in Čakovec between 12th and 15th April. 

1941 Međimurje local issue, complete set in vertical pairs of type "a" and "b".

1944 ŠIBENIK, Early usage of NDH stamps

So far, I have not seen a mixed franking of the second Šibenik issue and NDH stamps used before May 1944...

1944 Second Šibenik local issue, second weight express registered letter, sent from Šibenik (25.IV.44) to Požega (5.V.44). The letter was franked with 17 kn (7 kn for second weight letter, 10 kn for express delivery while the registration was not charged). The correct expense of 2 kn war tax was applied. Very early usage of NDH definitive stamps in Šibenik. From well-known Novak correspondence.

Dario Filjar, RIP

I am still shocked by the death of my philatelic friend Dario Filjar. I knew of his severe illness, but I somehow believed he would defeat it. Dario was one of the most excellent experts on the postal history of Croatia. I will never forget our discussions and researches. He really enjoyed philately ...

Printed version of the Manual

A hardcover version of the manual is now available. For purchase, click here.

The Philatelic Manual

Local Issues of Independent State of Croatia

Međimurje • Banja Luka • Šibenik I & II • Dalmatia

1944 ŠIBENIK, eBay forgeries

Another fraudulent attempt. A seller from Albania is now selling fantasy fakes of the 1944 Second Šibenik local issue. Unfortunately, it looks like that there are buyers for such bizarre products...

1944 Second Šibenik local issue, a fantasy forgery of tête-bêche overprint. Buyers of such items can only be thoroughly naive collectors.

A list of some other "masterpieces" of forgeries from the same eBay seller. Note that none of these stamps was actually used for 1944 Second Šibenik local issue. Except for 50 cents but of course not with the tête-bêche overprint.

Printed version of the Manual

It’s been a long time since my last post. I have been busy with some other stuff lately. However, I managed to prepare material for the printing house, so a printed version of the manual is expected to be available by the end of January.

So far, almost a hundred collectors have received a free digital copy! I would like to thank you for your great feedback and donations. This is undoubtedly an inspiration for further work in this area.

The Philatelic Manual

Local Issues of Independent State of Croatia

Međimurje • Banja Luka • Šibenik I & II • Dalmatia

Aleš Marinšek
2020

Free Manual

In recent years, I have written various articles about local issues of the Independent State of Croatia. Most of them were published in Acta Philatelica Nova, a yearbook that, by the way, I warmly recommend to anyone collecting stamps and postal history on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. I have received positive responses and many requests to prepare and publish a manual. Therefore, I finally decided to bring things together, unify and supplement them accordingly. The result is a manual that I hope will contribute to the popularisation of these issues and maybe to philately in general.

The Philatelic Manual

Local Issues of Independent State of Croatia

Međimurje • Banja Luka • Šibenik I & II • Dalmatia

Aleš Marinšek
2020

1945 Transadriatic mail to Australia

Following Allied intervention across the Adriatic into the Balkans in late 1944 and early 1945, postal services were disrupted and fell into the control of Allied Military Liaison Headquarters, part of the Middle East Command. In November 1944, the Controller of Civil Posts BMA Dodecanese reported that arrangements had been made in the Balkans for urgent civilians posts to be accepted for disposal through the Director Middle East Censorship (part of the British MEF) and Cairo, then the Egyptian Postal Services. Only a few examples of such mail are known.

Letter sent from Vrgorac Croatia to Chermside Queensland Australia (addressed Ducensland), most likely in early 1945. The letter was censored five times: 1) by a military censor in Vrgorac, 2) by a civil censor in Makarska, 3) by Allied Transadriatic Censorship in south Italy, 4) by Egyptian M63 and 5) by Australian civilian censors. A scarce example of such mail.

The violet cachet of Makarska censor (No. 18) hiding behind the "Examined by Allied / Transadriatic Censorship" label.

1941 MEĐIMURJE, "Hd" error on 0.25 Din

"Hrvatska država" error (also known as "Hd" error) is scarce at 0.25 Din. There are only a few examples identified, mostly as singles... 

1941 Međimurje local issue, 0.25 Din block of four from positions 1-2/6-7. Upper stamps with typical error "Hrvatska država" instead of "Država Hrvatska". This is the largest multiple of 0.25 Din with "Hrvatska država" error known to me.

Palermo Court Prison

So far, I have not found any relevant information about the Palermo Court Prison. Concluding from the stationery below, this prison also served as a transit point before being transferred to Ustica concentration camp...

Stationery, written in Palermo Court Prison (15.III.42), censored by prison censor (17.MAR.42) and sent through Palermo Ferrovia (18.III.42) to Split. From the message: "... I am in the transit for the Ustica concentration camp ...".

1945 POW Allied Censorship

I know that circular censure cachet "MILITARY CENSORSHIP / No. / CIVIL MAILS" was used by Allied in south Italy in 1944 and 1945. However, I do not know if the same type of cachet has been used elsewhere...

