Fun with the DDR Five Year Plan!
May 7, 2018 7:50:17 GMT -5
kacyds, Gordon Lee, and 12 more like this
Post by nigelc on May 7, 2018 7:50:17 GMT -5
I like finding a topic to investigate that involves easily available stamps! 
Here's one that I've left waiting for years in my stockbooks - the East German (DDR) Five Year Plan series first issued in 1953.
To put it politely these stamps have a mixed reputation with most of the stamps on the market being unissued reprints with CTO cancellations.
However, even the 1957 reprints are now over sixty years old so let's give them some attention.
The original litho designs had a dotted background that was replaced with a lined background in the later typo versions issued in 1953 onwards
Here on the left is a postally used 24pf stamp from the original litho set along with a 1957 reprint:on the right with its printed CTO cancellation:
The so-called "reprints" actually used a slightly different set of designs. In each case the word DEUTSCHE (German) at the bottom left was formatted in the reprints to take up slightly less space.
I guess this was to make the word stand out from the rest of the design. This change reflected the design used in the typo versions.
In the original stamps the last "E" of DEUTSCHE appears appears above the letters "AT" of the line below.
in the reprints this "E" lies directly above the "A".
I only have a handful of the original stamps and here they are:
Perhaps another member could share more of these with us?
I have quite a few of the reprints and here is a complete set of 18:
Here's one that I've left waiting for years in my stockbooks - the East German (DDR) Five Year Plan series first issued in 1953.
To put it politely these stamps have a mixed reputation with most of the stamps on the market being unissued reprints with CTO cancellations.
However, even the 1957 reprints are now over sixty years old so let's give them some attention.
The original litho designs had a dotted background that was replaced with a lined background in the later typo versions issued in 1953 onwards
Here on the left is a postally used 24pf stamp from the original litho set along with a 1957 reprint:on the right with its printed CTO cancellation:
The so-called "reprints" actually used a slightly different set of designs. In each case the word DEUTSCHE (German) at the bottom left was formatted in the reprints to take up slightly less space.
I guess this was to make the word stand out from the rest of the design. This change reflected the design used in the typo versions.
In the original stamps the last "E" of DEUTSCHE appears appears above the letters "AT" of the line below.
in the reprints this "E" lies directly above the "A".
I only have a handful of the original stamps and here they are:
Perhaps another member could share more of these with us?
I have quite a few of the reprints and here is a complete set of 18:
)
