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Display by Swedish Fellows and Members

February 5, 2009

Introduction

It is a great honour for our group of Swedish Fellows and Members to have been invited, as the first nation ever, to show examples of our collecting interests at a full display like this. The diversity of our interests is spread through all categories of philately, with collections from most continents and time periods. Eleven of the exhibitors are Fellows of the society and four of them have been elected RDP.

One purpose with the selection of exhibits and pages for this display has been to illustrate especially the width and the depth of the interest and knowledge of the individual exhibitor as well as the whole group. Several of the exhibitors have put a lot of effort into the presentation and the treatment of their exhibits so that the viewers more easily can access the information given.

Most of the exhibitors participating here today are also active as exhibitors either at National or International level and their achievements have included the Grand Prix International to Sven Erik and Anna-Lisa Beckeman at SINGAPORE 95 and to Jan- Olof Ljungh at WIPA 2008, at least 26 Large Gold medals and countless Gold medals at International exhibitions.

Many of us have also written a number of articles about our special areas of interest. One of the exhibitors, Tomas Bjäringer RDP FRPSL, was the co-author of one of the most important philatelic works about Swedish Postal History; "Swedish Letter Rates to Foreign Destinations 1855-1895". More recently he also co-authored the prestigious work "Sweden Number One" with another member and exhibitor, Gustaf Douglas.

It has been a great joy to work on the preparations for this display and I would like to thank all the members of the Office and the Staff of RPSL for their kind support for this exhibition.

Jan Berg FRPSL
Overseas Representative

Note: The links under Frames below are to Acrobat files of the frame content.

Frames	Exhibit	Exhibitor
01-02	Sweden - a Selection of Letters 1855-1872	Ulf Tidholm
03-04	Sweden - the Deliveries of 4 Skilling Banco 1855-58	Bo Grendal
05-06	Swedish Postal Stationery	Lennart Daun FRPSL
07-09	Swedish former Possessions and Post Offices abroad	Bertil I. Larsson RDP FRPSL
10-12	Iceland - the First Issue	Douglas Storckenfeldt
13-14	Swedish Crown Mail Cancellations 1710-1873	Ulf Stenquist
15-16	St Barthélemy - "St Barths" Postal History 1796-1892	Gustaf Douglas
17	Swedish letters without stamps to the United Kingdom 1706 to 1875	Gunnar Nilsson
18-19	Swedish Postal History 1920-1970	Kjell Nilson
20	Sweden - Fakes and Forgeries	Tomas Bjäringer RDP FRPSL
21	Sweden Circle Type - Errors, Varieties and Curiosities	Olle Pettersson
22	The 1930 Night Mail Aeroplane postage stamps from Sweden, correctly used 9.5.1930 to 8.7.1931	Roland Frahm FRPSL
23-25	European Samples of No Value from 1715 and up to UPU	Patrik Larsson
26	Insufficiently Prepaid Covers from Europe 1840-1880	Göran Fredriksson
27-28	The German Eagles 1872-1875 sent to the British Empire	Jan-Olof Ljungh
29-31	Great Britain 1840-1841	Åke Rietz
32	Used Postage Stamps of the World 1840-1860	Claes Arnrup
33-35	Postal Routes to Dutch West Indies and Dutch East Indies	Sven Påhlman
36-38	Persia Postal History	Björn Sohrne
39-40	Indore - Holkar State, the first emission 1886	Hasse Brockenhuus von Löwenhielm FRPSL
41-42	Classical Costa Rica	Roland Nordberg
43-44	Mongolia (not illustrated)	Anna-Lisa Beckeman FRPSL, Sven Erik Beckeman FRPSL
45-46	Samoa - a glance at the Postal History	Jan Berg FRPSL
47-48	The History of the Square-rigged Sailing Vessels	Jonas Hällström FRPSL
49-50	The usage of Advertising Collars	Börje Wallberg RDP FRPSL
51-52	Viking Time	Gunnar Dahlvig RDP FRPSL

Sweden – a selection of Letters 1855-1872

Frames 01-02 - Ulf Tidholm

This is a selection of letters and it is made from a collection of Swedish philately and postal history from this period. The first section [page 1-9] covers the period with the first Swedish postage stamps used on mail during the skilling period, effective from 1 July 1855 to 1 July 1858. The second section [page 10-18] covers the following period, 1 July 1858 to 1 July 1872, with stamps in öre values.

