VOL. XXXI, NUMBER 1

JANUARY 2005

American Helvetia

Philatelic Society

An Anomalous Type 14 Rayon II??by George Valby

In the process of attributing a recently acquired Rayon II, figures 1 and 2, I met a dilemma :

The stamp matched the Type 14 background squiggles, but the "R" in "Rp " did not have the

characteristic notch in the ball of the R that seems to be a feature of Type 14 (figures 3 and 4, scanned

from the plate in the 1924 Zumstein Catalog, Reference 1) . Further, the stamp did not appear to

match any of the characteristic minutia identified in Müller's treatise on Rayon II (Reference 2) ,

which normally allows one to identify the stone and quadrant for Rayon II

(continued on page 13)

Figure 2 . Close-up of Rp ,no notch in R, open pFigure 1 . Rayon II being attributed

Figure 3 . Type 14 from Color plate i nthe Zumstein 1924 Catalog (Ref 1)

Figure 4 Close-up of Rp ,showing notch in R and closed p

ContentsAn Anomalous Type 14 Rayon II?, by George Valby 1

2005 AHPS Convention 3

Seattle AHPS Chapter 3

Strubel Commemoration in Luzern 3

The Stampless Period December 25 31, 1851, by Michael Peter 4

A 90-year old puzzle has been solved!, byAxel Herms 8

Matterhorn Meanderings by Richard T. Hall 1 1

Index for TELL Volume 30 : 2004 12

New Members 16

American Helvetia Philatelic SocietyELECTED OFFICERS 2003-2004

APPOINTED OFFICERSPresident Treasurer

TELL Editor Publicity Chairma n

William R. Lucas Harry C . Winter

George Struble Awards Chairman

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: 503-364-3929

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 . WestonPast President Regional Director West

P.O. Box 86 8David E. Durham Donn Lueck REPRESENTATIVES

Del Mar CA 92014-086 8149 Ontario St . P . O . Box 11582 Union of Swiss760-752-781 2Honeoye Falls, NY Phoenix, AZ 85061 PhilatelicSocietie s14472-1139 Home: 602-841-1322

Circuit Sales Manager Ralph Soderbergdedur@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 4823 6Harlan F. Stone Michael Peter

Home : 401-377-2238 Home: 313-885-4125P.O. Box 770334 P 0 Box 50256

Swissboy3@netzero .com

Woodside NY 11377 St . Louis, MO 63105 American Philatelic

Home : 718-478-2374 314-725-6800

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

Gordon TrotterErnest L . Bergman

10626 Fable Row1421 Harris St .

Secretary & Librarian Regional Director East

Columbia, MD 21044State College, PA 1680 3

Richard T. Hall Helen Galatan-Stone

Phone : 410-730-793 6

P.O. Box 15053 P.O. Box 770334

Fax : 410-740-7215 814-238-016 4

Asheville, 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 Group20 Whitney Road Chm: Ralph R .

AHPS Website: http: //www.swiss-stamps .org Short Hills, NJ 07078 SchneiderHom& 973-218-9774 P.O. Box 2304 9Office : 212-804-3619 Belleville IL 6222 3bmarsden@bellatlantic .net Rschneider39@charter .net

Copyright 2005, The American Helvetia Philatelic Society(AHPS) . TELL (ISSN 1042-2072) is the official journal of th eAmerican ' Helvetia Philatelic Society, affiliate #52 of th eAmerican Philatelic Society and a member of the Union of Swis sPhilatelic Societies . TELL is published bimonthly(JanlMar/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, w ecan copy/scan your originals (please consult the Editor beforesending actual stamps, covers, etc.) . Please include your name ,address and telephone number .

Subscriptions for 2004 include AHPS dues : United States, $21 ;Canada and Mexico $26 ; overseas air delivery, $31 . Reques tmembership 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 t othe Editor. Advertising deadlines : Jan . 10, Mar. 12, May 12, July13, Sep . 12, Nov . 13 .Printed by Kettle Moraine Printing, West Bend WI 53095 .

2 TELL

January 2005

2005 AHPS ConventionThis is a reminder that the next AHP S

convention will be in New York during th eMarch 3-6 Mega-Event in Madison Square Gar -

den. It will include the following AHPS events :

• Friday, 2-5 p .m . Seminar on "Team Exhibit -ing à la Swiss" at the Collectors Club, 22East 35th St .

• Friday, 6 p.m. – Informal group dinner at L eCafé Crème, 165 Madison Ave . (near 32nd

St.), Manhattan .

• Saturday, 10 a.m.-noon – Annual busines smeeting at the Garden (followed by the com -

plimentary exhibitors' awards luncheon).

