VOL . XXII, NUMBER 2MARCH 1996

American HelvetiaPhilatelic Society

ARIPEX 96 - And A Great Time Was Had by Al l

It all started Thursday afternoon with the "SwissPhilatelic Roundtable ". A group 46 avid Swiss Philate-lists gathered to hear the words of wisdom on a variet yof subjects from what may very well have been thegreatest collection of Swiss experts ever assemble doutside Europe. They came from 19 states and 4 for-eign countries to share their collective knowledge an djoin in fellowship with others sharing their passion fo rcollecting little bits of paper from the oldest democracyon earth . It was truly a unique experience !

The Roundtable started with a presentation byHerbert Brach on the statue of his Struble book, whic his presently ready for publishing. Herb is looking forways to fund the publishing such that the book wouldcost less than $100 and thus more readily affordabl efor the Swiss collector. We will keep you informed ofthe progress on this excitinginitiative .

Then Ian Gilchrist, from England,talked on Red Cross Covers . He wasfollowed by Heinz Katcher, also fromEngland, who talked on a lifetime offinding rarities. Heinz showed his lat-est find, a 5 Rappen Milky Blue colo rerror in the Court of Honor . KurtKimmel, from Switzerland and anSBPV authorized expertiser,discussed the art of expertising and re -viewed a few items submitted fromthe audience .

Donn Lueck, seated withHarlan F. Stone, Dick Barton ,Chuck La Blonde, and Ernes tBergman . (standing left to right)

The picture above shows the members i nattendance at the annual meeting of the AmericanHelvetia Philatelic Society at ARIPEX 96 .

Roland Kohl, also from Switzerland, talked on hisspecialty, Aerophilately, followed by Chuck LaBlonde ,who discussed Modern Swiss Postal History, R-Labelsand Donn Lueck, who reviewed his lifetime of work inSwiss Revenue stamps.

Husband & wife Rolf Rolli and Beatrice Rolli-Schar, Swiss Auctioneers, talked on the Cross and Nu-meral issue and stamps of 1907 - 1940, respectively .

Harlan Stone talked about his latest interest, Post-age Dues, and Ed Walton reviewed the results of hisresearch into WWII Censored Covers to Mr . Ben-ninger, of Saskatchewan .

(continued on page 4)

ContentsARIPEX 96 1&4From the President 3AHPS Auctions 1995 3Awards 472Fb 6WW II - Conclusion 8Revenues of Canton Ticino 1 013c Franking - but 1 2Rare "Hotel Stamps" 1 2Briefpost 2000 - Part 1 13Profiles of a Swiss Stamp Collector 1 4Literature Review 1 5

Copyright 1995, The American Helvetia Philatelic Society (AHPS) .TELL (ISSN 1042-2072) is the official journal of the America nHelvetia Philatelic Society, affiliate #52 of the American Philateli cSociety and a member of the Union of Swiss Philatelic Societies .TELL is published bimonthly (Jan/Mar/May/Jul/Sep/Nov) .

Opinions expressed in this journal are those of the authors and ar enot necessarily endorsed by AHPS or the Editor .

Letters and articles on Swiss, Liechtenstein, UN Geneva andrelated philately are welcome and should be sent to the Editor .Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced . Whenever possible ,submit material on 514 or 3½" PC or Macintosh computer diskettes(high density Mac disks) . Illustrations may be submitted as full siz ephotocopies; or, we can copy/scan your originals (please contact th eEditor before sending actual stamps, covers, etc .) . Please include youraddress and telephone number.

Subscriptions for 1995, include AHPS dues : North America, $20;overseas air delivery, $30 . Request membership applications from th eSecretary. Change-of-Address should be sent to the Secretary.

Commercial advertising copy and rate inquiries should be sent tothe Editor . Advertising deadlines are the first of the month prior t opublication (Dec/Feb/Apr/Jun/Aug/Oct) .

Printed by Kettle Moraine Printing, West Bend WI 53095 .

Editor's CommentsI would like to thank Steve Turchik and Dick Hall

for the photographs of ARIPEX96. Your editor forgo this camera in the rush to catch a plane . Thanks alsoto all those who contributed information for the cove rstory. The roundtable contained some very interestin ginformation . Unfortunately only a small percent ofour members have this information, as it has not ye tbeen submitted to the editor for publication . Howabout it presentors, send me your articles so all of th emembership can benefit .

I have had a request to publish a cross referencelisting between Zumstein and Scott. Does anyonehave such a listing that is on disk, or can be photocop-ied directly in TELL? I would hate to think of th enumber of errors I would make if I tried to type upsuch a list!

As yet I have not heard of anyone volunteering t o

continue the Profiles of Swiss Stamp Collectorsseries. Now is the time to develop your literary geniu sand contribute to the human interest part of AHPS .

I could use some articles for the next couple issues .My backlog is as low as it has been since I assume d

the job of editor.

Dick Barton

American Helvetia Philatelic SocietyOfficers 1995-1997

ELECTED OFFICERSPresidentErnest L. Bergma n1421 Harris StState College PA 16803-302 4Home: 814-238-0164

Past PresidentMario Wiedenmeier12 Lyncrest DriveGalveston, TX 77550-321 5Home : 409-763-4855

Vice-PresidentDick Barton2800 Crestview Ct .Loveland, CO 80538-3078Home : 303-669-8130

Secretary & Libraria nRichard T . HallP.O. Box 666Manhattan Beach, CA 90267Home : 310-546-5226

Publicity ChairmanAwards ChairmanEditor EmeritusHarlan F . StoneP.O . Box 77033 4Woodside NY 1137 7Home : 718-478-2374

REPRESENTATIVE SUnion of Swiss Philateli cSocieties RepresentativeRalph SoderbergP.O. Box 3606 7Grosse Pointe Wood sMI 48236Home : 313 . 885-4125

American Philatelic SocietyCharles J . LaBlond eP .O . Box 264Chelmsford MA 0182 4Home : 508-256-3904