The introduction of stamps in Sweden did not in any way contribute to the simplification or uniformity of the postal rates to foreign destinations (uniformity was not achieved until the establishment of the U.P.U.). During the displayed period, Swedish postal rates to foreign places were specific to each destination. The weight units used at the time were 1 lod corresponding to approx. 13.28 grams and 1 ort corresponding to approx. 4.25 grams.

The 3 Skilling Banco green postage stamp of Sweden issued in 1855 has been considered the most important stamp of Sweden and one of the most important stamps of Europe. It is grouped with major stamps such as the 1 Franc vermilion of France, the 2 Reales red of Spain, the double Geneva of Switzerland, the 3 Lira of Tuscany, and the Romanian bulls. The reputation of the 3 Skilling Banco green has been enhanced by the existence of the twin, the unique 3 Skilling Banco yellow color error (from the foreword by Dr. Norman S. Hubbard in the Bjäringer & Douglas, Sweden Number One, Limassol: James Bendon).

The letter was sent from Stockholm on 18 March 1856, to the King’s Commanding Operator in Calmar, with a pair and two single copies of the 3 Skilling Banco to pay the three-folded inland letter rate. The letter has belonged to Hugo Sjöberg, Tomas Bjäringer and the Kristall Collection, in which collections it was regarded as one of the most important items. With this cover to my collection, the tradition of importance is carried on.

Sweden - the Deliveries of 4 Skilling Banco 1855-58

Frames 03-04 - Bo Grendal

In Sweden, all documentation about the deliveries of the skilling banco stamps has been saved in archives, therefore we know exactly at what dates each individual post-office received its stamps, and also the number of copies delivered each time.

This display shows a selection of the delivery parts, and clarifies some of the large differences between them. The 4-skilling was delivered 14 times from the printer. These 14 main deliveries have later been divided into 53 delivery parts according to print, paper and shades.

The first delivery was sent out to all the post-offices around two weeks before the first stamps in Sweden were taken in use. As an example, the town Gefle received 24.200 copies from the first delivery 16.6.1855. Therefore we can be sure that the stamp cancelled Gefle 1.7.1855 (first day cancellation) origins from the first delivery. There are only around ten copies known cancelled the first day. The reason for this is that the first of July happened to be a Sunday, so the number of letters sent was probably limited.

Swedish Postal Stationery

Frames 05-06 - Lennart Daun FRPSL

The first one who proposed a sort of postal stationery in Sweden was Mr. Curry Treffenberg in 1823. 32 years later Swedish postage stamps were issued. The first stamped envelope and stamped postcard were introduced in 1872. Official postcards were issued in 1874 and lettercards in 1889. This selection is made out of my 8 frames F.I.P. Championship Class qualified exhibit of the first Swedish Postal Stationery. The aim of my specialized exhibit of Swedish postal stationery is to show stamped envelopes, postcards, lettercards and official postcards with shades, varieties, supplementary franking and items sent abroad, as well as essays and proofs.

Proof in black (first printing stage by the engraver) of the 1897 postcard of the Swedish King Oscar II 5 öre green commemorating his 25 years of reign.

Artist drawer of the master of this card was Bror Almquist after a portrait-photo by Gösta Florman. The two engravers were Andreas Pichel and Max Mirowsky. This is of course a unique item and undoubtedly a masterpiece regarding importance among Swedish postal stationery items.

Swedish former Possessions and Post Offices abroad

Frames 07-09 - Bertil I. Larsson RDP FRPSL

This exhibit shows letters of postal history importance to and from Finland, part of Sweden to 17 September 1809, as well as from the former Swedish possessions abroad. These possessions were in those days known as Ingermanland (today part of Russia), Estonia, Livonia, Pomerania, Wismar, Bremen-Verden, St Barthélemy and Guadalope. Included in the exhibit there are also letters sent from, or transiting through, the Swedish post offices in Hamburg, Lübeck, Stralsund and Greifswald.