• Saturday, 6 p .m. – Formal group dinner a t

Marchi's, 251 East 31st St ., Manhattan .

• Sunday, 9 a .m.-noon – Swap session forAHPS members at place to be determined .

Refer to the article in the November

TELL for more information and registration re -quirements .

The ASDA has reserved a block of rooms

for ASDA and AHPS members at the New Yor kHotel Pennsylvania, 401 Seventh Ave . (acrossthe street from the Garden) . The special price i s$139 for a single or double room; ask for a room

in the "ASDA block ." The room reservatio nnumber is (800) 223-8585 ; the main hotel num -ber is (212) 736-5000 .

Exhibitor entry forms are available fro mus, P.O . Box 770334, Woodside, NY 11377-0334 ,

(718) 478-2374, hfstone@rcn .com.

Seattle AHPS ChapterDana Nielsen and friend s

have initiated an AHPS chapter i n

Seattle . They have been meetingon the last Tuesday of eachmonth, discussing things Swiss .

Interested folk can contact theclub at 17428 State Route 9, PMB#105, Snohomish, WA 98296, or 1-877-284-6167 .Note the appearance of the Space Needle in Wil -liam Tell's hand in their logo!

Strubel Commemoration

in LuzernThe stamp show in Luzern, Switzerlan d

on September 24-26 featured the 150th anniver -

sary of the Strubel stamps. Among the exhibits

were several world-class exhibits of Strube l

stamps, including proofs and essays, one whole

remarkable frame of Strubel bisects, cancella -

tions, plate flaws, usages, mixed frankings, etc .

Also on display were the original metal dies used

in construction of the printing plates and a

printing press that had been used in printin g

the Strubels !

The show was modest in size, held in the

Kornschütte Hall in the old Rathaus . The ten

dealers had some mouth-watering material fo r

sale -- at prices that make us appreciate wha t

we already own. There were 70 exhibits, non -

judged, but the twenty plus Strubel exhibit s

were clearly the class of the show .

AHPS attendees included Ernie Berg-

man, George Struble,

(continued on page 7)

January 2005 3 TELL

The Stampless Period

December 25 — December 31, 1851by Michael Peter

Figure 1 . Franked letter during the Stampless Period .One of only 20 franked letters (1) that are known to exist .Only letter during the stampless period that bears th eOrts-Post Durheim issue (1) . Letter dated December 28 ,1851 and Zurich arrival cancel on the reverse dated De-cember 29, 1851 (Heinrich Heissinger collection) .

Figure 2 . Franked letter during the stampless period . Lette rwent from Bern on December 25, 1851 to Steffisburg nea r

Thun . Only 10 letters with the light blue Rayon are known toexist (1) .

One of the most interesting periods of early

Swiss philately was the events that led up to th e

stampless period of 1851 and the stampless period itself .

History and Background

With the outbreak of revolutions in 1848, the ruling houses of almost every Central Europea n

country were faced with two elementary demands : constitution and national unity. Switzerland di d

not have a ruling house ; however, they too were looking for some national unity and a revised consti -

tution. The present federal constitution has been in force since May 29, 1874 . It had been establishe d

according to the revision clause of the Constitution of September 12, 1848 which replaced the covenan t

of 1815 . Taking advantage of the revision clause, the Swiss continued to look for other ways to en -

hance national unity, and a unified currency was one .

The Swiss cantons did not possess the same monetary system . It was not until 1851 that the

federal assembly decided to introduce a nationwide common currency system, replacing the many dif -

ferent local currencies . It was decided to adopt the French currency for all of Switzerland . Thus, this

system was based on the French centime an necessitated converting the old Franken to the new

Franken at a ratio of 7 : 10, fractions of a Franken to be rounded up .

This change was to begin on January 1, 1852 . At first, the Confederation had planned to re -

place the Rayon I and II stamps with the Strubels at this time . However, production problems with

the Strubel issue prevented this and forced the postal administration into an interim solution . On De -

cember 25, 1851, all post offices had to return their stamp supplies to Postal headquarters in Bern an d

no stamps could be sold from December 25 to December 31, 1851 . On January 1, 1852, stamp sales

resumed under the new currency .

In fulfillment of the Law on Postal Rates of August 25, 1851, the Postal Department published

the following notice :

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January 2005

Temporary Regulations Relative to the Prepayment by Postage Stamp sin Accordance with the Law on Postal Rates

December 6, 185 1

As the carrying out, on the 1st of January next, of the new Federal law of August 25th con -cerning the Federal postage rates for the interior will also affect postage stamps, we direct a sfollows:

1) All Post Offices must, on the 25th of December 1851, send to the authorities of their re -spective districts their entire stock of postage stamps together with a detailed invoice, an dthe District authorities shall forward them, with a general statement, to the accountant o f

postage stamps, in other words, to the head office in Bern, on the 26th of December 1851.

