VOL. XXXI, NUMBER 2

MARCH 2005

American HelvetiaPhilatelic Society

Botenweibelby Heinrich Heissinger

The Botenweibel is an employee of a

local jurisdiction . He sends out registeredletters informing a person of certain courtdecisions, like minor fees which have to b epaid. The recipient then sends a letter t o

the Botenweibel and includes the fee in

cash .

Postal regulations required cash t o

be sent as a value declared letter b y`Fahrpost ' (parcel mail), with the amount o fcash shown on the front of the letter .

Due to the large amount of such

mail, the Canton of Luzern was granted anexception in 1866 . Postal Order (V.) 7/1866 spelled out the details of this exception :

• letters to the Botenweibel, containing cash, will be send by registered mail, rather than b y

Fahrpost ;

• senders are not allowed to show the amount of cash included on the outside of the letter, i f

registered mail is used .

• the Botenweibel will send letters with court decisions as registered mail with COD for postage .

Letters used to pay a penalty by

including cash and sending it by registere d

mail in the Canton of Luzern are calle d

`Botenweibel-letters ' by collectors of posta l

history. These letters represent a separat e

category of registered letters due to thei r

interesting special regulations .

Incidentally, the Canton of Luzern

had its own method of marking a registere d

letter: sometimes the registration numbe r

was underlined in red, but the mos t

common method was red wavy lines on th e

cover's front .

Not every letter addressed to a

Botenweibel must be a `Botenweibel-letter ' . To qualify, the letter had to contain cash . As it was not

allowed to note a cash inclusion on the cover, only the verbiage of the letter itself can provide proof.

(continued on page 9)

ContentsBotenweibel, by Heinrich Heissinger 1President's Message 3Recent Swiss Exhibit Winners 3AHPS in the Pacific Northwest 3The Type 14 of Rayon II, by Pierre Guinand 4Swiss Printed Matter Returned After Inspection, by Harlan F Stone 5

Matterhorn Meanderings by Richard T. Hall 8News from LIMMATTALPHILA 2004, by Harlan F Stone 10AHPS Auction 131 Prices Realized 1 1Undeliverable – 95 years later? 12AHPS Auction 132 13AHPS Treasurer's Report 16

American Helvetia Philatelic Societ yELECTED OFFICERS 2003-2004

APPOINTED OFFICERSPresident Treasurer

TELL Editor Publicity Chairman

William R . Lucas Harry C. Winter

George Struble Awards Chairma n

8912 Pinnacle Peak Rd ., 614 Westwood Avenue

210 18th St . NE Harlan F. Stone

PM Box 559 Ann Arbor, MI 48103-Salem, OR 97301-4316 (see column 1 )

Scottsdale, AZ 85255 3557

Home: 503-364-392 9

Home : 480-342-9739 Home: 734-761-5859

gstruble@willamette .edu Webmasterwlucas3@cox.net harwin@umich .edu Bruce Marsde n

TELL Associate Editor (see column 3 )Steven S . Westo n

Past President Regional Director West P.O . Box 86 8David E . Durham Donn Lueck REPRESENTATIVE SDel Mar CA 92014-0868149 Ontario St . P . O. Box 11582 760-752-7812 Union of Swiss

Honeoye Falls, NY Phoenix, AZ 8506 1 Philatelic Societies

14472-1139 Home : 602-841-1322

Circuit Sales Manager Ralph Soderber gdedur@aol .com donn3@earthlink .net

Emil L. Tobler P .O . Box 3606 7P.O . Box 26 Grosse Pointe Woods ,

Vice-President Regional Director Central

Bradford RI 02808 MI 48236Harlan F. Stone Michael Peter

Home : 401-377-2238 Home: 313-885-412 5

P.O. Box 770334 P 0 Box 50256

Swissboy3@netzero .com

Woodside NY 11377 St . Louis, MO 63105 American PhilatelicHome: 718-478-2374 314-725-6800

Auction Manager Societyhfstone@rcn .com Jellyjars4@aol .com

Gordon Trotter Ernest L. Bergma n10626 Fable Row 1421 Harris St .

Secretary & Librarian Regional Director East

Columbia, MD 21044State College, PA 16803

Richard T . Hall Helen Galatan-Stone

Phone : 410-730-7936814-238-016 4

P .O . Box 770334

Fax : 410-740-721 5P.O. Box 1505 3Asheville, NC 28813 Woodside NY 11377

trotters@toad . net elb3@psu .edu

Home : 828-681-0581 Home: 718-478-2374 Slide Chairman Liechtenstein Studyrtravis@alum.mit .edu hfstone@rcn .com Bruce Marsden Group

20 Whitney Road Chm: Ralph R .Short Hills, NJ 07078 SchneiderAHPS Website : http://www.swiss-stamps.orgHome: 973-218-9774 P.O . Box 2304 9Office : 212-804-3619 Belleville IL 6222 3bmarsden@bellatlantic .net Rschneider39@charter .net

2005, The American Helvetia Philatelic Society(AHPS) . TELL (ISSN 1042-2072) is the official journal of th eAmerican Helvetia Philatelic Society, affiliate #52 of theAmerican Philatelic Society and a member of the Union of Swis sPhilatelic Societies. TELL is published bimonthly(Jan/Mar/May/Jul/Sep/Nov) .Opinions expressed in this journal are those of the authors an dare not necessarily endorsed by AHPS or the Editor .Letters and articles on Swiss, Liechtenstein, UN Geneva an drelated philately are welcome and should be sent to the Editor .Whenever possible, submit material by e-mail in plain text or a sa Microsoft Word attachment . Illustrations are encouraged and

may be submitted as image files or as full size photocopies ; or, wecan copy/scan your originals (please consult the Editor befor esending actual stamps, covers, etc .) . Please include your name ,address and telephone number .