Letter dated Stralsund 22 August 1812 and sent to Leipzig.

During the Napoleonic wars Swedish Pomerania was occupied by French troops. The first time was between 1807 and January 1810 and the second time between January 1812 and 9 March 1813 when the French troops withdrew for good. The letter was marked with two different handstamps; Stralsund and Pomeranie Suedoise, and was sent during the second occupation. The single line handstamp Stralsund was later used at the Swedish post office in Stralsund.

Iceland - the First Issue

Frames 10-12 - Douglas Storckenfeldt The exhibit shows Iceland's first issued stamps. There were 10 stamps including 3 official stamps, which all were issued on the very same day, the 1st of January 1873. The range includes the 2, 4, 8 and 16 Skilding in perforation 14x13½ and 3, 4, and 16 Skilding in perforation 12½, as well as the official 4 and 8 Skilding in perforation 14x13½ and 4 Skilding in perforation 12½. All these stamps were only in use during three years until the conversion to Kronur in 1876.

The aim is to illustrate the 10 stamps as mint and cancelled stamps in single and multiple units, as well as letters showing how the stamps were used. The exhibit also includes forerunners from the Pre-philatelic and Danish period in 1870-72. It contains as many as 40 items of high philatelic importance, of which 18 are unique.

The highlights of the exhibit are seven unique letters: From the forerunners the only existing Pre-philatelic Footpost Parcel letter and the Mamsell cover, the first franked letter sent from Iceland, during the Danish period. From the Skilding values four Skilding covers are shown, of 13 existing in private hands. The only known Skilding Parcel cover. The 8 Skilding cover is the only known Skilding letter sent to the Faeroe Islands. The 3 Skilding cover is the only existing cover with the 3 Skilding value. The Canada cover, the only known Transatlantic Skilding cover and the only one with the 16 Skilding value in perforated 12½. Last but not least from the official stamps the spectacular, 180 Skilding rated, Bible cover (picture) with twenty two 8 Skilding and one 4 Skilding considered being Iceland´s most important philatelic item of all.

Swedish Crown Post Cancellations 1710-1873

Frames 13-14 - Ulf Stenquist

After the introduction of the General post in 1636 the special postal service (the courier post) used between the central and the local governments, was disbanded. It was soon made clear that the General post could not manage the increasing demand for messages to be delivered within the county. For this reason the Crown Mail was created. The use of Crown Mail cancellations started around 1710 and ceased when The Crown Mail ended operations in Dec. 31st, 1873 in favor of the General post. A selection of various cancels are shown in this exhibit, all sorted after their county of origin and chosen on account of their quality and appearance.

The Crown Mail was a Regional official mail with an organization that varied from county to county. The Crown Mail was organized after the same principles as the General post, with stations along the route were assigned people carried the official mail forward in a relay system. The Crown Mail carried Public notices and Royal announcements to churches (read from the pulpit and later posted on the notice- board) they also carried Descriptions and other official correspondence between county officials as: The Sheriff, Police, Bailiffs, Assessors, Foresters, Clerks, Clergy and Military personnel.

Folded letter from the town of Åkarp, 1836 sent to State Forman S. Åberg in Helsingborg. The letter carries three unique octagonal cancellations with a royal crown and the initial A. The same cancel can also be found in the sealing wax on reverse.

The letter has two white feathers in separate wax seals. Feathers are generally used to indicate express and importance. The notation on front "Fortställes skyndsammast" means Quick delivery. All these things put together leaves no one in doubt about the letters importance and need for speed.

St Barthélemy - "St Barths" Postal History 1796-1892

Frame 15-16 - Gustaf Douglas

St Barths is a relatively small and barren island in the Caribbean. It was settled chiefly by the French in the 1600s. The Swedish King Gustav III acquired the island 1785 from France in exchange for free trading rights in Gothenburg. On March 16, 1878 the Swedish flag was lowered on St Barths and replaced by the Tricolor.

Sweden, in spite of its traditions in getting matters well organised, never established any postal office in St Barths. There are no Swedish Colonial stamps or cancellations from the Swedish period. St Barths got its first post office when the island had been "retroceded" to France. Like St Barths itself, any collection of the islands postal history is a challenge almost as large as the conduct of agriculture on this barren island. This collection is a part of a wider St Barths collection, consisting of early maps, governmental resolutions, books written on St Barths and views from Gustavia.