2) The respective authorities shall at the same time inform the Bern office what temporaryprovision of postage stamps they require .

3) No postage stamps will be accepted after 28th of December 1851 ; the offices must there -fore only debit the account of the stamps sent in within the proscribed date [prescribe ddates?.

4) Immediately after the consignments have been received and checked, and in any case be -fore the 1st of January 1852, the accountant of postage stamps must send to the distric tauthorities a sufficient stock of stamps of the new values for them to forward to the pos toffices in their jurisdiction for sale to the public .

5) The manufacture of new postage stamps has been decreed; but they will hardly be readyfor distribution before the early part of 1852 . During the interval, there will be forwardedfor circulation:

a. Stamps at 5 centimes colored blu e

b. Stamps at 10 centimes colored yello w

c. Stamps at 15 centimes colored red .

Stamps a and b will be of the pattern now in use; but the c stamps, on the contrary, havebeen specially designed for the 3rd rayon rates .

6) Consequently, from the 25th to the 31st of December 1851, no stamps will be sold ; andwhere senders of letters do not possess stamps, their letters must be prepaid by money .

7) From January 1, 1852, the postage stamps of the new value will be sold at the post offices,at the prices given in article 5 above.

In the districts in which, at that date, the new monetary system . has not yet been intro -duced, the postage stamps will be sold in the new currency or, if in the old one, accordingto the tables of reduction prescribed for the transitional period ; but, in such case, therewill still be a difference between the cost of the stamps sold separately and those sold insheets or packets.

When whole sheets or packets are sold, the price will be regulated according to the re-duced rate of 7/10, as prescribed.

8) Postage stamps that have been sold but not employed, may be returned to the post office suntil the 24th of December 1851, where stamps of similar value will be given in exchang eafter the 1st of January 1852.

9) After the 1st of January 1852, no postage stamp will be available at its former value .

The instructions contained in this decree which are of interest to the public, should be madeknown by the District authorities not later than the 15th inst .

For the Postal Department,

Signed: Naef

January 2005

5 TELL

New Currency

The re-issued Rayons were sold then at 5, respectively 10 centimes (= 'new' Rappen), which

meant a reduction in price . This means, after January 1, 1852, the 5 Rp . new currency equaled 5

1 .43 = 3 .5 Rp . old currency. It was advantageous to turn in stamps, because stamps of similar valu ewould be given in exchange after January 1, 1852.

New Rates

The change in currency brought about a revision in rates .

The previous rates allowed for local mail at a reduced rate, and for four distance zones (Ray -ons) . The new rates eliminated local mail and established three distance zones instead of four. Thesethree new zones were narrower :

Rate of Local 1st Rayon 2nd Rayon 3rd Rayon 4th Rayon

1849 Local up to 48 kin . up to 120 km. up to 192 km. over 192 km .

1852 -- up to 9 .6 km. up to 48 km . over 48 km . - -

It is obvious that these changes in distance zones (Note: I use `distance zones' so readers will not ge tconfused about 'Rayon, the stamp' and `Rayon, the distance zone) were meant to offset the price re -duction of stamps .

Stampless Period

Thus, from December 25 to December 31, 1851, stamps were not available at the post offices inSwitzerland. During this stampless period, the public could use stamps they had available in thei rhome. However, very few people kept stamps at home because mail boxes were unknown in most o fSwitzerland during this time (though 12 mailboxes were installed in Basel in 1845) . To mail a letter ,one had to go to the post office . Why keep stamps at home if you had to go to the Post Office anyway ?

During this period there were four types of letters that could exist :

• Letters with postage stamps, which the sender had a home or the office . Only 20 pieces of mai l

exist with postage stamps during this period . (1) See Figures 1 and 2 on page XX.

• Unfranked letters, which were allowed during this period . The postage was noted in red handwrit -

ing on the letter's front and the recipient had to pay postage (Figure 3) .

• Letters with the postage paid in advance using cash . They usually received the note "Franco" i nfront, either in handwritten form or by means of a canceling device . The stamped "PP " was also

Figure 4. Prepaid letter with "Franco" seen beneat hgrill cancel on front. Bears St . Gallen arrival cance ldated December 31, 1851 on reverse (HeinrichHeissinger collection )

Figure 3 . Unfranked letter from Basel on December 26, 1851 toLe Locle. Postage paid by the recipient .