.Subscriptions for 2005 include AHPS dues : United States, $21 ;

Canada and Mexico $26 ; overseas air delivery, $31 . Requestmembership applications from the Secretary or download fro mWeb page . Change-of-Address should be sent to the Secretary .

Commercial advertising copy and rate inquiries should be sent tothe Editor . Advertising deadlines : Jan . 10, Mar . 12, May 12, Jul y13, Sep . 12, Nov . 13 .

Printed by Kettle Moraine Printing, West Bend WI 53095 .

2 TELL

March 2005

President's MessageI hope you all have made your plans to b e

in New York for what should be a great sho wand convention . Helen and Harlan have plannedan interesting seminar and evening dining .Plus, New. York is an exciting destination .

This issue of TELL contains the ballot fo rthe election of officers Of AHPS. Elections areevery two years and the ballot is mailed with th edues notice on or before November 1 . This yearI overlooked the fact that it was an election yea rso the ballots are late . The good news is that allof the current officers are standing for reelec -tion .

I am looking forward to seeing you i nNew York .

Bill

Recent Swiss ExhibitWinners• Ernest Bergman, "Civilian Refugees and

Military Internees during Nazi Era, "SCOPEX 04, gold ; CHICAGOPEX 04, gold .

• Anthony Dewey, "Swiss Officials for Interna -tional Agencies," SWAN RIVER 04 (nea rPerth, Australia), gold ; "International Aid t oPOWs" (1-frame), CHICAGOPEX 04, gold .

• Leonard Holmsten, "Stampless Mail, "STAMPSHOW 04, C of C prix d'honneur .

• Charles LaBlonde, "World War II Mail fro mSwitzerland," INDYPEX 04, gold ; book withsame title, STAMPSHOW 04, vermeil ; SIN-GAPORE 04, silver .

• Bruce Marsden, "1949 Engineering andLandscapes," STAMPSHOW 04, silver .

• Michael Peter, "Zeppelin Mail to SouthAmerica 1930-37," MINNESOTA 04, gold ;"Stones of Light Blue Rayon I" (1-frame) ,MINNESOTA 04, gold .

• Ralph Soderberg, "Standing Helvetia, "STAMPHOW 04, C of C prix d'honneur ;"Cross & Numeral," STAMPSHOW 04, C o fC prix d'honneur .

• Harlan Stone, "Postal Cards," NOJEX 04 ,gold, Marcus White award, LEMANPHILA

04 (Lausanne), gold, special prize, SESCA L04, gold, chairman's merit award, Marcu sWhite Showcase reserve grand, Helveti amedal ; "Domestic Postage Due , " ESPANA 04 ,large vermeil ; "Golden Franc" (1-frame), ES -PANA 04, gold, SINGAPORE 04, silver;"Postal Envelopes," STAMPSHOW 04, gold ,Helvetia medal, LIMMATTALPHILA 04 (Di-etikon), gold, special prize ; "Sitting HelvetiaProofs" (1-frame), STAMPSHOW 04, plati-num; "Mobile Post Offices" (1-frame) ,STAMPSHOW 04, vermeil; "Hotel Posts" (1 -frame), COLLECTORS CLUB 04 (Ne wYork) , grand .

• Steve Turchik, "Strubels," SESCAL 04, gold .

AHPS in the PacificNorthwest

The AHPS Seattle chapter (still informalat this point) continues to meet monthly . O nJanuary 25 George Struble took the train to Se -attle to meet with them; he took his early Swissairmails for Show and Tell with the six otherSwiss collectors there. They are planning ameeting in connection with PIPEX this May inPortland; AHPS members (and other Swiss col -lectors) in Seattle, Portland, and vicinity wh owould like to join this fine bunch of folks ca ncontact Dana Nielsen at 877-284-6167, o rGeorge Struble at 503-364-3929 .

What was SWISSAIR doing during WorldWar II? Look for the story in an article in acoming TELL .

March 2005 3 TELL

The Type 14 of Rayon IIby Pierre Guinan d

Our colleague George Valby could have

found the answer to his question on page 37 o f

the work by Ernest Müller . In addition to ten

reproductions serving to identify the stamp sfrom stones Al, A2, and A3, there are six photo -

graphs showing a small defect from the origina l

stone and two states of the types 14 B RO and DLO .

On all of the greyed reproductions on thi s

page, as well as on the 16 reproductions on pag e38, the stamps show a defect in the letter R ofRp. But the stamps represented on the six pho -tographs have their letter R intact, like that o f

George Valby! Why then are these letters R de -fective on the reproductions? We will try t

o determine their origin.