Cover franked with the second Coat-of-Arms issue 1858 bearing 4x50 öre (a) + 30 öre (b) + 9 öre (a) + 5 öre (a) = 244 öre, from Sweden, Carlskrona January 7, 1859, to St Barths. The correct rate was assumed to be 243 öre – actual franking is 244 öre. The rate 243 öre however applied during most of the time 1858-1862 on letters to Cuba via Ostende and England. Route noted "via Ostende and England". That route to St Barths should have had a rate of 221 öre. Actual route via Hamburg (January 14) and London (January 17) to St Barths should have been 222 öre. Arrival noted (on back of cover) February 4, 1859.

The corvette Najaden made six visits to St Barths between the years 1839 and 1861 and was the most frequent visitor to St Barths among the ships of the Swedish Royal Navy.

Ex. collection Lars Hedberg who was a pioneer in collecting covers. Already in the 1920ies he had a sense for destinations, postal rates and even erroneous usage of postage stamps. This was many decades before the postal rate books were researched.

Swedish Letters without stamps to the United Kingdom 1706 to 1875

Frame 17 - Gunnar Nilsson

The Swedish rate book of 29 August 1706 states that letters to the United Kingdom had to be prepaid and forwarded via the Swedish Post Office in Hamburg to Amsterdam (from there unpaid to London). This display, showing letters to the UK, describing routes and postal rates, is a part of an exhibit with letters without stamps to foreign countries in general. Depending of the development of the means of conveyance e.g. the new railway network and the steam ships as well as the new postal conventions, a number of different routes and rates have been in force during this period.

Letter from Gothenburg dated 9 March 1774.

It has been privately forwarded to Amsterdam and from there via Hellevoisluis to London 25 March and Edinburgh to Aberdeen. The British packet rate for letters Amsterdam to London was 10d for a single letter, and the postage to Edinburgh 6d and to Aberdeen 3d together 19d noted in red, or 1Sh 7d for the recipient to pay as postage due. The packet rate from Hamburg was 1 Sh.

Swedish Postal History 1920-1970

Frame 18-19 - Kjell Nilson

Postal items and services; there was an instruction from the Swedish Post Office that the receipt for payment for rates and fees should be done with as few stamps as possible, preferably with only one. The exhibit presents all sorts of postal items and services, delivered by the Swedish Post Office for which payment was made with a stamp or a number of stamps. With very few exceptions during the period, all stamps issued were used as payment for a fee or a service, or any combination of the two. All stamps had a direct purpose when issued.

Development of rates and fees; all items have got the right rate and fee/s. The exhibit displays the development of postal items and services as well as the changes in rates and fees between the UPU Congresses in Madrid 1920 and in Tokyo 1969. Postal items and services were coming and going.

This fascinating and challenging 50 year period after WWI saw great fluctuations in fees and rates. During the early 1920's the Swedish Post Office started to produce stamps of its own, and this also marked the beginning of the airmail era to and from Sweden, that expanded over the next three decades. WWII with all the difficulties a war was presenting (like closed borders, changed routes and censorships); the 1950's and 1960's were the start of the modernization of the Post Office, leading to what it is today.

Single franking instruction; the exhibit, with exceptions, consists of items franked with a single stamp. For safety reasons the Post Office issued an instruction stating: as few stamps as possible should be used to pay for the rate and/or service/s. Preference was given to a single stamp. In contradiction to this rule the more services that were added for the dispatch or delivery of an item or service, the more often the total cost for the fees and services was paid and marked with multiple stamps. One per service was common.

Multi service items franked with one stamp is more unusual to find. Items where two or more services were asked are scarce. To be able to show some of the scarce combinations of rates and services, there are a few items with mixed franking sometimes because no stamp existed with the needed face value.