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January 2005

Figure 5 . Postage free letter from Bern during the stamples s

period . Letter dated December 29, 1851 (Heinrich

Heissinger collection) .

used for this purpose . The amount paid in ad -vance is usually noted in handwriting on the re -verse of the letter (Figure 4) .

• Postage free letters showing the sender. Thiscould be mail from government offices or fromother postage free institutions . Since thesetypes of letters were postage free anyway, the y

don 't qualify as letters from the stampless pe -riod, but they do exist (Figure 5) .

Conclusion

Thus, the last seven days in December 185 1make for very interesting Swiss postal history . The

examples shown from this period help show the dif-ferent types of mail that existed during this period .We hope this article assists the reader and sheds light on this time of Swiss postal history that is no t

quite understood by all .

Bibliography

The Federal Law on Postal Rates is from The Postage Stamps of Switzerland 1843-1862 by Mirabau d

and Reuterskiold 1975, pages 91-92 .

(1) Gottfried Honegger census

Acknowledgement

Three of the examples shown are from the Heinrich Heissinger collection .

significant contributor to this article, including its editing . Many thanks!

Heinrich Heissinger was a

Strubel Commemorationin Luzern(Continued from page 3) and Ian Gilchrist .Our good friends Rolf Rölli and Beatrice Rölli -

Schär were among the principal organizers o fthe show.

A prominent feature of the event was

the sheetlet, issued earlier in the month i n

Basel, containing two 85-cent stamps (the cur -

rent domestic B rate) . One stamp shows a

Strubel 10-rappen stamp, the other a Swis s

coin of the time with a different allegorical fig-

ure. The sheetlet also shows a more moder n

and contemplative sculpture of Helvetia . Of

course there was a nice show cancel for cover s

containing the sheetlet or stamps from it .

January 2005

7 TELL

A 90-year old puzzle has been solved! (Part I)by Axel Herms

(This article was published in Berner Briefmarken Zeitung March 2002, translated by Ernest L

Bergman, and published here with the gracious permission of the BBZ)

Upright and horizontal watermark large crosses 1908/1 1

In the Zumstein 1992 Specialized Catalog a first concrete hint was found that eleven stamp s

exist which have horizontal as well as upright watermarks . In the Zumstein 2000 Specialized Catalo g

(page 187) all 19 such stamps are now recorded .

Actually it is surprising that only now, 90 years after these stamps were first issued, we see

them in a new light. For other countries the different watermarks can always be found in the catalog

as soon as they are issued .

Besides postage due stamp

# 23C, the 18 postage

stamps shown in Figure 1

are affected .

Fig . 1 The nineteen stamps that exist with both upright and horizontal watermark s

What was the reason for the change from upright to horizontal watermark?

The explanation as to how the differen t

watermark positions (see Figure 2) came to exist an dthe reasons for the simultaneous occurrence can b e

found indirectly in the 1938 publication by H . Ritter

Die Portomarken der Schweiz (The Postage Du eStamps of Switzerland). Because at that time H .Ritter still had personal contact with people who ha dworked around the turn of the century in the stamp

printing enterprise, we can feel secure in acceptin g

his explanations . What appears in his publication under the title "Gummierung" (Gum Application) i s

quoted here, because it gave the impetus to solve the 90-year old puzzle about the two watermarks .

"From 1881, gum application took place at the Federal Mint in Bern (postage due stamps from the 8th

- 34th issue) . The composition of the gum had many changes during the years . At first it was

brownish, later on clear white . In 1906, for instance, 7 .6 kg of gum was sufficient for 1000 sheet s

Figure 2 . Wmk I : Upright

Wmk II : Horizonta l

8 TELL

January 2005

(with 400 stamps each) ; . . .the gum solution was applied to the sheets with the gum solutio n

application machine delivered by F . Heim & Co ., Offenbach . This machine, which was run by tw o

people, applied the gum to 15 sheets per minute . Then the wet, gummed sheets were placed on a

drying transport apparatus which was guided over 35 m wide endless brass wires located abov e

heated steam pipes and the sheets were dry within 15 minutes . The dried sheets were flattened an d

then, in batches, interleaved with cardboard, and pressed for 12 hours in a hydraulic press . Until

1908 the gum application of all Swiss stamps took place after printing by the above describe d

procedure. The first experiments with gum application before printing took place in April 1908 at

Oberhänsly & Cie . Buntpapierfabrik, Herisau . Here, 492 mm wide paper rolls, delivered from th e

paper plant an der Sihl, were used . Such pre-gummed paper, however, was no longer used for th e

postage due stamps having design I .