What are the works which, over man yyears, have permitted collectors to differentiat ethe forty types of Rayon II? We will cite them i norder of their appearance :

• 1899 : the splendid work by P . Mirabaud and

A. de Reuterskjöld "Les Timbres-post esuisses de 1843 à 1862" (Swiss stamps from1843 to 1862), actually almost impossible to

find since only 500 copies were printed . A

veritable work of art, with magnificent re -

productions .

• 1924: the handbook "Die Briefmarken der

Schweiz" (The Stamps of Switzerland), ed-

ited by the house of Zumstein, a work which

collectors of Swiss stamps know better be -

cause it is still sometimes offered for sale .

This too is distinguished by the quality of it s

illustrations . These two works that we have

just cited have also been used by dishonest

persons who have cut out the illustrations t o

try to sell them as authentic stamps . . .

• 1934 : Le Memorial Philatélique de Gustave

Bertrand, a monumental work, unfortu -

nately very imprecise on the philatelic

scheme, but whose Volume III presents ex -

cellent reproductions of the "Durheim" types ,

i .e . Poste Locale, Orts-Post, and Rayons I, II ,

and III .

(continued on page 10)

4 TELL March 2005

Swiss Printed Matter Returned After Inspectio nBy Harlan F. Stone, CPhH

In the landscape of Swiss postal rates, special reduced rates for the return of unrequeste d

printed matter after inspection represent an obscure and little-understood byway .

This subject first appeared in the post office announcement (Postamtsblätt or PA) dated July

19, 1873, which instructed postal clerks to charge returned printed matter at the original mailing

rate. If the recipient chose not to pay this return postage, then the original sender owed the postage ,

but without an additional penalty amount for the absence of return payment .

The PA of December 31, 1873, announced the first reduced return rates . The following tabl e

also shows the normal rates .

Normal Return

Up to 50gr 2c 2c50-250gr 5c 3 c

250-500gr 10c 5 c500-2,000gr (2kg) parcel rate '/2 rateMore than 2,000gr parcel rate full rate

To simplify the return in thesame wrapper, the original senderhad to include his address on theprinted matter or its wrapper . I nthe case of a refused and returnedbook, the PA also said there woul dbe no postage charge if the recipien treturned it "immediately." It hasbeen assumed that the reduce drates became effective on January1, 1874 .

The printed information o nthe wrapper band in Figure 1 statesin German: "In case of returnplease pay for this wrapper with 3centimes postage." The Zürichpostmark on the 5c stamp is datedNovember 28, 1875 . There is noindication of a refusal and return .

The PA of August 10, 1876 revised the reduced rate table for heavier matter :

Normal

Return

500-1,000gr (1kg)

15c

8cMore than 1,000gr parcel rate full rate

This PA contained no instruction on how much time the recipient had to inspect, reject and

return printed matter to take advantage of these reduced rates . Instructions printed on survivin g

mailings by distributors of printed matter said eight, ten and, in at least one case, three days . Theserates became effective on September 1, 1876 .

To date "barely a dozen" examples of printed matter distributed according to this rate table are

recorded, and only "a handful" of examples returned at a reduced rate are known to exist .

The recipient of the printed matter contained in the wrapper band in Figure 2 returned it with

no prepayment of the 3c reduced rate for 50-250gr . The stand-alone postmark shows that the sende r

Fig . 1 . Wrapper band noting only 3c postag eneeded for returned printed matter .

March 2005

5 TELL

first mailed the matter on September 13, 1882, fro mLangasse (now part of St . Gallen) . The recipient ,Herr Kihm, refused it and signed the wrapper (lowe rleft) . The sender paid the 3c postage due o nSeptember 15, according to the Langasse postmarkdates on the lc and 2c postage due stamps .

The returned printed matter in Figure 3 is aunique example paid by the recipient rather than th esender. Making it still more unusual is the use of, no ta 3c stamp, but one and a half 2c stamps for th ereduced postage . The sender of this printed matter ( abooklet priced at 60c) mailed it from Frauenfeld on Septembe r

Fig . 3 . Unique return postage of 3cpaid by recipient of printed matter .

The next change in the handling ofunsolicited, examined, rejected and returned printed matter occurred on November 1, 1884, with th estart of new postal rates for all types of mail . In place of reduced return rates for printed matter, th e

postal law included this solution: If

the recipient returned the printed

matter within four days of its arrival at

his post office, it could go back free .

After this fixed period, however, th e

recipient had to pay the regular rate t o

return the printed matter .

The 2c wrapper band in Figur e5, which included printed matte r

Fig . 2 . Return postage of 3c paid b ysender of printed matter .

28, 1881, with a printed request tha tthe recipient return it within ten days if he rejected it after examination. The recipient mailed it bac k

on October 1 from Mannenbach, a small village that apparently had no 3c stamp in its post office. (The

other half of the bisected stamp was used from Mannenbach on September _6, 1881, presumably fo rthe same purpose .)

The same PA included not only the German

version of "printed matter for inspection"

(Drucksache zur Ansicht), but also the French

version (Imprimé Envoyé à l'Essai) . This bit of

information explains the meaning of the "ESSAI"

handstamp that appears on a few wrapper bands

mailed from Geneva .

The "ESSAI" example in Figure 4 shows that

the content of this 2c band, postmarked at Geneva

on December 31, 1881, was sent for inspection .

However, the recipient in La Chaux-de-Fond s

returned the printed matter without payment on

January 2, 1882, with "2"c noted as postage du e

from the sender, whose name is handstamped on th e

back.