Liechtenstein Study Grou pChm: Max Rheinberge r100 Elizabeth St. # 51 0Duluth MN 55802Home : 218-728-392 5

APPOINTED OFFICERSTELL EditorDick Barto n2800 Crestview Ct .Loveland CO 80538Home : 970-669-813 0

TELL Associate EditorSteven S . WestonP .O . Box 86 8Del Mar CA 92014-0868619-752-781 2

Circuit Sales ManagerEmil L . ToblerP .O . Box 26Bradford RI 0280 8Home : 401-377-223 8

Auction Manage rGeorge Strubl e210 18th St NESalem OR 97301Home : 503-364-3929

TreasurerFrank Young412 North Main Stree tHerkimer, NY 13350Home : 315-866-7822

Regional Director Wes tDonn Luec kP. O . Box 11582Phoenix, AZ 85061Home : 602-841-132 2

Regional Director CentralRobert Gleichenhaus7602 VinewoodSan Antonio, TX 78209Home : 210-826-0930

Slide ChairmanRichard W. BlaneyPO Box 1100Easton MA 02334-1100508-238-3134

Regional Director EastDavid E . Durham, Pastor#7 Allenhurst RoadBuffalo, NY 14214-120 1Home : 716-833-6504

Plan to attend/exhibit at theseAHPS Conventions and shows :

Pacific'97May 29 - June 1, 1997San Francisco CA

MILCOPEX'98September 18-20, 199 8Milwaukee, W I

2 TELL

March 1996

From the PresidentARIPEX '96 is now history but the excellen t

facilities, fine arrangements, great exhibits and,last but not least, the warm temperature, I amsure, got some of us from the East and Northeas tmore quickly over a crude awakening when wefinally hit home and snow again !

The AHPS Convention was a great success,thanks to Donn Lueck, who seemed to beresponsible for everything not only AHPS, ChuckLaBlonde and Harlan Stone, and we can onlyrepeat again - THANKS A LOT FELLOWS for a jobextremely well done .

It was very gratifying to see and talk to the man yHelvetia members (40-50) from all corners of theUS, Canada, Colombia, England and Switzerland .129 frames of Swiss material were exhibited by 1 4members, and 4 gold, 8 vermeil and 2 silverawards were received for these, including the GrandAward of the show by Harlan Stone.CONGRATULATIONS to all .

Seldom, or probably even never before, has s omuch Swiss material been exhibit in competition inthe US. The judges did a great job and theindividual "Judges Critique" was very muchappreciated by the exhibitors .

The Swiss Philatelic Roundtable was a greatsuccess too, a more than full room listened intenselyto good speakers discussing very interesting subjects.Perhaps this was one of the prime reasons for th egood attendance .

The Society's annual Business Meeting wasequally well attended. It was announced that ourlongtime Secretary, Richard Hall, was chosenHonorary Life Member by the Board of Directors.It was also announced that the Board agreed with th eTreasurer that the Society's fiscal year should b echanged to December 1 - November 30 as discussed inthe Presidents column of the last "TELL" . To makethe change in the Bylaws legal, the membership wil lbe asked to vote for this change along with the nextelections, which take place at the end of this year .

Furthermore, an additional $100 reimbursemen tfor the convention expenses was agreed to in light ofthe outstanding convention arrangements. Theexpense account for next year's convention in Sa nFrancisco was also approved.

We still don't have a representative for th eMilwaukee, WI meetings in 1998, and a seriousquestion was raised if we shouldn't cancel tha tmeeting if we don't have a local representative . Thisyear showed again how important it is for asuccessful convention to have such a local liaison .ANY VOLUNTEER?

I am sure there will be special articles elsewhere i nthis "TELL" about this convention ; I have only"skimmed" over the highlights . All in all, it was agreat four days in Mesa and let's get startplanning right now for '97 in San Francisco!

Ernie

AHPS AUCTIONSANNUAL REPORT 199 5

by George Struble

This is my report for our auction experience fro mDecember 1994 through November 1995. We heldAuction 102, closing Feb . 1995, Auction 103, closingJune 1995, and Auction 104, closing October 1995 .

GrossProceeds

Paid toSellers

AHPSCommissio n

Auction 102 $3,014.00 $2,623.40 $

390.60Auction 103 2,807.00 2,475.95 331 .05Auction 104 1,995.00 1,694.90 300 .1 0

TOTAL $1,021 .75

Expenses :Safe deposit box $ 45.00APS Insurance 25.00Photos of auction items 40.00Postage not charged to buyers 27 .86

Total $137 .86

Beginning balance $

797 .70Net proceeds 1,021 .75

less expenses -137.86$1,681 .59

less check to AHPS treasury -880.00Balance carried forward $ 801 .59

For your comparison, our commissions last year(three auctions) were almost $1,300 ; expenses were$260.97, which included costs for four auctions an dseeding my AHPS postage envelope, which was drawndown some this year .

Our bank waives the service charge is the balanc estays above $750 ; this is why I am holding the balanc e

of $801 .59. It is AHPS's money ; waiver of the servic echarge is a pretty good return on it .

The percentage of lots sold was:Auction 102 52 sold of 128 lots 41 %Auction 103 36 sold of 108 lots 33%

Auction 104 35 sold of 124 lots 28%I am not happy with the trend of decreasing sales .

I am trying to reduce lower-quality and more ordinaryitems in the auctions, but the auctions are a service tothe consignors among us as well as to the buyers, so Ifeel some mandate to accept and list yet more copies o fearly Pro Juventutes (for example) if they are nic ecopies and otherwise meet our guidelines . We coulduse more consignors of nice and unusual stuff as wel las more buyers .

I buy some lots for my personal collection if no on ehas bid on them. I also put a few items of my own inthe auction as a consignor . The percentage of sales ofmy lots is even lower than the average !

Auction this year will appear in the January, May ,and September TELLS . I will continue the practice ofincluding photos of some items, when possible . Myteaching workload will be greater this year, so I will b easking consignors to wend me their lots early, to allowme time to work the auctions into my schedule .