The clear-cut difference of stamps with gu m

That the pregummed paper was no longer used for postage due stamps having design I (stamp s

with numeral figure) was, however, a small error (the 35th issue was not known at that time), becaus e

the last stamp (23Cb) with numeral figure was printed on this new paper in 1910. This stamp is

known among postage due stamp collectors to be the only one with horizontal watermark . Comparing

this stamp with other number figure stamps, we see that the gum is completely different . All of the

previously printed postage due stamps show flat, shiny to strongly cracked, and firm gum ; the 23Cb ,

however, has finely cracked, soft, somewhat pale, and easily flexible gum .

If we look more closely at the postage stamps of the time 1908-13, one finds that the 1 8

mentioned stamps also have both kinds of gum . Inspecting these stamps for watermarks, one

observes that flat to cracked gum applied after printing coincides without exception with the uprigh t

watermark. Finely cracked gum applied before printing, however, always coincides with the

horizontal watermark . Therefore the first proof has been established : that the new pregummed pape r

from rolls (= B-paper) has exclusively horizontal watermarks and that until 1908 paper received

without gum (= A-paper) has always upright watermarks . Since, as reported by H. Ritter, Oberhänsl y

& Cie conducted experiments with gum application to paper rolls after April 1908, the new pape r

could not have been used by the printer before summer 1908 at the earliest .

The first use of the new paper with horizontal watermar k

The earliest date known at this time for horizonta l

watermark usage is August 2, 1908 ; see Figure 3. Thisindicates without a doubt that the paper from rolls was usedfor the first time in summer 1908 . Because this stamp derivedfrom a booklet, it has to be assumed that the first printingexperiments with the new paper were conducted with sheet sfor booklet production . At the same time it is also proven tha tstamp booklet No . 5 exists with both watermarks (upright =watermark I, horizontal = watermark II )

Paper gummed after printing (1905-1908) always has the upright watermark(=watermark I)

The varying positions of the watermarks have been shown on the issues 1908/11 and seem t o

coincide with the earlier description of paper change in the year 1908 . It can be excluded, that th e

paper, regardless of its kind, was wrongly cut or fed backwards in the printing plant . The paper plan t

an der Sihl, exclusively, delivered paper exactly trimmed to the necessary size for the printing sheet s

until 1908. Besides, we can read from H . Ritter, "After 1881, paper with blue and red fibers, so-calle d

mottled, light grayish shining paper from this factory (an der Sihl) was used . The size of the sheet s

Figure 3 . Horizontal watermark earliest use

January 2005

9 TELL

was 492 x 558 mm, which permitted the printing of 400 stamps of the small format . The control o fpaper shipped to the printing plant and then printed, and the delivered number of sheets wa s

extremely strict in order to prevent the disappearance of unprinted paper . There could be only on e

possibility for wrongly entering the paper to be printed . A few issues were printed with a small for mof only 100 designs, hence, technically it would have been possible to cut correctly the sheets to b eprinted . But here H . Ritter helps us further. Under the title "Print" he describes how in this case th esheets to be printed were permitted to pass through the printing machine by turning and reversin g

four times and therefore were not reduced .

A production error in the paper factory was also impossible . The watermark was impressedwith a roller, the so-called "Egoutteur", into wet, freshly created paper. The direction of the

production was prearranged and the paper could only move in one direction above (or below) theroller . A paper band, presumably 200 cm wide, was produced from which approximately 50 cm "high "strips with exclusively upright watermarks were detached ; afterwards they were cut into three sheet sof about 60 cm in height, ready for printing. That there might still exist the possibility for horizontalwatermarks was addressed by M . Schio as follows: "Because the paper band was produced with awidth of 166 .8 cm (later 202cm), the watermark could not have been affected by the production an dcould not have been different than in the normal upright position, unless a worker at the cutter cu t

the sheets the wrong way from a torn band in order to keep the waste as small as possible . "

However, this possibility cannot be considered, because a paper strip was only about 50 c mwide and it was impossible to cut the wrong way, since the printing sheet being only 50 x 50 cm woul dhave become too small .

Preprinted gummed paper (after 1908) always has the horizontal watermark (=watermark II)

According to H . Ritter, it was also not possible to cut incorrectly the 492 mm wide rolls (later480 mm), which were delivered since 1908 from the paper factory an der Sihl, because the necessar yformat of the size per sheet to be printed (492 x 588 mm) would have needed a minimum width of 55 8mm. Now the question arises: why do the pregummed sheets to be printed have a horizonta l

watermark? The explanation for this can be found indirectly in an invoice from the paper factory 2which states that the produced paper band was 202 cm and was separated longitudinally into fou r

rolls, hence the width of these rolls could not have been wider than 50 .5 cm at maximum . From these

rolls the 50 mm (later 540 mm) sheets to be printed were cut and packed in bales of 5000 sheet s(doubly counted!) and sealed .