Fig . 4 . "ESSAI" handstamp denoting printed matte rfor inspection, with return postage due .

Fig . 5 . Refused printed matter returned free .

6 TELL March 2005

mailed within Lausanne on December 22, 1888 (lower postmark), is certainly evidence of a rejection .

It bears a "refused" handstamp in French, a "refused" etiquette in German arid French, and a

"refused" notation written by the postman on the back flap . The recipient returned the printed matter

without charge on December 26 (upper postmark) .

The PA of March 14, 1888, described a new "timely" refusal etiquette for use in conjunction

with the four-day limit . In the case of Figure 6, the etiquette shows that the printed matter wa s

returned free of postage from Huemoz on January 27, 1899, two days after it was dispatched fro m

Zurich on January 25 .

Fig . 6 . Postmarked etiquette showing timel yand thus free return of printed matter .

This etiquette remained in use until

the October 1, 1925, introduction of a flat

5c surtax for return postage on printed

matter, regardless of weight, to be paid b ythe sender as part of his initial postage

when mailing out printed matter in

anticipation of returns. The recipient stil l

had to send back the rejected printed

matter within four days, and in the sam e

wrapper or envelope, to take advantage of

the sender's prepayment. The following

table shows the two-way prepaid rate scompared with the normal one-way rates .

Figure 7 shows a wrapper ban d

handstamped "Printed matter for

prepaid 10c included 5c postage for up to 5 0inspection . . . If necessary return within four days ." Thegr and the 5c surtax for return postage .

One Way Both Ways

Up to 50gr

5c

10c50-250gr

10c

15c250-500gr

15c

20c

The round-trip postage rate for printed matter upto 50gr was reduced from 10c to 8c on September 1, 1935 .

The special return surcharges ended on Decembe r31, 1962, bringing to an end this byway through th elandscape of Swiss postal rates .

ReferencesWinterstein, Felix . "Taxen bei Rücksendung zur Ansich terhaltener Drucksachen, " Berner Briefmarken Zeitung,4/94 and 5-6/94.

Zack . Die Posttaxen der Schweiz, Band 2, 1995, pp . 132 -133 .

Fürbeth, Robert, (CPhH) . Personal correspondence, Ma y15 and July 12, 2004 .

We trust you will enjoy the AHPS activities at theMEGA-EVENT in New York on March 3-6 . See theNovember 2004 and January 2005 TELLs for more

information about arrangements .

Fig . 7 . Wrapper band with 5c prepai dsurtax for return postag e

March 2005 7 TELL

Matterhorn Meanderingsby Richard T. Hall

Thanks to Ken Eadie up in Canada, we hav e

an answer to my question about the "printing error"

of the Hotel Adler "stamp" I wrote about in theJanuary 2005 TELL. Ken shares with me a

fascination with Swiss Cinderellas and he has two of

the 400 "errors" printed. Figure 1 shows a se-tenan t

pair of the "error" and the normal stamps . The"error" is on the left – HEVLETIA instead of

HELVETIA!! Figure 2 shows the "error" on a firs t

day cover. Thanks, Ken, for sharing these with us .

I don't know how many of you saw the article i n

the January 20, 2005, New York Times entitled

"Stamp Collecting in an E-Mail Age. " I can send you a

copy if you're interested if you send me a dollar and a

self-addressed stamped envelope . Anyway, the articl e

starts off with a story about two topical collectors of

bagpipes, one in northern California and the other i n

Yorkshire . By some incredible coincidence, I had

received an e-mail request from the fellow in Yorkshir e

looking for a copy of one of the poster stamps issued b y

the Bally Shoe Company

for the

1914 Bern

Landesausstellung . If you look closely at Figure 3, you'll see on the to p

of the column at the left (which actually is the Pfeifferbrunnen fountai n

on the Spitalgasse), you'll see a bagpiper! I know there are severa l

Cinderella collectors among our membership . My Yorkshire

correspondent, Sean Stewart, is trying to locate and purchase a copy fo r

his collection. If any of you can help him, or steer him in the right

direction, please let me know and I'll relay the message to him .

During the course of my electronic correspondence with Mr. Stewart, he told me of a web sit e

which some of you may be interested in . If you have any interest in the 1914 Bern Landesausstellung ,you have to visit http ://bern-1914 .org/index.html. It has everything you could possibly want to know

about the exposition and provides many full-color illustrations of many of the items listed in Georges

Schild and Hansjörg Fankhauser's booklet Landesausstellung 1914: Ganzsachen, Stempel,

Ansichtskarten und Vignetten . Even if your interest is only peripheral, the web site merits clos e

examination just for how well it is put together .

Beginning with the first issue of 2005, the Swiss Post 's monthly publication PhilaNews is being

published in the Schweizer Briefmarken Zeitung . How this new mode of publication is going to affec t

my schedule for including pertinent items in this column remains to be seen . I find this interesting as

the Swiss Post just made a big deal with a special cancel for the 50 th issue of the PhilaNews. The

following items are taken from the last issues of PhilaNews .