March 1996

TELL 3

And last, but definitely not least ,Bob Zeigler reviewed his latest discov-ery, one of three unplated Rayon sfrom the U stone. An exciting find !

After the Roundtable, about 20 ofthe members joined at a local restau-rant that served New Orleans styl efood. There Chuck LaBlonde distin-guished himself by eating catfish an dafter thoroughly stripping it of anymeat, was asking for Frank Young ,claiming that the skeleton was a goo danalogy of the AHPS financial status.Perhaps it was the bottles of BlackVoodoo beer that did it! Donn Lueckclosed out the festivities that night byasking the waitress for a doggie bagfor Chucks fish !

On Friday the show opened and the members wer ebusy scouring the dealers tables looking for those allu -sive items that they never seem to find, looking at th eexhibits, (14 Swiss exhibits totaling 129 15-18 pageframes), mailing out the show cachet to all the mem-bers, or just sharing information . Friday evening th eArizona Philatelic Rangers held a dinner wit hentertainment.

On Saturday the awards were posted on the exhib-its (see page 14). There was a lot more of the same ac-tivities as on Friday plus the AHPS annual meetingwas held to discuss and vote on matters of the Societ yand the Judges critique . Saturday evening the showbanquet was held outdoors overlooking the city (yes ,while many of you were freezing back East, we wereenjoying unseasonably warm temperatures in Phoe-nix. You should have come) . The meal was chuck-wagon style, but the entertainment did not show .However AHPS provided its own entertainment with a75th Birthday celebration for Tony Kofranek (below) .

No Tony did not eat all of the cake himself!

It was a great convention . A special Thank You isdue to Donn Lueck and Chuck LaBlonde for puttingtogether a truly memorable experience and to SteveTurchik for his photographic efforts in preserving thi sevent for the history of Swiss Philately .

Somehow there just was not enough time to see al lthe exhibits, visit all of the dealers, talk to all of themembers on all of the subjects that one wanted t

o discuss, and enjoy the beautiful warm weather. Butthere is always the next show and another chance t oshare knowledge and examples of that fascinatin ghobby of Swiss Philately.

Grand Award winner Harlan F. Stone with his wife

Helen, and award .

Steve Turchik, Kurt Kimmel, and Ed Walton in front of the exhibits .

Sunday was more of the same as Friday plus a nAHPS swap session and all of those living on the eastcoast commiserating about the fact that they woul djust have to stay in beautiful, warm Phoenix, since al lof the flights to the East were canceled .

4 TELL March 1996

EXHIBIT AWARD Sby Harlan F. Stone

The AHPS convention at ARIPEX 96 in Mesa,Arizona, January 5-7, included 14 competitiv eand three court-of-honor exhibits totaling 12915-18 page frames. This was the largest concen-tration of Swiss material in the United State ssince 28 members of the old Helvetia Societ

y displayed 159 16 page frames at the former NationalPhilatelic Museum in Philadelphia in 1949 .

As a group the AHPS exhibitors, making upnearly one-third of the show's 43 competitors,were highly successful, winning the grand award,four of 10 gold medals, and several specialawards . The results:

Harlan F. Stone, "Sitting Helvetia, "ARIPEX grand and gold, AHPS grand & gol d

Ralph B. Soderberg, "I .K.W. Issue, "ARIPEX gold, AHPS gold, APS 1900-40 .

Ralph Schachtebeck, "Standing Helvetia1882 - 1907," ARIPEX gold, AHPS silver,Arizona Federation of Stamp Club novice .

James A. Anderson, "Railroad Post OfficeMarkings, 1858-1910," ARIPEX gold, AHPSbronze .

Donn Lueck, "Cantonal Revenue Issues" ,ARIPEX vermeil, Arizona Federation of StampClubs best exhibit by Arizona resident, PhoenixPhilatelic Society best exhibit by member .

Richard Barton, "William Tell 1914-1942" ,ARIPEX vermeil, American Association ofPhilatelic Exhibitors presentation award .

The following won ARIPEX vermeil medals :Ernest L. Bergman, "Switzerland and WorldWar II" ; Jonathan Steinberg, "Civilian In-ternment Camp Mail, 1940-46' ; George O .Trabue Jr ., "Seated Helvetia Issues,1854-81" ; Steve P. Turchik, "Imperf. SittingHelvetia" ; Edmund C. Walton, "Imperf. Sit-ting Helvetia" ; Robert G. Zeigler, "Censor -ship of Swiss Mail of World War II Period" .

The following won ARIPEX silver medals:Richard T . Hall, "Philatelic Tour of CantonAargau", AHPS novice; Bruce Marsden ,'Swiss Fondue" .

The Court of Honor included Charles J .LaBlonde,

"Geneva Postal

History,1750-1870" ; Heinz L . Katcher, "18565-Rappen Error of Color " ; and Donn Lueck,"Revenue Issues of Lucerne, 1802-1918" .

Other recent award winners:Paul S . Aufrichtig, "Classics of Liechtenstei nthrough 1911", BALPEX 95, vermeil .

Gene Kelly, "Catalog of taxed documents,Vol . 3", CHICAGOPEX 95, silver-bronze .

Jonathan Steinberg, "Civilian Internment Camp Mail, 1940-46",PHILADELPHI A

95, silver

Chief Judge Chuck La Blonde and Swiss Judge KurtKimmel.

Harlan F. Stone, "Stamp-Imprinted enve-lopes and Postal Cards", PHILADELPHIA95, gold, Marcus White (best stationery), Hel-vetia, Ruth Engel (postal history) ; NEW YORKFALL 95 MEGA-EVENT, gold ; CHICAGOPEX95, gold, APS pre-1900 .

Steve S . Weston, "Tell", CHICAGOPEX 95 ,silver.

AHPS Exhibit at PACIFIC 97A one-frame, 16 page AHPS exhibit will go into

PACIFIC 97 at San Francisco during May 29-June 8 ,1997. AHPS members voted their approval during theannual convention business meeting at ARIPEX 96 .This promotional display will be similar to successfu lAHPS exhibits at World Stamp Expo 89 in Washingto nand World Columbian Stamp Expo 92 in Chicago .