Sweden - Fakes and Forgeries

Frame 20 - Tomas Bjäringer RDP FRPSL

Swedish stamps have been spared the threats from advanced fakes and forgeries through the history of philately. However, the following fakes and forgeries are of special interest:

- the so called "Steinberg" covers are the most dangerous forgeries in modern time
- the internationally well-known error 20/TRETIO ÖRE has been the most well-known faked and forged stamp and many have been found
- Jean de Sperati (1884-1957) produced forgeries of the Swedish 3 and 24 Skilling Banco and the 17 öre grey Lion type

"Steinberg" cover sent without stamps from VEENDAM in Holland on September 9, 1874 to Shanghai. Only part of the sender’s cachet, LONDON PAID and two HONG-KONG cancellations are as such genuine.

Sweden Circle Type - Errors, Varieties and Curiosities

Frame 21 - Olle Pettersson

This selection extends from a comprehensive collection from more than 40 years of professional collecting of the Swedish Circle Type stamps: errors, varieties and curiosities. Experiences from the earlier issues of Swedish postage stamps (1855- 1872), demanded postage stamps where the values were more distinct marked. The result ended up with the postage stamps issued on 1 July 1872, called "Circle Type". They were printed between 1872-1900 in 13 different values and more than 450 million singles in total. Three different issues exist: 14, 13 and 13 with blue posthorn on back. The "Circle Type" is also known with a provisional surcharge from 1889.

The control and security were on the highest level during the printing process and therefore errors, varieties and curiosities are often rare to find. The selection presented here deals with some of the exceptions, visible for the human eye, found by myself during the 40 years of collecting.

After "3 skilling yellow", the most well-known variety in Swedish philately is "TRETIO instead of TJUGO".

In 1879, a mistake was done when a "30 öre" cliché replaced a damaged "20 öre" cliché. The figures 20 were changed but the letters in the central vignette were forgotten. "TRETIO ÖRE" was printed in the circle instead of "TJUGO ÖRE" (thirty instead of twenty öre).

This piece is the only known combined with two 5 öre singles.

The 1930 "Night Mail Aeroplane postage stamps" from Sweden, correctly used 9.5.1930 to 8.7.1931

Frame 22 - Roland Frahm FRPSL

On May 9, 1930, the Swedish Post issued two stamps in values 10 öre and 50 öre, depicting a "Night Mail Aeroplane" over the sky of Stockholm. The two stamps were issued to be used for the additional airmail fee on all types airmail. During the period from 9.5.1930 to 8.7.1931 these stamps were only allowed to be used for the airmail fee and in exceptional cases to cover the postal rate, if combined with airmail. This exhibit is a Single frame Postal History study of mail from this period, were these two postage stamps are correctly used on mail.

This postal history study is a result of 30 years collecting and is unique in its kind regarding this issue, correctly used as originally stated in the Swedish postal regulations. The study is presented in two sections based on the basic postal rate from Sweden to destinations within Scandinavia and to destinations in the rest of the world respectively.

The illustration is a cover, illustrating such as mentioned "exceptional case", where the "Night Mail Aeroplane postage stamps" are used to cover the whole rate. It is a second rate letter rate (40 öre) to Holland (The Netherlands) and the airmail rate was 10 öre per 20g (20 öre). The cover has been returned to the sender in Sweden.

The total rate of 60 öre are covered by 6 x 10 öre "Night Mail Aeroplane postage stamps" – a very unusual item.

European Samples of No Value from 1715 and up to UPU

Frame 23-25 - Patrik Larsson

One aim with this exhibit is to trace the origin of the samples. Most likely did the samples have their origin somewhere in Central Europe (probably in France - Belgium) and were later spread throughout Europe from there. Only a very few samples pre UPU from non European countries are known. Pre UPU samples are not known or exist from all of the European countries at that time. The specific rates for the samples were introduced at different times in the different countries. The samples were at the beginning rated as ordinary letters which meant that the rates were calculated depending on distance and weight. In some countries, for example Sweden, the foreign usage (1847) was introduced earlier than the domestic in 1864.

This exhibit documents the postal service "Sample of no value". The exhibit contains both domestic, international, parcels, and registered usage of samples of no value. Most of the samples shown have a notation saying "Sample of no value" written in the language of each separate country. Some of the covers have very interesting contents such as "pieces of cloth" or similar. Samples of no value are one of the most uncommon and less used postal services in most countries, which mean that such items are extremely hard to find.