On January 3, 2005, K-cancel 1622 (Figure 4) was put in service a t

4105 Biel-Benken (canton Basel-Land) . The cancel shows the building tha t

now serves as the administrative offices of the community, and marks the 3 0th

anniversary of the building's use as offices . The building was erected in 173 6

and served as the community's school house for over 200 years until a ne w

school house was opened in 1970 . Following extensive renovations to th e

building, it opened as the community's administrative offices in 1975 . The

Figure 1 . Hotel Adler normal and "error"

Figure 2 . Cover with Hotel Adler "error"

Figure 3 . Bagpiper!

Figure 4 . K-cancel 162 2

8 TELL March 2005

Figure 5 . Biel-Benken admin . offices

cancel commemorates the 30 th anniversary of this use . A

photograph of the building, taken from the web site given on th ecancel is shown in Figure 5 .

On December 29, 2004, the K-cancel (number 362) used a t4302 Augst (canton Basel-Land) was taken out of service .

The following is the list of post office closings through th eend of December .

1 . On November 27, 2004, the post office at 7016 Trin Muli n(canton Graubünden) was closed. K-cancel 440a was last used on that date .

2. On November 30, 2004, the post office at 3429 Höchstetten-Hellsau (canton Bern) was closed .

3 . On December 3, 2004, the post office at 7189 Rueras (canton Graubünden) was closed . K-cancel

1309 was last used on that date .

4. On December 10, 2004, the following post offices were closed :

7182 Cavardiras (canton Graubünden)7557 Vnà (canton Graubünden)

5. On December 24, 2004, the post office at 8060 Zürich 60 Kalchbühl (canton Zürich) was closed .

6. On December 28, 2004, the post office at 9468 Sax (canton St . Gallen) . K-cancel 617a was last used

on that date .

7. On December 30, 2004, the following post offices were closed :

8164 Bachs (canton Zürich)8858 Innerthal (canton Schwyz) [K-cancel 261a was last used on that date ]6476 Intschi (canton Uri)8407 Winterthur 7 Veltheim (canton Zürich )

8. On December 31, 2004, the following post offices were closed :

7241 Conters im Prättigau (canton Graubünden)3927 Herbriggen (canton Valais)

6872 Salorino (canton Ticino) [K-cancel 1069 was last used on that date ]

6106 Werthenstein (canton Luzern) [K-cancel 439 was last used on that date ]

Botenweibel(Continued from page 1) It is not known when this practice actually started in the Canton o f

Luzern . The first documentation is the above-mentioned Postal Order of 1866, which sanctioned it .

However, Botenweibel-letters dating back to the 1850s are known .

The new Postal Law of September 1, 1876, spelled the end for Botenweibel letters . It increased

the registration fee to 20 Rp, so a registered letter cost at least 25 Rp, while the fee for Fahrpost was20 Rp . An internal memo from the Postal Authority, dated September 7, 1876, points to some smart

customers : instead of sending an important letter by registered mail, they put a fake value declaratio n

onto the cover and sent it by less expensive Fahrpost !

References:

Felix Winterstein, Über die Frankaturen der `Sitzenden Helvetia gezähnt'. . Schweiz . SpezialsammlerVereinigung . Buri Druck AG, Bern, 197 4

Josua Bühler, Altschweiz - was nicht im Katalog steht, Fonds zur Förderung der Philatelie, 1968 .

Georges Valko, Ober die Frankaturen 1882 bis 1907, Zumstein & Cie, Bern, 198 6

Felix Winterstein . "Ungewöhnliche Chargé - Frankaturen 1862 - 1918," Reprint from SBZ .

March 2005 9 TELL

The Type 14 of Rayon II(continued from page 4)

• To that we can add the little booklets edite dby the house of Zumstein reproducing th eforty types of Rayons I and II .

Why this enumeration? Simply becauseall the books appearing after Mirabaud andReuterskjöld have reprinted their illustrations ,with their precious details, but also with theirseveral imprecisions, notably the break in the Rof Type 14!

There we have it ; it is only a small defectof the reproduction, or an error by the engrave rwho reproduced the stamps, and not a particularvariety of Type 14 . We hope not to disappoin t

George Valby, but there does not exist a Type 1 4with broken R ; the stamp presented on the coverpage of the January TELL is a completelynormal Rayon II, probably an example of th estone D RO .

This is far from the only mistake or th eonly imprecision contained in philatelic work sold or new. We simply have to understand tha tmany authors reprint what has been publishe dearlier, thus carrying forward the preciousknowledge which make the fortune of today' s

10 TELL

philatelists, but also some errors, lesser or mor e

important, which therefore have a durable life

and which can therefore fool collectors across a

century or more !

News fromLIMMATTALPHILA 2004

by Harlan F. Stone

LIMMATTALPHILA souvenir cover with a blue and gree ncachet highlighting the electrical-generation plant on theLimmat River in Dietikon, and with the special blue an dpurple Tag der Briefmarken stamp . A public vote determine dthe stamp design, one of nine finalists among the entries tha tSwiss graphic artists submitted . At LIMMATTALPHILAvisitors voted for their favorite design for the Tag derBriefmarken stamp to be issued next December for theexhibition at Meyrin near Geneva .

During my participation as an exhibitor

at LIMMATTALPHILA in Dietikon,Switzerland, from December 10 to 12, I learned

or observed the following points that should be

of interest to AHPS members .

When the Swiss Society for Posta l

History publishes its 150th anniversary Strube l

book this year, Zumstein No . 27E will be gone.