The to-be-printed sheets cut from the rolls show therefore the horizontal watermark, contrar y

to those large sheets cut longitudinally from the paper band . The direction of production and"Egoutteur" were therefore kept unchanged . That the same "Egoutteur" was always used is als oproven by the form of the cross . The paper band was temporarily wound on a cylinder and not on a

roll, presumably in order to be unwound again mechanically after gum application .

If we inspect the new paper more closely, we find that in comparison to the old one it show sdefinite differences (see old and new paper 1908) . Hence, not only the preparation of the paper bu t

also the composition of the paper was changed in order to produce a finer, satinlike (flat) paper .

1) M. Schio . Die Buchdruckausgabe 1882 im Ziffernmuster (Seite 11, Fussnote 32), Verlag Zumstein &Cie . 1968

2) Illustrated in Postgeschichte Nr. 72, November 1997 (Verlag Postgeschichte, Postfach 174, 8042 ,Zürich, H. R. Schwarzenbach)

(This was the first in a series of articles . We hope to reprint all of them in TELL – Ed.)

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January 2005

Matterhorn Meanderingsby Richard T Hall

Let me start off this issue with something that can only be described as serendipity . I am asucker for Swiss covers with interesting cachets, markings, or cancellations . I was going through oneof our circuits when I came across the card shown in Figure 1 . I was intrigued by the hotel "stamp"and by the marking "1864-1964 100 Jahre Hotel-Postmarke" . The card was a buck and a half so Ibought it . I knew that the first hotel stamp was issued in 1864 but it wasn't at Kandersteg but ratherat Rigi Kaltbad, but that didn't matter, I was just intrigued .

Skip ahead a few weeks. I recently acquired acomplete run of the Schweizer Briefmarken Zeitung (SBZ)back to 1955 and have been going through them, one issueat a time chronologically. I was looking through the Au -gust 1964 SBZ when I came across an item in Gauden zMüller's monthly column, "Vous plaît de savoir que . . . "["Did you know that . . ."]. He mentioned that he had justreceived a souvenir of a forgotten anniversary – the centennial of the issuance of the first hotel stam pat Rigi Kaltbad in 1864! Eureka! An explanation of my $1 .50 purchase .

Herr Müller goes on to quote from Alex Fetzer, who is the owner of the Hotel Adler in Kander -steg and who happens to be a stamp collector . He said that in spite of being an owner and operator o fa hotel "with both feet on the ground", he tries to give some time each day to his hobby of philately .So, on July 1, 1964, Herr Fetzer sent out a first day of issue card for his own hotel "stamp" to hi sfriends, clients, and acquaintances. The total issue of the "stamp" was 20,000 copies plus a "printingerror" with a printing of 400. So my intriguing cardhas a story – well worth the $1 .50 I spent . Does any-one know of, or have a copy of, the "printing error" ?The moral of the story: if something tickles yourfancy, jump on it and maybe you can find its story .So if you are ever in Kandersteg, stop by the Hote lAdler, maybe they still have some of their hotel"stamps" available! And avail yourself of our circuits ,you can never tell what you'll find .

Plan to attend/exhibit at these AHPS Conventions and shows:

MEGA-EVENT, March 3-6, 2005 -- NewYork, 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 2for addresses)

January 2005

11 TELL

Because of printing deadlines, I only haveone month's listing of Swiss post office closingsfor this column . Next issue we 'll catch up .

1. On September 30, 2004, the following postoffices were closed :

7145 Degen (canton Graubünden)

7419 Scheid (canton Graubünden)

2 . On October 29, 2004, the post office at 103 1Mex (canton Vaud) was closed. K-cancel1439 was last used on that date .

3. On October 30, 2004, the following post office s

were closed :

6000 Luzern 13 Hübelmatt (canton

Luzern)7063 Praden (canton Graubünden)9116 Wolfertswil (canton St . Gallen) [K-cancel 678 was last used on that date ]

4. On November 12, 2004, the post office at 1200Genève 24 Les Acacias (canton Genève )was closed .

And finally, a very strange announcementof a post office closing in the October issue o fPhilaNews, Die Post's (continued on page 16)

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January 2005

An Anomalous Type 14 Rayon II??

(Continued from page 1) stamps. All of the Type 14 Rayon Ils shown in reference 2 (seven stones ,

all quadrants) show the R with a notch, like that of figures 3 and 4 .