This is my first call, as volunteer coordinator, forparticipants. The exhibit theme will be a panorama o fSwitzerland's stamps and postal history, similar to th eapproach that Bruce Marsden takes in his constantlychanging "Swiss Fondue" exhibit . Subjects to be cov-ered can include pre-stamp covers, cantonal stamps,Rayons, Strubels, Sitting Helvetias, Cross & Numer-als, Standing Helvetias, William Tells and Sons, Tete-Beches/Se-Tenents, souvenir sheets, Pro Juventutes ,Pro Patrias, airmails, postage dues, officials, interna-tional organizations, revenues, postal stationery, pub-licity postmarks and machine cancellations .

An introductory title page and a closing AHPS in -formation page will leave only 14 pages for stamps an dcovers. If you want to take part, tell me what subjectyou want to show . Successful applicants will be th efirst to respond (Harlan F. Stone address on page 2) ,or the first to offer needed material . All participantswill be listed on the final page . Here's an easy way toexhibit at the next U .S. International exhibition .

March 1996

TELL 5

ONE SWALLOW DOES MAKE ASPRING

by Pierre Guinan d

(BBZ 9 1995; Translated by Richard Powers)People say that proverbs reflect popular wisdom .

For instance, people say that "One swallow does notmake a spring!" This may be true in many fields, butfolk wisdom is not always the healthiest of attitudes .We would like to introduce today a swallow, which ar -rived in 1992 and which succeeded in announcing anew spring in which many knowledgeable collectorswere correct to believe .

First it is necessary to see and then to recognize theswallow! Those who have carefully read the 199 2Zumstein Swiss Specialized Catalog, particularl ypages 91 and 92, could not fail to note the impressiveamount of new information, which this work has nowplaced at our disposition . Since its publication, severalresearchers have shown us this or that discovery .Sometimes these are true rarities, which have justcome to light .

This is the case for No . 72Fb (last paragraph of page92), of which we had been aware of only one exampleand which now has a twin brother . You see that on ehas to take this swallow seriously even if it remaine dtotally alone for many years .

A sharp-eyed collector has just discovered a secon dexample of this stamp which we presented to you indetail in the second 1992 issue of the BernerBriefmarken Zeitung ( "Hats off to these stamps ") Thetwo copies are canceled with the same postmark -LUZERN FAHRP . AUFGABE .

They were used barely a month apart (October 28,1905 for the copy already known and September 20,1905 for the copy recently discovered) .

The combination of perforation 11 3/4 with the nar-row oval watermark is sufficient to determine it to beNo 72F . But, in order for it to be definitely admitte dto the company of extreme rarities, this stamp mus talso pass a particularly delicate double test : the identi -fication of its position in the plate by means of th

e Galvano imperfections; then the identification of it sposition in the perforating device by means of the ir-regularities of the perforations . Only if these two testsboth lead to one and the same position can we conside rthe verification test to have been completelysuccessful .Test of the printing plat

Fortunately the identi-fying marks of the print-ing plate IIb are rathe r

Fig 3: At left a No .72Eb from 1902-05 fromposition 41 of the print-ing plate IIb; in the cen-ter the new 72Fb ; at theright a No. 72Db from1905-06 also from posi-tion 41 from plate IIb .

6 TELL

Fig. 1 & 2 :The two

currentlyknown cop-ies of No .72Fb

well known. It is a plate with 400 subjects and no sys -tematic study on this topic has yet been published .But we have good documentation available. Severalspecialists have reconstructed all or part of this plate .Figure 3 shows three stamps side by side and show u sthe principal identifying marks which are going t

o permit us to confirm that the stamp under examinatio ncomes from position 41 :

1. There is a retouched line on the right side of thelower border. This was a retouch performed on the41st position from the original plate and which onefinds later in positions 41, 141, 241 and 341 of th eprinting plate IIb.

2 . A small spot found in the lower right corner .This too is a variety of position 41 from the originalplate II; one later finds this spot on the four same posi -tions of the same printing plate .

3. Indications of wear appear on the upper frame ,which is also characteristic of the four same positions .

4. An extremely fine retouch in the right part of theoval between the face and the lance . It is almos

t imperceptible and one can discern it a bit better on No .72Eb (which comes from the same plate, when it wasin better condition) . On No. 72Db, which appearedlater, and on this No . 72Fb, this area looks more like aworn area rather than a retouch . Position 41 .

5. Some minuscule dots can be found in the frameof the oval to the left of the first star underneath theletter A in HELVETIA . These dots could be secondarytraces due to the retouch ; they are found only on posi -tion 41 . Identifying marks 1,2,4 and 5 have beenstrengthened in the illustration . There are severa lother minuscule dots which we will forego mentioning ,but which are also characteristic of position 41 .Test of the Perforating Device: The 11 3/

4 perforator contains a rather high number of irregularities inthe alignment of its perforation pins, which lead tosome perforations on the stamps, which are larger or

March 1996

Fig 4 : At the left aNo. 72A from position41 from the printingplate Ia; in the cente rthe new No. 72Fb; atthe right another No .72A from position 141 o fprinting plate Ib .

narrower than others .Figure 4 also shows thre e

stamps. The three stamps display acertain number of perforation ir-regularities in common. Let us re -call that although these stamp swere printed with plates of 200 o r400 subjects, nevertheless their per-foration occurred only in sheets o f100. Here are some of the moststriking irregularities :

1 . The first three holes at the top(actually the first four counting thehole at the corner) are not strictlyaligned horizontally but form a linewhich descends slightly towards theright .

2.-4. Three teeth are too narrow(one at the left and two at theright) .

5.-10 . Six teeth are too large (o fwhich four are in the corners; thischaracteristic occurs frequently i nthe 11 3/4 perforator) .

Here too other characteristicsthat could be mentioned. But weshall restrict ourselves to thesemost typical ones .

