From Do.X
Everyone, young or old, stamp collector or not, knows the Zeppelin, the large airship that became famous in the 20s and 30s. But if you ask someone: What is the Do.X? You are usually met with a surprised look. Except by collectors of stamps from Suriname. Why Suriname?
De Do.X It was once the largest aircraft in the world. Construction of this enormous aircraft began in 1924. It was an aircraft that could only take off and land from the water. The flying boat made its first flight on July 13, 1929, from Lake Constance. The aircraft's fuselage was divided into three decks: the top deck for the pilots and other crew members, such as the engineer and the radio operator. The middle deck was intended for passengers and cargo, and the bottom deck served as space for the fuel tanks. Twelve water-cooled Siemens twelve-cylinder engines (391 kW each) were placed in six large nacelles atop the enormous wing. Each nacelle had two engines with a push-pull propeller. The machine could carry a total of 170 people (of whom 150 were passengers). Three aircraft were built by Dornier, two of which were delivered to Italy. The first landing in the port of New York in 1931 was the event of the year for the city.
A Dornier Do-X made a world tour that took three years. On November 5, 1930, the DO-X took off for a long-distance flight from Europe via Africa to South and North America. From there, the flying boat flew back to Berlin in May 1932, covering a distance of 45.000 kilometers. During this world tour, Paramaribo, visited the capital of Suriname.
The PTT decided to overprint the existing series of Surinamese airmail stamps on the occasion of the D.X.'s visit to Paramaribo. Only mail franked with one or more stamps from the series would be taken to New York. The first announcement in the *Nederlandsch Maandblad voor Philatelie* of September 1931 left no doubt: 'Our country has distinguished itself favorably from numerous others by not participating in the foolish custom of issuing special stamps for some Zeppelin visit or other, but in Suriname they have now deemed it necessary to quickly make up for that deficit, and preferably with seven stamps. It is difficult to imagine a more unnecessary issue'.
Only 4.200 complete sets were sold. Of the 10 cents, 5.272 copies were sold, the highest number.
Only a few collectors are fortunate enough to have a complete series in their album. The mail sent along by plane was stamped with a special stamp dated August 18, 1931. Only 3.124 pieces of mail were sent on the connecting flight.
Attempts were made to exclude overprinted stamps from the stamp catalogue and pre-printed albums, but these were unsuccessful. Consequently, they were included in the first NVPH catalogue of 1934. A complete uncancelled series had a catalogue value of 14 guilders and 50 cents.
A mint series is listed in the 2008 catalog for €1.000. The Surinamese Post did not benefit much from that at the time. First, they incurred the costs of overprinting 100.000 stamps (15.000 of the 10 and 20 cents each, 20.000 of the 15 and 40 cents each, and 10.000 of the three other denominations each).
The unsold copies were burned immediately after the flying boat departed: 66.943 stamps, approximately 66% of the total print run.
Boycott of a stamp issue? I’ve heard that word mentioned before. Have you?
De Do.X It was once the largest aircraft in the world. Construction of this enormous aircraft began in 1924. It was an aircraft that could only take off and land from the water. The flying boat made its first flight on July 13, 1929, from Lake Constance. The aircraft's fuselage was divided into three decks: the top deck for the pilots and other crew members, such as the engineer and the radio operator. The middle deck was intended for passengers and cargo, and the bottom deck served as space for the fuel tanks. Twelve water-cooled Siemens twelve-cylinder engines (391 kW each) were placed in six large nacelles atop the enormous wing. Each nacelle had two engines with a push-pull propeller. The machine could carry a total of 170 people (of whom 150 were passengers). Three aircraft were built by Dornier, two of which were delivered to Italy. The first landing in the port of New York in 1931 was the event of the year for the city.
A Dornier Do-X made a world tour that took three years. On November 5, 1930, the DO-X took off for a long-distance flight from Europe via Africa to South and North America. From there, the flying boat flew back to Berlin in May 1932, covering a distance of 45.000 kilometers. During this world tour, Paramaribo, visited the capital of Suriname.
The PTT decided to overprint the existing series of Surinamese airmail stamps on the occasion of the D.X.'s visit to Paramaribo. Only mail franked with one or more stamps from the series would be taken to New York. The first announcement in the *Nederlandsch Maandblad voor Philatelie* of September 1931 left no doubt: 'Our country has distinguished itself favorably from numerous others by not participating in the foolish custom of issuing special stamps for some Zeppelin visit or other, but in Suriname they have now deemed it necessary to quickly make up for that deficit, and preferably with seven stamps. It is difficult to imagine a more unnecessary issue'.
Only 4.200 complete sets were sold. Of the 10 cents, 5.272 copies were sold, the highest number.
Only a few collectors are fortunate enough to have a complete series in their album. The mail sent along by plane was stamped with a special stamp dated August 18, 1931. Only 3.124 pieces of mail were sent on the connecting flight.
Attempts were made to exclude overprinted stamps from the stamp catalogue and pre-printed albums, but these were unsuccessful. Consequently, they were included in the first NVPH catalogue of 1934. A complete uncancelled series had a catalogue value of 14 guilders and 50 cents.
A mint series is listed in the 2008 catalog for €1.000. The Surinamese Post did not benefit much from that at the time. First, they incurred the costs of overprinting 100.000 stamps (15.000 of the 10 and 20 cents each, 20.000 of the 15 and 40 cents each, and 10.000 of the three other denominations each).
The unsold copies were burned immediately after the flying boat departed: 66.943 stamps, approximately 66% of the total print run.
Boycott of a stamp issue? I’ve heard that word mentioned before. Have you? 
The Siemens motors were not powerful enough. They had already been replaced with Curtiss-Conqueror motors of 640 hp each.
See further http://www.do-x.de
Otherwise an interesting story; Germany itself has only issued a commemorative stamp in this century.
A German DOX letter simply requires 6 RM in stamps, regardless of the type.
I believe the civil registry is dated 17-8-1931.
According to the 2012 airmail catalogue, the flight in question departed on August 19, 1931.