At first I thought this to be tell-tale evidence that I was looking at a forgery . My first stop was

the CD on federal issue forgeries, by Kofranek (Reference 3), where I struck out, since my item did no t

appear among the examples of forgeries included there. Knowing that a catalog of forgeries might o f

course not be "complete", I was still inclined to believe that my item could be a forgery .

However, now I am not so sure . The cause of my doubt also stems from the Müller treatise . At

the back of his book, in the color plates showing color shades from the various stones, there is depicte d

a beautiful 30 stamp block, the so-called "Mirabaud sheet ", on the page of color examples from the A2

stone. In this large block, the Type 14 stamp also appears to have no notch in the ball of the R, and

further, appears to have an open-top "p", like the example I am attempting to attribute . A scan of the

Type 14 stamp from this large block is shown in figures 5 and 6 . (These are not quite as sharp as the

other images, since the plate is reproduced by different printing techniques in Reference 2 : dots rather

than solids) .

Figure 5 Type 14 from the Mirabau dsheet, from Reference 2

Figure 6 . Close-up of Rp ,no notch in R, open p

So what should one conclude from the above information? Any suggested resolutions are ver y

welcome! You can e-mail me at george .valby@earthlink.net

References :

1. M . Hertsch, 1924 Zumstein Catalog,- withcolor plates of the early federal issues .

2. Ernst Müller, Bestimmung der Drucksteineder Rayon II auf Grund der verschiedenenFeldmerkmale im Schwarzdruck, 2nd edition ,1986 .

3. Professor Anton M. Kofranek, A Study of th eSwiss Federal Administration Issued Stamps ,1850 - 1854, and their Forgeries . CD-ROM, 1999 .

Index for TELL Volume 30 : 2004Author IndexDurham, David

"Our HPS Cousins Across the Ocean , " May 2004, p . 5

Graf, Fritz

"Swiss Domestic Postage Rates, " January 2004, p . 7"Swiss Domestic Postage Rates – an Update, " March 2004, p . 5

Hall, Richard T.

"Beans, Bananas, and Snakes : Plate Varieties on Swiss Photogravure Stamps : Part 7 – The Pro Patria

Issues of 1940 – the 20c + 5c Value, " January 2004, p . 1 4"Frühdatum or Earliest Known Use of Swiss Stamps, " May 2004, p . 7"Frühdatum or Earliest Known Use of Swiss Stamps – First Responses," July 2004, p . 8"Marginal Markings on Recent Swiss Stamps, " September 2004, p . 1"The Official Word on Marginal Markings on Swiss Stamps, " November 2004, p . 3"Matterhorn Meanderings, " January 2004, p . 1 1"Matterhorn Meanderings, " March 2004, p . 6"Matterhorn Meanderings, " May 2004, p . 1 5"Matterhorn Meanderings, " July 2004, p . 10"Matterhorn Meanderings, " September 2004, p . 14"Matterhorn Meanderings, " November 2004, p . 12

Heissinger, Heinrich K .

"Plating Switzerland's Rayons," September 2004, p . 4

Holmsten, Leonar d

"Swiss Mercenaries in Naples, " March 2004, p . 8

LaBlonde, Charle s"World War II Swiss Courier Service – Insight, " January 2004, p . 1"A New Swiss World War II Marking – Part 2, " January 2004, p . 6"Postage Refunded, " March 2004, p . 1"Swiss and GB Postage on the Same Letter?" July 2004, p . 1 6

Lueck, Donn

"A Fishing Permit Stamp, " November 2004, p . 7

Peter, Michael

"The 1929 Zeppelin Flights – Revisited : St . Gallen Drop – First Flight (26 September 1929), "

November 2004, p . 6

Stone, Harlan F .

"Hasler's Last Effort, " May 2004, p . 4"The Complications of Swiss Mail to Italy, 1862-1875," July 2004, p . 1"Swiss Cancellations 1843-1854, by Henri Grand – a Book Review , " July 2004, p . 4"A Swiss Postage Due Puzzle from China, " November 2004, p . 1"Swiss Stamp-Saving Soldiers, " November 2004, p . 5

Stutz, Reinhard

"Prisoners of War in Switzerland? " May 2004, p . 1

Winter, Harry C.