One sees now that all uncer-tainty has been removed: the stampunder examination indeed come sfrom position 41 of printing plateIIb and it was indisputably perfo-rated by position 41 of the 11 3/4perforator. All the elements of iden-tification thus agree and we canstate that we indeed have a secon dcopy of the great rarity No . 72Fb .

Popular wisdom adds mali-ciously, "Never just two without athird" If that is true, what next?

March 1996 TELL 7

WORLD WAR I IONE MORE TIM E

CONCLUSIONby Charles J. LaBlonde

Recall that the basis for this series was some archive materia

l discovered by Michael Rutherfoord i nthe basement of the PTT Library inBern. This material consisted ofthree bound volumes containingcopies of WW II PTT correspon-dence, all related to moving themail under difficult and shiftingconditions. In the past 9 install-ments we have looked at some ofthis correspondence and obtainedan appreciation for the pressure onthe PTT to keep the mail moving i nan impossible situation .

The situation was much morefluid than other works on WW IIpostal history would have u

s believe. The routing of the mail reallydid change almost daily .

Since starting this series I havehad all three books sent to me bythe PTT and I have copied them. Ifwe continued with the WW I

I series, I have enough material to fil lthe next 100 Tells easily! This ma-terial needs research and consolida-tion to establish the real routings o fmail from Switzerland during thewar. The results of that researchneed to appear in Tell, instead of asteady flow of raw material as wehave been doing .

The PTT copies I have are availabl eto anyone who is interested in thereal WW II postal historical details .But for the purposes of Tell, I thinkwe have gone far enough for now .

I want to thank all who hav ewritten about this series . I haveseen more mail on this series thanon anything else I have done forTell . It seems appropriate to endthe series with the special coversthat our members have sent overthe past two years .

The first cover (above) belongsto Ken Eadie of Mississauga, On-tario. The letter is from Lausanneto New York, 8 March 1940, cor-rectly franked for surface transpor-tation with 30 centimes . Note thiswas early in the war when Swissmail was still sailing from Genoa .

The sender of this letter knew ex-actly the route he desired: "ViaGenova to New York, USA SS Man-hattan." As with many surface cov-ers early in the war, no signs ofcensorship. Any other examples ofthis type of routing out there? Kenalso sent photocopies of some othe rvery interesting WW II covers .

Figure 2 (bottom) belongs toCharles Scanio of Winchendon ,Massachusetts. This is a letterfrom Geneva 11 Rue du Stand(which already makes it very spe-cial) to Port Washington, NewYork, dated 22 August 1941 . It iscorrectly franked for airmail weigh-ing between 5 to 10 grams (30 + 70+ 70 = 1 .70) . The cover is special asit was posted by Mr . Scanio's ma-ternal grandfather (John Maul-betsch) to his uncle (Joh nMaulbetsch . . .his mother's brother)in New York .

Ethan Davis of Mountainside ,New Jersey, sent a great cover (to pof next page) . It was mailed to hisfather from Geneva on 5 Decembe r1941 and delivered on 7 February1946! For 50 months the letter washeld by the British censor i

n Bermuda. The letter was correctlyfranked for 15 grams (30 + 70 + 7 0+ 70 = 2 .40) . Ethan writes, "Ther eis no indication of why the letterwas held by the British . There isalso no return address on the enve-lope . It is highly unlikely that th eletter contained money or a check .My father did work for the Interna-tional Red Cross from September

8 TELL March 1996

1939 through October 1940. Hadany money been owed him, it woul dno doubt have been sent in a Re dCross envelope, not a standard air -mail envelope . "

In the first installment I aske dfor mail posted just at the start o fthe war in September 1939. EdWalton of Scarborough, Ontario ,wins the prize for the postcar

d closest to the date of the war (below) .It is the special Red Cross fligh tfrom Zurich to Geneva, 30 Augus t1939, then on to Toronto . No signsof censorship. I want to thank E dfor sending many other covers dur-ing the series .

Finally a little teaser, just be-cause it is such a pretty cover

(bottom). I saw one like it in Mesa, i nBob Zeigler's exhibit . Single frank- ings of the 5 frank airmail stamp

are not common and this causes oneto immediately be suspicious. It isalways possible that the sender justhappened to have one of the stampson hand and that he rounded thereal rate off just a little .

Let's have a look .

Basic Surface Rate

30cExtra Rate over 20 grams 20cRegistration

30cAirmail (70c per 5 grams) 420c

5 FrancsIt's Magic! !

(Editor's note : Thanks for the ser-ies Chuck, it was very interestingand educational)

March 1996 TELL 9

Handstamped and Printed Revenue Paper of Canton Ticin oby Donn Lueck

Handstamped Revenue PaperSoldi values (1809-1850)

A. Oval handstamp in black or brown (20mm x 16mm) wit hvertical and horizontal lines in the upper half of oval an dvalue in lower half. The oval is surrounded by a wreath (nea rright). All known documents also have a red handstamp inthe upper left corner (far right) . These are known on docu-ments from 1809 - 1822 . The following values are known :

2 .6 Sold i10 Soldi

B. A round handstamp in black, 26mm in diameter, with vertical and horizonta llines in the upper half with value in lower half of circle . Inscription below lines is"C : T/ SOLDI" (far right) . These are known used on documents from 1834 - 1840.Only value known :

2 .6 Soldi

C. A shield with the coat of arms of Canton Ticino inthe center (42mm x 31mm), handstamp in black in-scribed "CANTONE TICINO" at top and "DIRITTO DIBOLLO. SOLDI 10" around the shield (right) . Knownused on a document in 1839 . Only known value :

10 Sold i

D. A single-line circle 19mm in diameter with ribbo naround the circle. Inscribed "CANTONETICINO/MEZZO/SOLDO" in the center (far right) .Known used only on newspapers (see below) from 183 6to 1850. Only known value :

MEZZO (1/2) Soldo

E. A double-line circle 25mm in diameter with Coat of Arms of Canton Ticino surrounded by a wreath in the center. Inscription around circle is "CANTONE DEL

TICINO" with value below (right) . Known used on-document in 1850. The follow-ing values are known :

5 Soldi10 Soldi

centesimi values (1850 - 1870)

F. A double-lined circle 25mm in diameter with Coat of arms of Canton Ticino surrounded by a wreath in the center. Inscription around circle is "CANTONE DEL

TICINO" with value below (right) . Known used on documents in 1852 and 1853 .Only known value .