Exhibits that were originally on view at th e

Plan to attend/exhibit at these AHP S

Conventions and shows:

MEGA-EVENT, March 3-6, 2005 -- New

York, NY; contacts Harlan and Helen Ston e

(see page 2 for addresses)

WESTPEX, April 2006 -- San Francisco

St. Louis Stamp Expo, February 2007 -- St .

Louis ; Contact: Michael Peter (see page 2

for addresses)

March 2005

Strubel birthday party in Luzern last June show

Andrew Urushimathat this 1fr denomination on thin paper will be

Californialisted as a variety of No . 27B2IV with yellowthread. The IV means a stamp printed on th elast Strubel press, which printed 50-subjectsheets with regular and uniform alignments ofthe stamps . The exhibits described this newvariety as still the rarest Strubel .

Single frankings of high-denomination20th century stamps are a popular subject forexhibits . One exhibit contained eight differentuses of the 50c light and dark green Helvetiawith Sword of 1908 (Zumstein No . 113), eight o fthe 90c red and green coat of arms of 1924 (No .163), and eight of the 60c William Tell of 194 1(No. 244, the AHPS logo) .

An exhibit entitled "Röstigraben" showedpostmarks from Swiss towns that over time haveused both German and French postmarks and/o rbilingual postmarks . The exhibitor told me thata loose translation of his title is "potato ditch, "his way of describing the language fault line ,which runs from the Basel area down throug hthe western part of the country and ends in th eeastern part of the Valais. He commented tha tthis line has also come to mark a politica ldivision within the last 10-20 years, as reflectedin voter referendums . The exhibit, to beexpanded, so far contains postmarks from 4 9towns in the cantons of Basel, Jura, Aargau,Solothurn, Bern, Fribourg and Vaud . A well -known example is Biel/Bienne. Not so wellknown is Payerne/-Peterlingen . The most recentaddition to these bilingual places wasMettemberg in the Jura in 1984, where thecitizens voted to change the final "g" to "t,"giving it the French-sounding name ofMettembert .

Finally, the Union of Swiss PhilatelicSocieties has decided to hold the next nationa lexhibition, not in Bern in 2006, but in Baden in2007. Baden needs the extra year to organizethe event because of its late selection .

New MembersAHPS is delighted to welcome fou r

new members over the last four months, as wel las the reinstatement of Lincoln MacArthur :

Friedrich KuchlingWashington

George Van den Hurk

South Africa

Pius WehrliFlorida

AHPS Auction 13 1Prices realize d

March 2005 11 TELL

Undeliverable — 95 yearslater?

In August 2004, Ian Gilchrist mailed aRecorded Delivery packet containing severa lSwiss covers from a post office in Harrogate toa collector in North Harrogate . Recorded De -livery items must go to the post office in Leed sbefore returning to North Harrogate, and th epacket was damaged in the Leeds post office .When it was delivered to the addressee, abou t60% of the covers were missing. Each was in aplastic protector with a description of the ite mand Ian's address . This enabled nine of th emissing covers to be returned to Ian in variou sways over the next few weeks.

A tenth item took a longer trip . Thiswas a wrapper mailed from St . Gallen to Ar -gentina in 1909. It was returned to Ian fromSt. Gallen (!) accompanied by a letter from a St .Gallen postal clerk :

"Because a mistake, the old 5 c. collec -tor-letter (wrapper to Argentina) fro m1909 is arrived at an innocent post of-fice. From there he has been sended tothe written address fn Argentina ; fromthere he has come back to Switzerlandwith the motiv "address no existent . "

The return label from Argentina isdated 11 Oct 2004 shows its return on 11 Oct

2004 because of the non-existent address . From

Harrogate to Leeds to Argentina to St . Gallen ,

back to Harrogate, 95 years after its first trip - -

that's a lot of service for 5 rappen paid in 1909 !

A Reassurance : Our good friend and Swis sairmail philatelic expert Roland Kohl was i nPhuket, Thailand at the time of the Tsu -nami . Mike Peter talked with Roland a fe wdays after the event and reports that Rolan dis OK. His condo is on the 12th floor andluckily he was not on the beach that day .He says that, as we all know, it was a hor -rific event . He was displaced to a hotel far -ther inland until his condo got its utilitiesback . We ' re relieved !

Are you considering selling some of you r

stamps on eBay? An article in a coming is -

sue of TELL will give one member's experi -

ence and some advice. Buyers too will learn

more about the process .

12 TELL March 2005

AHPS Auction 13 2This sale comprises a rather eclectic mix of material . There is a nice selection of K, Z and S

numbers; note the interesting combination lot, number 13 . Remember our watchwords : Bid early,high and often !

The first catalog number in the description is generally Zumstein, followed by Scott (Sc ) asappropriate. Values are from the 2003 Zumstein; please take into account the very active recentmarket and catalog value increases as you make your bids . In a few lots, the number and/or value arefrom the Luftpost Handbuch (1992) as indicated by LBK . Catalog value is converted to dollars at th erate SFr. 1 = US$ 0.85 . All lots are illustrated on the Internet via the AHPS web site www .swiss -stamps.org

Closing date for bids in this auction is March 26, 2005. Please send bids to auction manage rGordon Trotter by one of the following means ; On-line via the AHPS web site www.swiss-stamps .org .Mail: 10626 Fable Row, Columbia, MD 21044 . On-line bids are preferred and will be acknowledged .The deadline for submitting lots for auction 133 is April 15, 2005 .