Address letter to domestic sample of no value sent by boat from Gothenburg to Uddevalla. The letter was sent on the 31st of October 1866. With notations "Vidhängande prof utan värde" which means "With sample of no value" and a large "2" indicating the weight. The rate of 24 öre was for second weight class up to 7 ort (30 grams) and was in use from the 1st of October in 1864 to the 31st of December 1879. Only a total of five address letters to samples of no value with Coat of Arms franking are known.

Insufficiently Prepaid Covers from Europe 1840-1880

Frame 26 - Göran Fredriksson

This exhibit shows a selection of covers send both domestically and internationally with focus on the different European cancellations that indicated that the cover was underpaid. At a very early stage the note "Franco" could be found on covers signifying that the postal fee had been paid. When covers had been insufficiently franked, this could be indicated with a variety of cancels, different from each country, but all with the same meaning, insufficient postage paid.

The German Eagles 1872-1875 sent to the British Empire

Frame 27-28 - Jan-Olof Ljungh

The exhibit shows a selection of items sent to Great Britain and its Empire during the years 1872-1875 when the first stamps of the German Empire, the Eagle stamps, were used. It starts with items sent to Great Britain and to Gibraltar and Helgoland in Europe. It continues with items sent to Africa, North-, Central- and South-America, Asia and finally to Australia.

The exhibit shows also in several cases the different rates and routes that were used to the destinations. The different currencies (included mixed franking like Groschen/Kreuzer and Groschen/Pfennige) that were used in Germany during the years 1872-1875 are also shown in the exhibit.

Private postal stationary 1 Kreuzer green large shield (PU 8) from Leipzig to London 25.8.1873 with additional mixed franking ¼ Groschen, ½ Groschen and four 1 Groschen all large shield.

The 1 Kreuzer stamp had in the Groschen area a value of 2/7 Groschen or 0,285 Groschen. The cover is slightly overpaid. The rate for a double letter to England was since 1.7.1870 5 Groschen.

Private postal stationary are very rare and with mixed franking Groschen/Kreuzer are only two recorded (both sent to England).

Great Britain 1840-1841

Frame 29-31 - Åke Rietz

The exhibit shows imprimaturs, unused and used singles and multiples and on covers of the first issues from Great Britain; One Penny Black issued 1840 -1841, Two Pence Blue issued 1840, and Two Pence Blue (white lines added) issued 1841-1849. All plates of One Penny Black are represented as well as all four plates from the Two Pence Blue issues.

Used Postage Stamps of the World 1840-1860

Frame 32 - Claes Arnrup

This exhibit is an excerpt from a general collection aiming to show how stamps were collected at the time about 150 years ago, i.e. just one single copy of each regularly issued stamp up to 1860. The main emphasis has been put on finding stamps with no defects and with cancellations as beautiful as possible. Exceptions are made only when it is more or less impossible to fulfil all criteria.

All in all, 83 countries and colonies issued stamps before January 1, 1861 (not counting the General Issue for French Colonies). St Lucia started as late as December 12, 1860, thus with small margin qualifying for inclusion in this exhibit. For this single frame is shown, in no specific order, a selection of countries and colonies, that are all complete in this period.

Postal Routes to Dutch West Indies and Dutch East Indies

Frame 33-35 - Sven Påhlman

The intention with this collection is to demonstrate the development of the sea- borne postal services between Holland/Europe and the Dutch West Indies and East Indies from the early colonization period during the 17th century up to WWI. The emphasis is on postal routes, mail carriers, rates and the frequent use of route markings. The display shows some highlights from two collections. One is dealing with the West Indies and the former Dutch West India Company (GWC) mail monopoly areas comprising Suriname, Curacao and Dutch possessions at the west coast of Africa. The other collection focuses on mail routes to Dutch East Indies, presently Indonesia.

Entire Landmail letter sent from Holland 1846 by Overland Mail to Java with an un-usual routing via London and Marseille; note the 1st type (koper currency) of landmail label. Postage: 120 cent (Jan 1844 - Mar 1848) as prepayment to Alexandria and f2.16 koper in postage due to be paid by the addressee.

