Unique roller stamp Roosendaal '22 found

After 87 years, a unique stamp has finally returned to Roosendaal. The stamp recently surfaced from a collection of this type of roller stamp from outside West Brabant and had long been in – unknown – private ownership. In our country, the hand roller stamp was developed for use on printed matter and used between 1912 and 1923. Nowhere else in the world did postal services make use of this type of stamp. The stamp is on a one-guilder Wilhelmina stamp ('fur collar type'). At a time when a letter required a stamp of at most 7½ cents to a dime, this stamp must therefore have been on an international parcel. This type of roller stamp – a small round stamp between lines, containing only the place name and abbreviated year – was widely used for the shipment of printed matter, such as newspapers. From the period 1912/1923, this stamp is frequently found on postage bands wrapped around daily newspapers. The Roosendaal '22 stamp found now was completely unknown until now, and is also listed with a dash in the catalogue. It is printed on a one-guilder stamp of the fur collar type (late use). This stamp is rare in any case with a printed matter roller stamp.

Roosendaal '22

In the 1928 issue of the magazine “De Philatelist,” the use of high-value stamps in Roosendaal is described: “crates of printed matter originating from abroad, advertising material from the Vichy sources, intended for the doctors…”. The stamp was therefore likely used by the customs clearance department of the large customs office. René Hillesum: “The stamp was probably used there at that time. The roller stamp was already so special back then that it was very quickly collected fanatically. The remarkable thing is that stamped stamps were known for all the years in which it was used, except for the year '22. That year was missing, strangely enough. Until now, that is.”

Roosendaal '23

Even in the hefty Handbook of Dutch Postmarks, published in late 2008, there is not a single impression from Roosendaal dating from 1922. Hillesum is an intermediary, sells rare stamps and items for their owners/collectors, and is the owner of an auction company. Sheraton & PeelHe secretly hopes, however, that the unique serrated paper wonder may remain in Roosendaal. “As a Roosendaal resident, I would naturally like that, yes. That a collector buys it here. Or that the stamp ends up in a beautiful collection of Roosendaal postmarks.” Shereton & Peel is offering the used green Wilhelmina stamp from 1922 at the upcoming auction on Sunday, November 8. The starting bid is high: 150 euros. In the recently published “Special Catalogue 2010 The Netherlands and Overseas Territories” (NVPH publication), a one-off supplement “Printing Roll Stamp 1912” by Cees JanssenThis concerns the cataloguery with HNP numbers (now with valuations in Euros) of this type of stamp, which is described in detail in Part 2 of the “ published in late 2008.Handbook of Dutch Postmarks". Sources: BN – De Stem and René Hillesum Note: new information, September 23, 2009, 2:30 PM I just received the following message from René Hillesum:

With some embarrassment, I must inform you that Roosendaal '22 is Roosendaal '12! What happened? The 1 Guilder stamp was offered by a renowned collector, who supplied it complete with the exhibition sheet. The year '22 is clearly visible on it. As you can see, the year digit—except for the last 2—is not really clear. I didn't examine it closely when sorting the stamps, but I saw on the—beautiful large—image on the Postzegelblog that the first digit was different from the second, and I started to have doubts. Half a day later, I received the same notification of doubt from a visitor to the Postzegelblog. I have since studied the stamp, after finding—following a diligent search—a clear example of Roosendaal '12. As a result, I must now conclude that the cancellation mark on the 1G is not Roosendaal '22, but Roosendaal '12 (which is, incidentally, also a more difficult cancellation mark!). Apparently, it was never noticed at an exhibition either. The fact that the Guilder stamp is not Roosendaal '22 makes it no less exciting: the starting bid for this at the upcoming auction remains €150, because this stamp with a printed matter roller cancellation is rare. Fortunately, I can still adjust the description in the catalogue.

René, thank you for sharing this new information, and our apologies for any confusion.