Lot # Description Cat .

Val . $Min .Bid $

1 16 II (Sc 8) U 4 margins VF 128 42

2 27D (Sc 31) U F-VF 3 margins, frame line split upper right 1125 350

3 29 (Sc 42) U F, perfs slightly blunted lower left, cancel illegible 128 30

4 43 (Sc 59) U VF, part of boxed cancel OLTE . . . 60 20

5 48 (Sc 64) U F-VF 150 45

6 57 (Sc 81) U F-VF, BERN 30 .V.84 cds 340 11 5

7 70B (Sc 92) U F 385 11 0

8 71B (Sc 93) U VF, bold GENEVE/TRANSIT/7 .V.89 cancel 106 3 5

9 72A (Sc 88) * thin, VF centering 235 25

1 79B (Sc 100) U VF 36 9

11 135.2A.01 (Sc 189 var .) broken "8" * HR F-VF 125 42

12 151, 151 .2A.01 (Sc 199, 199 var .) A single, block of 4 and block of 6 .

Thecenter pair in the block of 6 has the variety : wedge shaped gap in bottom o foverprinted "2" . Also see the next lot .

14 4

13 Lots 12, 31, and 44, as a group 260 90

14 160z (Sc 180a) * F-VF 96 32

15 163y-5y (Sc 200-2 var .) * LH F-VF, chalky paper variety 77 2 5

16 231 (Sc 263) U VF 12 2

17 236-9 (Sc 264-7) * VF 8 4

18 236z (Sc 264) U F-VF 5 2

19 238z (Sc 266) U VF 5 2

20 262-74 (Sc 293-305) * LH F-VF, 4 low values NH, 2 Fr . HR 235 80

21 294-6 (Sc 322-4) U VF 21 8

22 312 (Sc 343) U VF 9 2

23 320-3 (Sc 351-4) FDC French cancel cacheted/unaddressed 77 19

24 328-31 (Sc 359-62) FDC German cancel cacheted/unaddressed 37 13

25 429 (Sc 463) Stamp Day cover 1

26 433-4 (Sc 467-8) first Matterhorn climbing cover 2

27 438.2 .01 (Sc 470 var .) * NH VF short "S" plate flaw in pair with normal 8 3

28 445 (Sc 479) block of 4 on Stamp Day cover 2

March 2005

13 TELL

29 K11 (Sc B2a) * LH VF 85 2 5

30 K12 (Sc 162a) * VF 19 5

31 K16, K16 .2 .01 (Sc 199a, 199a var .) Block of 4 and block of 6, the latter

containing the variety in the middle pair. Also see lot 13 .

65 25

32 K34Ay (Sc 232a) * NH VF block of 4 + 205Ay * NH VF 120 28

33 K34Az (Sc 232c var.) * NH VF block of 4 + 205Az 102 22

34 Z1 * NH VF 18 5

35 Z16y * NH VF 30 7

36 Z17y * NH VF 47 12

37 Z17y + two 183 in block of 4 * NH VF 47 1 2

38 Z18y * NH VF 47 1 2

39 Z18y + two 183 in block of 4 * NH VF 47 1 2

40 Z25a-27f * VF, some with control mark 106 2 5

41 Z35a * VF 30 1 0

42 Z39 * NH VF 21 5

43 Z40 * NH VF block of 4 43 1 5

44 S17, S17.2.01 * NH VF block of 6, center pair has the variety . Also see lot 13 181 65

45 S40 * NH VF 94 2 5

46 S42 * NH VF 94 2 5

47 F1-2 (Sc C1-2) * VF, F2 NG 225 45

48 F6-7 (Sc C6-7) * HR/DG VF 38 8

49 F8-9 (Sc C8-9) * HR VF 24 5

50 F11 (Sc C11) U VF 102 30

51 F13 (Sc C15) * HR VF 128 30

52 F13 (Sc C15) * HR F-VF 128 30

53 F13 (Sc C15) U VF 145 40

54 F14-5 (Sc C13-4) * HR VF 132 24

55 F14 (Sc C13) U VF 64 25

56 F15 (Sc C14) U VF 119 45

57 The two previous lots (F14-5 U VF) as a group 183 60

58 F16-8 (Sc C16-8) * HR/DG VF 11 3

59 F27-34 (Sc C27-34) * LH F-VF 43 15

60 F42 (Sc C42) on first flight cover Geneva-Washington May 2, 1947 34 10

61 F44, F44c (Sc C44, C44 shade) U VF 43 12

62 LBK RF27.4.Dc first flight cover La Chaux de Fonds-Locle-Lausanne wit hLAUSANNE 30 .V.27 cds . On 35c . airmail stamped envelope (1992 cat .)

26 20

63 LBK SF24 .7.b special flight cover Solothurn-Grenchen 31 AUG 24 on 10c .

postal card plus F5, and special flight etiquette on reverse . 1992 cat .

21+ 15

64 LBK SF27.4 .t special flight cover for international aviation meeting ,ZURICH-BELLINZONA 22 .VIII .27 cds on 40c . picture postal card showing

biplane and Matterhorn . 1992 cat .