Why was this letter sent via London, back through Europe via British mail to Marseille, and not directly via Dutch/French mail to Marseille?

My explanation is that this would have been a 2nd weight class letter (1/4 - 1/2 oz) according to the French progressive scale, but single rate (under 1/2 oz) according to the British scale, which reduced the pre-paid postage to Alexandria from 200 cent (2x(30+70)) to 120 cent.

Persia Postal History

Frame 36-38 - Björn Sohrne

This display includes highlights from five joint eras; Early Persian postal history (till 1900), The Years of Turbulence (1902-1930), Russia and Persia (till 1930), India and Persia (till 1930), and Persia Postal Stationery, the Qajar period.

Shown here are many rarities (1-3 known) in Persian postal history that belong to three main areas; the strictly Persian starting 1875; the Russian and the Indian, starting as early as the middle of the 19th century with their opening of post offices in Persia. The reasons for the many rarities on documents are several and there are about 15 different stamps that so far only one has been recorded on documents.

Indore - Holkar State, the First Emission 1886

Frame 39-40 - Hasse Brockenhuus von Löwenhielm FRPSL

Indore State is situated in Malwa, Central India, with an area of 24,600 square- kilometers (1873). Indore City was the capital and the state had a population of 850,000 inhabitants in 1901. An own postal system was started in 1873 and the first postage stamp was issued in 1886; a stamp lithographed by Waterlow & Sons, printed in sheets of 64 stamps (8 rows of 8 stamps) and perforated 15. This exhibit shows the first emission of 1886 with the four printing stones, usages on cover and revenues used as postage stamps. The pages shown are just a selection from a larger traditional exhibit about Indore.

The illustrated cover sent to the Maharaja of Indore is franked with two ½ Anna stamps for a double rate cover. On the reverse side are two postmarks of Indore dated 12/10.

Classical Costa Rica

Frame 41-42 - Roland Nordberg

My main collection is an exposure and traditional study of early Costa Rican pre- philatelic cancellations and the first issues of regular stamps and fiscals allowed for postage by the public all over the country. All stamps were printed by American Bank Note Company in New York. This is a selection from my main collection. During more than 40 years of collecting, studies of literature and of exhibited collections, my conclusions were, still there are more to find out and to research about these issues. Shown here are my studies of basic elements, of proofs, papers, printings, shades, perforations, gums, cancellations and how these stamps were used.

10 centavos from the 1883 Prospero Fernandez issue, on 1st foreign rate cover, cancelled Juan Navarros (possibly onboard a ship) to France. On reverse, E. Rohrmoser & CA, Puntarenas print together with cancellation LONDON MR 15 84. Mr. Rohrmoser was a local agent for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company.

The Juan Navarros cancellation is known on stamps and on covers from Costa Rica and El Salvador, sent to France, but is very rare.

Samoa - a glance at the Postal History

Frame 45-46 - Jan Berg FRPSL

The purpose with this exhibit is to show some of the different aspects of the postal history, up to 1895, that can be found from the Samoan Islands. For the earliest period when cancellations or stamps yet hadn't been introduced, I show examples of the different ways a letter could be sent from Samoa to, most often, Great Britain. A small country as Samoa did not have that many different postal rates or postal services, but contrary to other countries the cancellations used at the different post offices in Apia were relatively plenty. For that reason have I decided to make this presentation seen through the cancellations, and where possible, also divided into different rates.

The exhibit is divided into the following sections; the Pre post office period 1836-1877, the Samoa Express Post Office 1877-1881, the Apia Municipal Post Office 1882-1886, the United States Consulate at Apia and its Postal Services 1886, the German Postal Steamship Agency Apia 1886-1887 and the Imperial German Postal Agency 1887-1900. The postal history of the John Davis Post Office has been excluded from this presentation.

This never before exhibited Express cover bears a single 9d of state IV, Row 1, No 3 cancelled with the APIA circular date stamp of JUN. 4 1881, together with another strike of the same CDS in the lower left corner of the cover. It was written at the "United States Consulate at Apia, Samoa" on May 31, 1881, and is addressed to "The Daily Examiner, San Francisco, California, U.S.A." The cover left Apia on June 4, 1881, on H.I.B.M.S. Miranda together with mail destined for Tongatabu, the Australian Colonies, New Zealand, the United States of America, United Kingdom and Europe.