40 centesimi

10 TELL March 1996

G. A double-lined circle 25mm in diameter with Coat of Arms of Canton Ticino sur-rounded by a wreath in the center . Inscription around the circle is "CANTONE

document in 1854 .DEL TICINO" with value below (far right) . Known used onOnly known value:

Cent. 20

H. A double-lined circle 25mm in diameter with Coat of Armeof Canton Ticino surrounded by a wreath in the center . In-scription around the circle is "VALORI INDETER" with valueat the bottom of the circle (right) . Known used on a docu-ment in 1855. Only known value :

50 Centesimi

I. A double-lined circle 25mm in diameter with Coat of Arms of Canton Ticin osurrounded by a wreath in the center . Inscription around the circle is "VALOR IINDETER" with the tax rate (right) . Value is below the coat of arms . A documentis known dated 1857. The following values are known :

F

20 A F.1000 Cen 25F 1000 A F. 5000 Cen 50

J. A double-lined circle 25mm in diameter with Coat of Arms of Canton Ticin osurrounded by a wreath in the center . The tax rate is in the top of the circle withthe value of the tax handstamp at the bottom of the circle (lower right) . The 50Cent is known used on a document in 1855 . (The 25 Cent is presumed to existsince the tax rate is the same as type "I" . )

PER F 20 A F 1000/25 CENT.PER F 1000 A F 5000/50 CENT .

Rappen and Swiss Franc Values (1860 - 1890 )

The new federal currency was reckoned in Rappen and the monetary rates of the whole country wer egradually changed over, starting with Geneva and Vaud on October 1, 1851 and concluding with Graubunde n

and Ticino on August 1, 1852 . This was the time known as the "transitional" perio d

K. A double-lined circle 25 1/2 mm in diameter with a square Coat of Arm sof Canton Ticino in a wreath in the center . The tax rate is in the top of thecircle with the value of the tax handstamp at the bottom of the circle (right) .There are no known documents with this handstamp, probably used from1860 - 1870. (The Fr. 0.25 is presumed to exist since the tax rate calls forone, but it has not yet been seen) .

PER Fr. 250.- 0 MINORE

Fr. 0.1 0PER Fr. 250.- A Fr . 500 INCLUSIVI Fr. 0.1 5

PER Fr. 500.- A Fr.1000 INCLUSIVI

Fr. 0.25PER Fr . 1000.- A Fr .2000 INCLUSIVI Fr. 0.50

L. Same design as type K with new tax rate . Two documents dated in 1875 and 187 7are known with Fr . 0 .50 value (right) . Known values are :

DA Fr. 20.- A Fr .250 . INCLUSIVI

Fr. 0.25DA Fr. 250 .- A Fr .500 . INCLUSIVI

Fr. 0.50

Printed Revenue PaperA. A double circle 33mm in diameter with Coat of Arms o fCanton Ticino with wreath in the center . Inscribed "DIRITTOBOLLO * CANTONE TICINO *" with value at the bottom ofthe circle . Dated March 10, 1933 (right) . Only known value :

Fr. 0.50

March 1996 TELL 11

A Very Much Sought-afterFranking, but.. ..

by Werner Boo s(SBZ 8, 1994, page 453 : Translated by Ernest L .Bergman )

The collector of postage on postal items must thor-oughly examine each item before buying it . (Look atthe cover to the right). No, the stamp has no missingtooth and also no other defects. At first, we realiz ethat it is a registered printed matter . After the in -crease in the cost of postage for printed matter from 2Rp . to 3 Rp . on February 1, 1915, all available 12 Rp .stamps were overprinted . "Collect on delivery" itemswith these stamps as single stamp postage can befound. Registered printed matter items from thos edays are not that readily available at dealers .

If we turn the letter around, we find a surprise .We find 7 Rp. additional postage, canceled with th esame stamp as on the front and the arrival stamp o fBasel . What happened? Wasn't it the number of 5 0letters which modified the prescribed postage, or wasthe letter accidentally closed? The handwritten re-mark in blue color acknowledges the latter . However,if we are strict, we must be sure : It is not one of th esought-after registered printed matters, it is a regis-tered letter with a postage not found everyday .

RARE "HOTEL STAMPS"by Peter Meier

(From Baslerstab, 26 Sept . 1995,translated by Richard Powers )

"Hotel mail" is among the most interesting aspect sof Swiss philately. Beginning about 1870 owners ofoutlying hotels issued their own stamps to pay for thetransport of mail and cards to the nearest post office .Today I would like to introduce to you a very specialseries of these stamps . While hotel postal stamps ful-filled a real postal function, "hotel stamps", whic hwere first printed only later, served almost exclusivel yfor publicity purposes . Nevertheless they are eagerlysought by collectors .

In the course of the last twenty years, five hotelstamps have been discovered, which are very simila rto each other . The illustrated stamp to the righ tshows us one of these hotels : "Privat-Hotel Tognoni"in St. Moritz-Dorf. The four others originated fro mthe Hotel "Ratio" is Thusis ; the "Victoria" in Arosa ;the "Bellevue" in Gilion sur Montreux; and the

"Engadinerhof' in St. Moritz-Bad. The first of thesestamps was discovered in 1982 and was made part ofthe postal Collection of the (Swiss) PTT-Museum (i nBern). The "Engadinerhof ' stamp is known in fourdifferent colors .

