Perforated cross 1944
In the Special Catalogue of the NVPH, the following warning is included for the 'Germanic Symbols' series of stamps: The 2 ct stamp appears with a perforated cross and features an overprint on the reverse. This is private work. What is the background of this work?
The stamp was issued on October 16, 1943, in an edition of nearly 8 million copies and was part of the series of Germanic symbols, designed during the German occupation of the Netherlands by Pijke Koch. On June 2 and 3, 1944, an exhibition took place in The Hague where a temporary post office was established. This was announced in the following service order:
Service Order No. 166bis of 24 May 1944: Commemorative stamp.
1. On the occasion of the exhibition to be held by the association “Ligue Internationale Philatélique et Aérophilatélique” in The Hague on June 2 and 3 in the Pulchri Studio building, a temporary branch office will be established there. 2. Correspondence (both ordinary and registered) delivered to or submitted for post at that branch office shall be provided with the impression of a special stamp.
Two crosses were included in the stamp. Did this have anything to do with the Red Cross?
A total of 150.000 stamps were provided with a perforated cross and printed on the gummed side with the text: PRICE 15 CENTS surcharge for the benefit of the Dutch Red Cross. And now it gets a bit more complicated. In the Dagblad van Noord-Holland of Thursday, June 1, 1944, the following short article was included on the front page: Exhibition of Red Cross stamps. In collaboration with the Netherlands Red Cross, the Hague Philatelist Association “LIPA” is organizing an exhibition of Red Cross stamps in the Pulchri Studio building, The Hague, on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 June, on the occasion of its fifteenth anniversary. On this occasion, the Dutch Postal Service presented permission up to the perforation of 150.000 2-cent stamps. These will be made available at 15 cents, perforated with a cross (symbol of the Netherlands Red Cross). The surcharge will benefit the Netherlands Red Cross. Furthermore, a temporary auxiliary post office will be located in the building during both exhibition days, where it will also be possible to send registered mail. The stamps, which are numbered, can be provided with a special postmark.
So, formal permission from the Dutch Postal Service? Then surely this perforation and overprint must be classified as 'genuine'? And this is evident from the many registered letters that exist franked with these perforated stamps.
The letter above is affixed with stamps from the Germanic Symbols series for a total value of 8 cents. The postage rate at the time was 7½ cents. So, ½ cent too much. The registration fee was 10 cents at the time, paid with a stamp from the Naval Heroes series. So, franked correctly except for that half cent. And all stamps, including the perforated pair of 2 cents, bear a neat impression of the special postmark dated June 2, 1944. Simply accepted by the postal official at the temporary post office. Should this perforated stamp, then, be given an official place in your collection and in the stamp catalogue after all? Or was the sender of the letter affixed with the 17½ cent stamps (the correct postage amount and registration fee) right to affix the extra perforated stamp alongside it, which would not be valid as face value? What is your opinion? 
Interesting.
I am trying to search further.
An additional 50,000 stamps were perforated later, for a total of 200.000.
The perforation consists of two versions; one with 24 holes as the first illustration shows, but there is also a version with only 20 holes (as the block of two shows).
You would think that the switch took place at number 150.001, but judging by what I have gathered, it first happened around number 40,000 (from 24 to 20 holes) and then back from 20 holes to 24 holes around number 115.000. Who knows more about this? hkremer@usa.net
Hello Cees,
Here is a link to a printed card from the "Secretariat of the 1944 Red Cross Stamp Exhibition".
http://www.willempasterkamp.nl/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_simple.tpl&product_id=3838&category_id=177&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=9999
The secretariat itself provides the answer to the question of whether the perforated stamp deserves an official place in the header of the printed material: "SPECIAL PRIVATE POSTAGE STAMP".
I did simply include this stamp in my collection. Precisely because I have regularly come across it used correctly on letters.
The above information is partially new to me (for which I am grateful), and strengthens my belief that this is more than formally invalid private work.
Two examples of correctly franked letters (total 17½ cents), including in both cases 6x the NVPH 407 with perforation:
http://images-00.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/263/057/387_001.jpg
en
http://images-01.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/263/057/388_001.jpg
To me, this really suggests that postage with this stamp was simply accepted. Consequently, the stamp should indeed be labeled as 'genuine'.
Discussion about perforations of the 1944 Red Cross seal. @Delpher helpful: pic.twitter.com/OnbYcY2P4i
A newspaper article from June 2, 1944, claims that there is no added value whatsoever for the collector (and therefore it will not be listed in the catalog).
That Delpher website is a good link (although I don't use Twitter). There are indeed very interesting newspaper articles to be found there about these stamps. So far, I have searched for "Red Cross perforation", and that already yields a lot.