21 15

65 WI 64 (Sc B64) U VF 10 3

66 WI 83I+84I (Sc B89) * SS gum bends 5 2

67 WI 88 (Sc B94) U VF 9 2

68 WI 96 (Sc B109) U VF 12, 2

69 WI 98I+99I (Sc B116) * NH VF 136 40

70 WI 100 (Sc B 113) U F 9 2

14 TELL

March 2005

71 WI 104 (Sc B121) U VF 6 2

72 WI 108 (Sc B129) U F-VF 13 3

73 WI 112 (Sc B140) U F-VF 14 3

74 WI 137 (Sc B200) U VF 19 4

75 WI 142 (Sc B211) U F-VF 17 3

76 WI 205-9 (Sc B339-43) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 5 1

77 WI 252-5 (Sc B434-8) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 7 2

78 WII 19 (Sc B119) * NH VF 128 35

79 WII 42-5 (Sc B183-6) unofficial FDC to Brussels, GENEVE 15 .VI.49 cds

plus Brussels backstamp . Official FDC cat .

160 40

80 WIII 2-4 (Sc B77-9) * VF 7 2

81 WIII 23 (Sc B144) * NH VF 170 40

82 WIII 25w-8w (Sc B170-3) * VF 4 2

83 WIII 25w-8w (Sc B170-3) U VF 15 4

84 WIII 25-8 (Sc B170-3) unofficial FDC to US, DAVOS PLATZ 15 .I .48 cds ,

additional franking F28 (2) et al . Official FDC cat .

170 40

85 WIII 35 (Sc 352a) * LH VF 55 1 9

86 DIV 84-94 (Sc 3083-93) CTO OG/NH VF 136 40

87 P43 (Sc J49) on postage due cover from Pamplona, Spain 5 June 1937 t o

Zurich with Spanish military censor handstamp

1 5

88 Three picture postcards with hotel cancels : Hotel des Alpes, Lucerne;

Pension Laurent, Vevey; Hotel de Russie, Geneve

--- 8

89 Two picture postcards of lake steamers Rorschach and Unterwalden,

unused F-VF

6

90 T10 * NG VF telegraph stamp 357 12 0

LIECHTENSTEIN91 348 (Sc 356) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 94 40

92 393 (Sc 404) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 2 1

93 395-8 (Sc 406-9) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 3 1

94 399 (Sc 410) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 3 1

95 400-3 (Sc 411-4) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 4 2

96 405-8 (Sc 416-9) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 4 2

97 415 (Sc 424) FDC cacheted/unaddressed 5 2

March 2005 15 TELL

American Helvetia Philatelic Societ yTreasurer's Report for 2004

December 1, 2003 - November 30, 200 4

Presented below is the accounting for the 2004 fiscal year, compared with 2003 . Note that both income an dexpenditures were down somewhat from the previous year, but that we showed a small increase in revenue . Las tyear's figures included the amount advanced and donated for the publication of Chuck LaBlonde's monograph .As the books are closed on this venture, it will no longer be a line item in the accounting, unless we undertak eother publication ventures . However, of possible concern is the continued slow decline of many of our sourcesof income, especially memberships, don ions, and interest on accounts . The interest on savings accounts ha sdropped to a pitiful level . Perhaps we should consider placing much of these funds in a more productive earnin gaccount . Perhaps a committee of members (having more investment acumen than I) should assemble an drecommend a better investment strategy than we have at present . Overall, though, the society remains i nexcellent financial shape .

Year 2004 2003INCOMEMembership dues (+1st class mailing) $5,828.00 $6,077 .00TELL advertising 1,133 .00 1,232.00Auction proceeds ') 1,075 .00 401 .00Sales circuits" 500.00 1,400.00"CD ROM sales 0.00 135 .00LaBlonde Book 0.00 1,000.00Interest on accounts 151 .00 202 .00Donations and miscellaneous 158 .00 295 .00

Collected for GB Soc . memberships 550.00 625 .00Collected for Swiss Verein memberships 675 .00 875.00Swiss Verein Grant & refund 301 .00 211 .00

TOTAL INCOME $10,371 .00 $12,453 .00

EXPENSESTELL publication & distribution $7,254.00 $7,356.00Web site maintenance 191 .00 180 .00Trophies and Awards 130 .00 845.00Publication (LaBlonde) 0.00 1,750.00Annual meeting (3) 100 .00Secretarial supplies, postage, printing, misc . 909.00 1,111 .00GB Soc & Swiss Verein remittances 1,342 .00 1,554.00

TOTAL EXPENSES 9,926 .00 $12,796 .00

NET GAIN (LOSS) 445 .00 (343.00)

ACCOUNT BALANCESChecking account $1,890.00 $1,601 .00Savings 10,773 .00 10,663 .00CD 8,353.00(2 ' 8,353 .00

TOTAL GENERAL FUNDS $21,016 .00 $20,617 .00

Life Membership Fund 4,498 .00 4,452 .00

TOTAL BALANCE $25,514 .00 $25,069 .00

NET CHANGE 445 .00 (343 .00)

Notes :1. Does not include working accounts maintained by auction and circuit managers .

2. Interest on CD transferred automatically to general savings .3. Any such expenses were previously included in misc .4. Includes FY 2002 accounting

Respectfully submitted ,

Harry C. Winter, Treasure r

16 TELL

March 200 5