These five hotel stamps all bear the legend "Loui sScharfe, Wetzler, Gesetzl . geschuzt" (Louis Scharfe ,Wetzler, all rights reserved). Thus they all originat efrom the same printer . It is strange that these "public-ity labels" are extremely rare . Most of them are

This is the only copy of this attractive hote lstamp currently known. Although it was notpostally used, it is worth a fortune .

unique! It would not surprise me if, in the foreseeablefuture, other previously unknown hotel stamps by Mr .Scharfe would pop up. They were used at the turn o fthe century . You can all admire these attractive testi-monials to Swiss hotelery in Bern . The PTT-Museu mhas one of the largest collections of Swiss hotel mail o npermanent display. The museum is open continuousl yfrom 10 AM until 5 PM Tuesday through Sunday .

12 TELL March 1996

BRIEFPOST 2000 - PART 1by Michael Rutherfoord & Charles LaBlonde

Welcome to a new series about what is going o ntoday in the Swiss postal system. The title is takenfrom the PTT modernization plan as presented in aseries of articles in the "PTT Revue." But, in additionto translating parts of the articles as needed, weintend to also bring you real postal items thatdemonstrate what is going on in Switzerland today, inother words, what the articles are talking about .

We recognize that many of you would rather hav earticles on Double Genevas and three-color Strube lfrankings. The problem is there is not much left t owrite about classic Swiss philately . (Editors note : Ichallenge the readers to prove Chuck wrong by sendingme such articles) . On the other hand, we sense a needto document current events, for several reasons : 1 )You will have a much better chance of finding what w ewrite about in your mail box than of finding athree-color Strubel franking. 2) Today's events are thepostal history of tomorrow in the making. . .it deservesto be documented .

For this series we have agreed on a rather loos edivision of labor . Michael is the detective and Charle sis the scribe . There will be no particular pattern to thearticles . We have enough material in hand now forabout 8-10 articles . And, at the rate changes aretaking place, there will be no lack of new material .

As always, questions, comments and samplematerial are welcome . And now a short item to set th etone for the series .

NEW PRIORITY MAIL LABELSSince the introduction of two classes of mail (A an d

B Post) on 1 February 1991, the Swiss PTT has used aseries of A Prioritaire labels to designate the mail fornext day delivery (below) . (Alternately, the regular oldairmail labels can also be used for priority mail .) Therehas been a series of different printings of these labels ,usually impossible to distinguish unless one sees thetag at the bottom of each strip of 10 labels . The tagshows the PTT stock number, the date of printing andthe quantity printed .

In January 1996 the PTT changed th etext of the labels to include the word"Priority" in English in addition to th eFrench "Prioritaire" (below) . From the tagat the bottom of the labels we can see th eprinting/issue date is 1 .96 and that 1 1million were printed in strips of 10 .

The cover to the left is especiallyinteresting, as it is postmarked on30.12.95, several days before the 1 .96"issue" date of the labels. But closerexamination reveals that the label on th ecover is different . . .it is Label 237 .12 ofwhich only 1 million were printed instrips of 20! It's all in knowing what tolook for .

For anyone interested in these labels ,they are free from the PTT PhilatelicService in Bern .

TELL 13March 1996

Profile of a Swiss stamp Collector-Max Rheinberger

Most members of AHPS think of the society as be-ing for collectors of Swiss stamps and related Swissmaterials. However AHPS is also for Liechtensteincollectors, who have an active study group withi nAHPS. Many of our members collect Liechtensteinstamps because of its natural tie-in with Switzerland .

Max C. Rheinberger is one such collector and i sthe chairman of the Liechtenstein Study group . Infact Max does not collect Swiss Philatelic materia

l except as it relates to Liechtenstein. He collects all as-pects of Liechtenstein, but he gives particula remphasis to air and Zeppelin flights from the 1930s ,revenue document stamps and usages, and Austrianperiod correspondence between Liechtenstein and theUSA.

Max has postal heritage in his genes, as theRheinberger family (which lived in the Red House an din Schloss Gutenberg for those familiar with Liechten-stein) operated the Vaduz post office since 1852 unti lthe 1920s . His great grandfather emigrated in 1845from Liechtenstein to Nauvoo, Illinois, which is lo-cated on the Mississippi river and reminded him of thehillsides along the Rhine river in Vaduz . The US emi-grants and the Vaduz family members have continue dto keep in correspondence and Max has been to Liech-tenstein three times in recent years .

His stamp collecting interests started when he wa snine years old, starting with the usual Scott's Interna-tional album and some inexpensive packets . An unclegave him a nice, but limited, US collection . He had alot of fun assembling a world wide collection, whichwas heavy on the European inflation period, ArabSand Dunes States, CTOs and similar items . He feelsthat he learned a lot of geography and the basics o fphilately . However after about 5 years, he los

t interest and had no further contact with the hobby unti l1981 .

He and his wife winter in Hawaii and there was astamp show put on by the Hawaiian Philatelic Societyat their hotel complex. He had always wonderedabout Liechtenstein stamps because of his family heri-tage, but he could never find any in his early collectingyears. There was an east coast dealer at the sho wwith a fairly extensive group of Liechtenstei

n material, so he purchased a significant amount.That got him started and he was compelled to com-

plete the entire country, which he says is possible withLiechtenstein . This he did in both mint and used ac -cording to Scott. Then he collected essentially all ofthe First Day Covers, which got him specializing in in-teresting covers of all kinds to the extent that he hasevolved into an exclusive cover collector .

Since there was no viable US society of Liechten-stein collectors in the early 1980s, he decided to star tone. A Hawaii friend and AHPS member, Harold

Strong, informed him of AHPS and put him in contac twith Felix Ganz, Rudi Schaelchli, and others who hadbeen long time Liechtenstein collectors . As a nucleus ,they obtained a list of Liechtenstein collectors from th eAPS. The official Philatelic Service in Vaduz gavethem a mailing list of their new issue service, both i nthe US and other English speaking countries . Thatproved to be very valuable, as they are the only Eng-lish language Liechtenstein collecting group. A

n earlier group in Great Britain, which had published anice news letter and prospered for many years, hadgone out of existence from its inability to find an edito rto keep up their publication . (Editors note: AHPSneeds a new editor starting January 1997. Lets not le thistory repeat itself )

Max has exhibited his Zeppelin collection in boththe US and in Vaduz at the Silver medal level and lastattended the AHPS convention held at AMERIPEX inChicago in 1987 . He would like to spend more timewith the Liechtenstein revenue usages, which he see sas a broad field of study that no one has looked at wit hany depth .