AHPS Treasurer's Report for the year 2003, March 2004, p . 16

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January 2005

Subject IndexAirmail

Peter, Michael, "The 1929 Zeppelin Flights – Revisited : St . Gallen Drop – First Flight (26 Septembe r1929)," November 2004, p . 6

Awards

"Recent Swiss Exhibit Winners, " May 2004, p . 5"Swiss Exhibits Dominate ROMPEX ." July 2004, p . 3

Bergman, Ernie

Profile of a Stamp Collector : Ernie Bergman," September 2004, p . 3

CancellationsStone, Harlan F ., "Swiss Cancellations 1843-1854, by Henri Grand – a Book Review," July 2004, p . 4

Earliest Known UseHall, Richard T ., "Frühdatum or Earliest Known Use of Swiss Stamps, " May 2004, p . 7Hall, Richard T ., "Frühdatum or Earliest Known Use of Swiss Stamps — First Responses , " July 2004, p . 8

Frühdatu m

Hall, Richard T., "Frühdatum or Earliest Known Use of Swiss Stamps," May 2004, p . 7Hall, Richard T., "Frühdatum or Earliest Known Use of Swiss Stamps – First Responses," July 2004, p . 8

Helvetia Philatelic Society

Durham, David, "Our HPS Cousins Across the Ocean," May 2004, p . 5

Italy

Stone, Harlan F ., "The Complications of Swiss Mail to Italy, 1862-1875 , " July 2004, p . 1

Marginal Markings

Hall, Richard T., "Marginal Markings on Recent Swiss Stamps, " September 2004, p . 1Hall, Richard T., "The Official Word on Marginal Markings on Swiss Stamps," November 2004, p . 3

Meters

Stone, Harlan F., "Hasler's Last Effort," May 2004, p . 4

Post Office Openings and Closings

Hall, Richard T., "Matterhorn Meanderings," January 2004, p . 1 1Hall, Richard T., "Matterhorn Meanderings, " March 2004, p . 6Hall, Richard T., "Matterhorn Meanderings, " May 2004, p . 1 5Hall, Richard T., "Matterhorn Meanderings, " July 2004, p . 10Hall, Richard T., "Matterhorn Meanderings , " September 2004, p . 14Hall, Richard T., "Matterhorn Meanderings, " November 2004, p . 12

Postage Due

Stone, Harlan F ., "A Swiss Postage Due Puzzle from China," November 2004, p . 1Stone, Harlan F ., "Swiss Stamp-Saving Soldiers, " November 2004, p . 5

Postage Rate s

Graf, Fritz, "Swiss Domestic Postage Rates, " January 2004, p . 7Graf, Fritz, "Swiss Domestic Postage Rates — an Update, " March 2004, p . 5

Rayons

Heissinger, Heinrich, "Plating Switzerland 's Rayons, " September 2004, p . 4

Revenue Stamps

Lueck, Donn, "A Fishing Permit Stamp, " November 2004, p . 7

South African Evadés

LaBlonde, Charles, "Swiss and GB Postage on the Same Letter ? " July 2004, p. 1 6

Stampless Perio d

Holmsten, Leonard, "Swiss Mercenaries in Naples," March 2004, p . 8

January 2005 15 TELL

TELL Index

"Index of TELL Volume 29, 2003," March 2004, p . 13

Treasurer's Report

Winter, Harry C ., "AHPS Treasurer's Report for the year 2003," March 2004, p . 16

Varieties

Richard T. Hall, "Beans, Bananas, and Snakes : Plate Varieties on Swiss Photogravure Stamps :Part 7 — The Pro Patria Issues of 1940 — the 20c + 5c Value, " January 2004, p. 1 4

World War I ILaBlonde, Charles, "World War II Swiss Courier Service — Insight, " January 2004, p . 1LaBlonde, Charles, "A New Swiss World War II Marking — Part 2, " January 2004, p . 6LaBlonde, Charles, "Postage Refunded," March 2004, p . 1Stutz, Reinhard, "Prisoners of War in Switzerland?," May 2004, p . 1

Zeppelin Mai lPeter, Michael, "The 1929 Zeppelin Flights — Revisited : St . Gallen Drop — First Flight (26 Septembe r

1929), " November 2004, p . 6

New MembersAHPS is delighted to welcome five new

members over the last six months :

Donald CollinsIllinois

Lewis DraperSaskatchewan

Edward KellyPennsylvania

Neville NelderGreat Britain

Edward Nyberg jr .Alabama

We are also pleased to welcome back fourreinstated members : Terry Coyne, George Klee ,Michael John Mohtiak, and Bruce Ross .

Matterhorn Meanderings(Continued from page 12) monthly listing of

new issues, new cancellations, and post office

changes . It seems that the post office at 600 0

Luzern 10 Wesemlin (canton Luzern) wa s

closed on December 31, 2003, without proper

notice in the philatelic press . To compensate

for this error, Die Post offered backdated last

day of use cancellations to anyone who

requested one prior to November 15, 2004 .

That seems a bit extreme to me . I guess

someone complained to someone high up in th e

administration. I guess even the Swiss are

subject to pressure!

That's it for this issue.

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January 2005