I would like to draw everyone's attention to a particularly interesting article in a very dodgy paper that I also found there, namely from “Storm: Blad der Nederlansche SS” (July 7, 1944). Under the title “Swindle in Stamp Land,” this stamp is summarily debunked. It is unclear to me what is true about that – but it is certainly interesting enough to warrant a closer look. Hopefully, someone here has a moment to spare for that?
See: http://www.delpher.nl/
…in that particular article, the name Gerard Thoolen also comes up. His name is associated with Raketpost.
http://users.belgacom.net/raketpost/english.htm
The likelihood that this wasn't above board is becoming increasingly plausible!
Ha, this is getting more and more interesting. I like having that little stamp in my collection even more now. This stinks on all sides, but apparently these stamps could still simply be used for postage (possibly only thanks to the fact that the overprint was applied to the reverse).
I am now really curious whether the Red Cross ever saw any of the proceeds. And if that Gerard Thoolen link is indeed correct, then it is possibly justified after all that this has been labeled as private craftsmanship.
The Website:
http://jdlkremer.angelfire.com/RoodeKruis1944.jpeg
shows that the Red Cross ultimately accepted fl 26.000 from LIPA after all. Mr. Mout represented LIPA, Mr. Offerhaus the Red Cross.
An extensive discussion preceded this. I received copies of this discussion at the time via the Archivist of the Netherlands Red Cross.
Ah, that is a very nice addition and makes the story quite complete already. That 26.000 guilders is 200.000 x 13 cents, so that is correct in itself. However, the predominantly German newspaper reports suggest that LIPA itself may have earned much more. Due to the hype, the price per stamp actually rose to as high as 15 guilders at one point. Furthermore, it is also interesting to note that the Red Cross completely denies any involvement with these stamps.
There are three variants of the perforation cross in this stamp.
These can be found at the following numbers:
0-38147 24 holes
40404-113866 20 holes
115905-199277 24 holes
The intervening numbers are unknown to me to date.
So, as you can see, a change has taken place twice.
In what way exactly do the first and third variants differ? At first glance (but with very poor scans), I see no clear difference.
I'll stick to two types: 20 and 24 holes.
Because the numbers and holes are applied with a numbering machine, there is a great deal of variation in the placement of the numbers and holes.
Zie bv http://jdlkremer.angelfire.com/RoodeKruis.Numeroteur.jpeg
Regarding the numbers of the 20 and 24-hole types, I have noted:
1- 39096 24 holes
40404 – 113866 20 holes
115244 – 199280 24 holes
Would the change from 24 to 20 holes have taken place at 40000 and back to 24 holes at 114000 or 115000?
Below is the notice published in many newspapers as a warning regarding this stamp (in this case in Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 03-06-1944):
No special stamp
The sub-group Retail Trade in Stamps and the Dutch Federation of Societies of Stamp Collectors draw attention to the fact that the perforation of the two-cent stamp, which is being sold on the occasion of the third anniversary of the LIPA on June 2 and 3, 1944, at Pulchri Studio in The Hague with a surcharge of 13 cents for the benefit of the Netherlands Red Cross, is a private perforation for which permission can be obtained by anyone from the PTT headquarters. Consequently, the stamp holds no significance for any collector and will therefore not be included in the official catalogue.
I cannot suppress the thought that, following this line of reasoning, contemporary Personal Stamps should also have “no significance for any collector.” After all, that too is nothing more than privately made work. Shouldn't this perforated NVPH 407 actually belong in the Personal Stamp Catalogue...? 🙂
I submitted the correspondence to Leo van Bergen, who obtained his doctorate on the Netherlands Red Cross (NRK). A fine book by him is also available. With his permission, a few remarks.
http://www.wpg.be/manteau/zacht-en-eervol
http://www.leovanbergen.nl
I know nothing about that stamp. However, during the war, the Dutch Red Cross did cooperate closely with the German administration in certain areas (Eastern Front Ambulance, Winter Relief). It is also not unusual that stamps or other securities were issued for the benefit of the Red Cross—an organization completely Nazified in Germany and Austria—as this happened constantly. So it is possible. But we are talking about 1944 here. When in 1944? Before or after September? I think the chance that it is genuine will be much smaller by the end of the year, and it will therefore—as you suspect—have been more of a scheme to fleece well-meaning people. However, it must be noted that the Dutch Red Cross was not such a popular organization at all, not even before the war. That popularity only dates from afterwards, and specifically from the time of the North Sea Flood. So: if it was fraud, it is highly questionable whether it was a successful fraud. I hope this has helped you a little.