Max is very active in both business and civic af-fairs in his home town of Duluth, Minnesota . Therehe owns or has an interest in 17 business enterprises .He was paralyzed by polio in 1952 and has been ex-tremely active at all levels on behalf of the handi-capped. He serves on the Presidents committee for th eemployment of the handicapped and has received th eHandicapped American Award of the Year. He hasserved as a Director for Handicapped Internationaland has been a Chairman or member of 13 handi-capped related organizations . He has also been thePresident of the Duluth city council and is involved inlocal political activities .

We are proud to have Max Rheinberger as a mem-ber of AHPS. He has contributed to his community,both locally and internationally and to AHPS with hi sefforts to promote and educate others about Liechten-stein Philately .

(Editors note: As mentioned in the last issue ofTELL, Bob Gleichenhaus is unable to continue thi

s series . If you would like to continue this series, contac teither Bob or the editor at the address on page 2. If noone picks this series up, this will be the last Profile of aSwiss Stamp Collector.)

Liechtenstein Study GroupThe Liechtenstein study group issues an 8 page

newsletter 4 times a year to its members . If you areinterested in Liechtenstein philately, or would like t oreceive a copy of their newsletter, contact Ma

x Rheinberger at the address on page two with the list o fofficers .

The group also holds auctions about once per year ,which contains only stamps, mint and used, valued at$2 or more. Thus it is an easy way to fill the holes inan existing collection or start a new collection .

14 TELL

March 1996

LITERATURE REVIEW

The Imperforate SittingHelvetia "Strubel" -1854-1663 by Herbert Brac h

This is a meticulously re -searched book about the "Strubel" ,a classical Swiss stamp in use be-tween 1854 and 1863, but avidlycollected today .

This is the first complete refer-ence book on the "Strubel" issue or-ganized to give quick and easyaccess to all the information whichmay be required by the collector . Itis also the first book on the subjec twritten in English .

It contains much new informa-tion based on research performedby the author, and answers man yquestions which have puzzled thespecialist in the past .

A chapter on the history of theissue introduces the subject. Thisis followed by a description of thegeneral characteristics of thestamps, such as their design, thepapers and the silk threads em-ployed, and the printing process ,including machinery and materials .

The book introduces a new sys-tem for identifying individual print-ings by stamp denomination, givingnot only the physical characteristic sthat set them apart, but parameterson paper thickness and distance be-tween cliches, as well as embossingcharacteristics, color shades

, pigment dispersion, and the time of

use. An example of each stamp isshown in color reproduction .

A new general classification ofthe entire issue is presented, illus-trated by the differences that se tthe various printings apart. Thisclassification is compared to onespreviously proposed, and shows theevolutionary process of classifica-tion methods. This is the first bookto document the time of use of eac hindividual stamp printed, both inthe form of tables showing thou -sands of recorded uses and in grap hform for quick consultation .

It is also the first book to sho westimates of quantities of each indi-vidual printing produced and used,and explains the process employe dto arrive at the reasoned estimates .

A chapter on the postal uses o fthe issue not only show the correc tpostal rates in force during the pe-riod for both domestic and interna-tional mail, but discusses cancel-lations employed, time of validityfor each denomination, as well asthe percentage of franked mail dur-ing the period of use .

Stamps and their usage are lav-ishly illustrated with over one hun-dred color reproductions ; maps andgraphs complement the text. Foot-notes and a bibliography completethe picture .

(Editors note: This is an ab-stract of a yet unpublished book. Ifyou know of a possible fundingsource to get this book published,please contact Herbert Brach)

Study on the PostalStamps and Cancellationsof the League of Nations ,the International LaborOffice and their Interna-tional Conferences.

by Charles Misteli(translated, edited and updated

by Richard Powers)

More than fifty years ago Charles Misteli published the first com-

plete systematic study of th estamps issued by the Swiss PTT forthe exclusive use of the League ofNations and the International La-bor Organization for thei r officialcorrespondence . The two hundre dcopies of the original edition inFrench have long since disappeare dfrom the market . Much of the im-peccable research by Professo

r Misteli lives on in numerous citation sin modern stamp catalogues, suchas Zumstein's SpezialkatalogSchweiz and Gaines United Na-tions Philately .

As part of its celebration of the50th anniversary of the founding o f

March 1996 TELL 15

the United Nations in San Francisc oin 1945, United Nations Philatelist s(UNP) decided to commission atranslation of the work into Englis hby Richard Powers, the editor of th eJournal of United Nations Phi-latelists to be given to members i nthe form of a seventy-two pagemonograph. This is not just anamalgam of the original work"Etude sur les Timbres-Poste e tObliterations de la Societe desNations, du Bureau Interna-tional du Travail et des confer-ences Internationales publishedin September 1943 by Le ClubPhilatelique et Aeropostal deGeneve" with the subsequent"Complement a l'Etude sur lesTimbres-Poste et Obliterationsde la Societe des Nations, du Bu-reau International du Travail etdes Conferences Internation-ales" published in January 1948 . Inlight of the current interests of spe-cialists in postal history an attempthas been made to illustrate the workmore generously with examples ,many of which can be found in theUnited Nations Philatelic Museu min Geneva, which was the final de-pository of the personal collection ofMr. Misteli .

Copies are $2 plus postage from :Mr. Alex Bereson, President UNP18 Portola DriveSan Francisco, CA 9413 1

Postage for delivery in the US is$2. Outside the US by surface mai lis $2 and takes about 6 weeks .By airmail the fee is $4 .

Payment should be by posta lmoney order or checks drawn on aUS bank payabl eto the United Na-tions Philatelists .

If you desirethe monographposted at theUnited NationsHeadquarters i nNew York withUNNY stamp sinstead of USpostage, pleaseindicate so inyour order . (Al-low 2 months fordelivery . )

16 TELL March 1996

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