Joint issues by the US and Great Britain, for civilian use in areas under Allied occupation

A. Differentiation between printings

Differentiating between printings
Germany 1945 AM Post Washington printing
Type I: Washington Printing		 Germany 1945 AM Post London printing
Type II: London Printing		 Germany 1945 AM Post Brunswick printing
Type III: Braunschweig Printing
Type I:

  • colored triangle left from the right-sided letter P in PFENNIG,
  • wide perforation: line 10¾-11,
  • offset printing.
 Type II:

  • narrow perforation, line 14-14¾:14-14¾
  • photogravure printing.
 Type III:

  • white triangle left from the right-sided letter P in PFENNIG,
  • wide perforation: line 11-11½,
  • offset printing.

 

B. Constant varieties

1. WASHINGTON PRINTING (Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington D.C.)
PAPER AND GUM
1st printing run (19.3.1945):

  • thin smooth white paper, 0.08-0.09 mm, lively colors: 5 pf.
  • thick smooth white paper, 0.11 mm, lively colors: 6 pf., 8 pf., 12 pf

2nd printing run (20.6.1945):

  • thick smooth white paper, 0.11 mm, lively colors: 3 pf., 4 pf., 10 pf., 15 pf., 25 pf
  • thick rough porous, grayish/brownish paper, also with small splinters of wood, 0.10-0.12 mm, dull colors: 3 pf., 4 pf., 5 pf., 6 pf., 8 pf., 10 pf., 12 pf., 15 pf., 25 pf.

PRINTING LAYOUT
Printing sheets consisted of 400 stamps (4 sheets of stamps, each having 100 stamps in 10×10 layout). Sheets don’t bear markings, their respective position in a printing sheet is determined by indicators, such as constant varieties:

  • TL: top left
  • TR: top right
  • BL: bottom left
  • BR: bottom right
3 pf., lilac Michel № Field № Pane №
I Germany allied occupation postage stamp plate flaw Colored dot on inner frame, above letter U in DEUTSCHLAND. 1 III 18 TL
II Germany 1945 AM POST stamp plate flaw Top left ornament broken 1 VI 36 BR
III Germany Washington print postage stamp error Colored dot on letter E of the left-sided PFENNIG and on the second letter N of the right sided PFENNIG. 1 V 50 TL
IV Germany 1945 Washington print postage stamp flaw Vertical lines left from letter NN of the left-sided inscription PFENNIG broken. 1 I 58 BR
V Dot on left three. 1 II 3 TL
4 pf., light gray Michel № Field № Pane №
I Germany 1945 US print postage stamp flaw Inner frame left from the letter E of the right-sided PFENNIG broken. 2 I 33 BR
5 pf., emerald Michel № Field № Pane №
I Allied occupation of Germany postage stamp plate flaw Inner frame right from the second letter N of the right-sided PFENNIG broken. 3 II 8 TL
II US Washington print 1945 German postage stamp error Inner frame left from the first letter N of the left-sided PFENNIG broken. 3 III 62 TL
8 pf., orange Michel № Field № Pane №
I Two breaks in upper limbs of “U” in “DEUTSCHLAND”. 5 III 37 TR
12 pf., rose violet Michel № Field № Pane №
I Thin line on the white frame below letter N in DEUTSCHLAND. 7 II 17 BL
II White line broken next to the second N in the left-sided PFENNIG. 7 III 53 TL
15 pf., cerise Michel № Field № Pane №
I Germany 1945 allied issue postage stamp plate flaw Thin colored line at the bottom of letter E of the right-sided inscription PFENNIG. 8 III 20 TR
II American print postage stamp Germany plate flaw Colored spot over the first letter N of the left-sided PFENNIG and over inner white frame. 8 IV 38 TL
III American printed postage stamp for Germany with plate flaw Two thin colored lines on letter E of the right-sided inscription PFENNIG. 8 VI 60 TR
IV USA printed postage stamp for Germany 1945 having plate flaw Colored thin line over the second letter N of the left-sided PFENNIG. 8 VIII 90 TR
V 1945 occupation of Germany postage stamp plate flaw White frame right from the second letter D in DEUTSCHLAND broken. 8 IX 100 TR
25 pf., bright ultramarine Michel № Field № Pane №
I Colored spot at the top of the left-sided 2. 9 II 9 TL
II Letter P in POST broken in the middle. 9 I 75 TL

 

2. LONDON PRINTING (Harrison and Sons, Ltd., London, England)
PAPER AND GUM
1st printing run:

  • white paper with thick gum, 0.09-0.10 mm: 6 pf.
  • thin, transparent white paper, smooth yellowish gum, 0.065-0.085 mm: 3 pf., 4 pf., 5 pf., 6 pf., 8 pf., 12 pf.

2nd printing run:

  • thin, less transparent paper, lightly yellowish paper, whitish rough (cracked) gum: 3 pf., 4 pf., 6 pf., 8 pf., 12 pf.

PRINTING LAYOUT
Plate marks are on the border, above the second field of a sheet. They consist of the plate number and a letter, that indicates a position in a printing sheet:

  • A: top left
  • B: top right
  • C: bottom right
  • D: bottom left
3 pf., lilac Michel № Field № Pane №
I British printed postage stamp for Germany plate flaw Letters P and O in POST connected by a dot. 10 III 19 6D
II Germany 1945 allied occupation London print postage stamp White frame right from the right-sided denomination broken. 10 IV 60 6C
III Second “D” in “DEUTSCHLAND” thickened below. 10 II 39 6B
5 pf., deep emerald Michel № Field № Pane №
I London print postage stamp for Germany 1945 Frame left from the letters NN in left-sided PFENNIG broken. 12 II 45 3D
6 pf., orange yellow Michel № Field № Pane №
I Anglo-American occupation of Germany postage stamp plate flaw Colored spot on vertical lines right from the first letter N in right-sided PFENNIG. 13 IV 29 1B
8 pf., dark orange Michel № Field № Pane №
I British London print postage stamp for 1945 occupied Germany White dot between the first letter N of the right sided inscription PFENNIG and the inner white frame. 14 III 72 4D
12 pf., rose violet Michel № Field № Pane №
I White hook at the bottom left side of the letter A in AM. 15 III 91 2A

 

3. BRAUNSCHWEIG PRINTING (George Westermann, Braunschweig, Germany)
PAPER AND GUM

  • “Etiketten-papier”: whitish smooth thin paper, shiny streaky gum, 0.07-0.08 mm: 6 pf.
  • “Alfelder Papier”: whitish paper: 0.07-0.095 mm: all values
  • “Bremer Papier” (used in trial printings only): thick, a bit grayish paper, with rising striations, diagonally reticulated gum: 0.09 mm
1 pf., slate gray 3 pf., dull lilac 4 pf., light gray 5 pf., yellow green
American British zone of occupation of Germany postage stamp with constant flaw
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
6 pf., yellow 8 pf., orange 10 pf., yellow brown 12 pf., lilac
German print postage stamp constant variety
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
15 pf., rose carmine 16 pf., blue green 20 pf., blue 24 pf., brown
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
25 pf., bright ultramarine 30 pf., olive green 40 pf., deep magenta 42 pf., green
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
50 pf., slate green 60 pf., violet brown 80 pf. 1 m., dark olive green
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties
List of varieties

 

C. Panes

PANES
Washington Printing
London Printing
Braunschweig Printing

 

 

Bibliography

  1. Michel Deutschland-Spezial 2005, Band 2: Ab Mai 1945 (Alliierte Besetzung bis BRD), Schwaneberger Verlag GmbH, ISBN 3-87858-145-9