On arrival in Sydney the cover was cancelled on the back with a CDS dated JU 29, 1881. On the following day a strip of three of the 2d New South Wales was added to the front and cancelled by a duplex in the form of a vertical three-ring oval "N.S.W." beside a CDS dated JU 30, 81. Finally, after almost ten weeks after it was written, it arrived in San Francisco where it had a CDS dated AUG 8 applied on the front.

The History of the Square-rigged Sailing Vessels

Frame 47-48 - Jonas Hällström FRPSL

It is my great pleasure to introduce an abstract from a comprehensive, thematic story told, about the historical development of square-rigged sailing vessels, which began around the Mediterranean more than 5.000 years ago and is still in progress. The story told begins by letting you know what a square-sail and a square-rig is, followed by the first primitive rafts without and with the first primitive square-sail. The aim with the full, comprehensive version of the collection is to trace the development and different fields of applications of square-rigged sailing vessels throughout history. There in between, more than 5.000 years of technical inventions, changes in construction and other reasons are told and illustrated in the dialogue, with a wide area of philatelic items.

You probably know that thematic philately has 4 main pillars: The treatment; The knowledge; The philatelic material; The presentation, which becomes very clear when you have a look at this collection. Please, all philatelists and fellows, have a look at the emphasis I have put on the variety of material from: Traditional philately, Postal history philately, Postal stationery philately, etc - all important collecting areas are covered in the exhibit. Why is that important? - Because thematic philately combine those classes into one, the thematic class, where the story and the treatment never could be perfect on the highest standard without the top philatelic items, if you want to be convinced, please have a look my exhibit.

This is a letter from New York to Paris 1809, with the inverted forwarding agent cancellation illustrating a so called Packet ship.

A Packet carried studding sails on all yardarms up to the top-gallants, and was a small passenger- or mail-vessel. This particular forwarding agent cancellation was used by I. Brydens Tontine Coffee House in New York, during a short three-month period in 1809.

This is one of less than three recorded strikes with this very rare forwarding agent marking.

The usage of Advertising Collars

Frame 49-50 - Börje Wallberg RDP FRPSL

Many years ago I met a Danish stamp dealer at a stamp show in Germany. He told me he had something for me and presented this Danish Advertising Collar. He said that it was not very expensive and that he perhaps had seen a blue one many years ago, but this was the only red one he had ever heard of. Of course I bought it and since then I have asked about it everywhere, but without any success.

Danish fellow collectors always want to have a photocopy of the cover. It is a normal white cover in size 16 x 10 cm. The collar is of Type II, i.e. the Advertising Collar is printed with space for a single postage stamp on an item of mail.

The company is Wilh. Nissen, Hattefabrik, Vesterbrogade 54, Telefon: 4363 in Copenhagen. The rate is for local mail, 2 øre red cancelled with machine cancellation Copenhagen RVB April 2 1908, 6-7 pm.

The addressee is Herr Murmester C Thiel, Aabulevard 16, N (Copenhagen). This is a rare and spectacular item.

Viking Time

Frame 51-52 - Gunnar Dahlvig RDP FRPSL

To many of the honoured members and fellows of this Society the Open Class probably is either totally unknown or regarded as something the cat has dragged into the house. Nevertheless have I decided to present some pages from one of my Open Class collections. This exhibit is an offspring of my gold medal thematic exhibit 'The Vikings' and is made as a pastiche of the well-known TIME MAGAZINE. 'VIKING TIME' is a fancied news magazine from that time, edited with more fantasy and humour than with exact historical truth. However, the latter has not got totally lost, which those with historical skills will realize. Have a careful look at my 24 pages and you may see what I mean.

You will not find any rare or valuable items in the exhibit; the minimizing of the rarity points was one of the main intentions with the class and is an important reason to its popularity. Therefore I prefer to show a non-philatelic item here, further stressing that this is a rose among thorns.

If anyone is interested in knowing more about the Open Class, you may read 'Handbook for Open collectors and exhibitors in Open Class', which is available at the RPSL library.

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