Swiss Red Cross POW stationery sent from Geneva (12th June 1945) to Belgrade via Naples, censored by Allied Censorship No. 0146 in Naples and Yugoslav military censor in Belgrade.

1945 SPLIT, Stationery from Sušak

The Split provisional issue was used mainly in the mainland part of southern and central Dalmatia. Use north of this, in Lika or even Kvarner, is very rare...

1945 Split provisional issue, stationery St2-TIIa sent from Sušak (1.VI.45) to Zagreb, censored by the military censor. Rare use from Kvarner area.

The stationery of the Split provisional issue could not be bought at the Sušak or Rijeka post office, so the sender had to bring it with him. This also follows from the message in which the sender wrote that he had just returned from Split. 

1945 Maribor, eBay forgery

Non-issued 4 pf Hindenburg is the most valuable stamp of all Slovenian 1945 provisional issues. Only 15 sheets were overprinted. Its catalogue value is 500 EUR while its current market value is around 200 EUR. Therefore, you should be suspicious when you see this...

1945 Maribor provisional issue, 4 pf Hindenburg, forgery on sale.

Genuine above and forgery below. A very primitive product.

UPDATE: This forgery was sold for $52. The buyer probably thinks he paid a low price for the rare stamp, but now he has a worthless fake in his collection. My advice is: request a certificate!

POW Camp Osnabrück

Oflag VI C in Osnabrück (Lower Saxony, Germany) was an officer's camp of Yugoslav prisoners of war with about 6000 officers captured in 1941. Most were imprisoned until the end of WWII. After the capitulation of Germany on May 9, 1945, the officers remained in the camp for a long time. The main reason was the logistical difficulties in returning to Yugoslavia, as well as the fact that not all officers wanted to return to the country where communism came to power. Ex-inmates continued to live in the camp, so they organized their own rules...

Identification card, issued by ex-inmates of Oflag VI C POW camp in Osnabrück (20.V.1945) with provisional circular cachet "YUGOSLAV ARMY" and five-lines provisional cachet "CAMP / OF / YUGOSLAV OFFICERS / No ____ ★ ____ 1945 / OSNABRUCK". Exciting item.

1943 SPLIT, eBay forgeries

Forgers seem to be very hardworking lately. I recently wrote about the forgeries of a local issue for Dalmatia (see here). Now you can buy them on eBay...

Forgeries of overprint.
Note that none of these stamps was actually used for 1943 local issue for Dalmatia.

1945 ZAGREB, Imperforate strip

One of the possible partly imperforate stamps of this issue is stamp No. 5 Jajce. A few horizontal rows in one or perhaps multiple sheets have not been perforated...

1945 Zagreb provisional issue, No. 5 160 / 0,50 Kn Jajce, a strip of four imperforate horizontally. Certificate Ercegović. 

Confinement Ponza

Confinements and other forms of restriction of the movement were usually in hard-to-reach areas. Remote islands such as Ponza were often used. 

Stationery franked with 50 cents, written by academic writer Dr Niko S. Martinović in Ponza (27.12.1942), sent from Naples railway (7.II.1943) to Cetinje (19.II.1943), censored by DIREZIONE COMANDA CONFINO / PONZA and QUESTURA DI NAPOLI.

Island Ponza, provinca Littoria (= today Latina, Lazio).

As a curiosity: On July 25, 1943, Benito Mussolini, fascist dictator of Italy, is voted out of power by his own Grand Council and arrested upon leaving a meeting with King Vittorio Emanuele. Two days after his arrest, Mussolini was sent to the island Ponza. Fearing that the Germans would discover his location, Mussolini was transferred to the island of La Maddalena near Sardinia on August 6.

1945 SPLIT, Letter from Milna

If the sender or addressee was a military person, the basic fee for shipments was free of charge. However, all additional services such as registration, express handling etc. were charged at the applicable tariffs.

1945 Split provisional issue, registered letter franked with 30 kn for the registration as the addressee was a military person, sent from Milna on island Brač (7.VI.45) to Bjelovar (15.VI.45) where it was redirected to Križevci (15.VI.45). The letter was censored in Split (censor cancellation No. 3). 

1943 SPLIT, Forgeries

If you read my article in the Acta Philatelica Nova 2015, you could see that I did not pay much attention to forgeries - this is because they are practically non-existent on the market. In the meantime, I saw one complete set that was amateurishly forged and one attempt to falsify the letter. Recently I have been asked for an opinion about the inverted overprints you can see below. 

1943 Split local issue for Dalmatia, forgeries of inverted overprint. Note that none of these values could exist with inverted overprint.

Of course, these are fakes, but they are not so amateur. At first glance, the overprint looks fine; however, the size is slightly smaller, and the properties of the individual letters are changed. Unfortunately, I only had scans, so I can not describe the other features I could see if I had stamps in my hands.

All stamps have "KRISCHKE BPP" expert mark on the back, which is also forged.