door The Queen Wilhelmina type Veth series from 1924-1926 may justifiably be called one of the most beautiful and interesting designs. In the first place the beautiful picture on the stamps, and second in the long term validity (until March 31st, 1944) and thirdly the rates- and franking possibilities during this period. Think especially of the airmail surcharges which precisely during this period grew sharply. The additional features, cancels and labels of events during World War II, makes the collecting of postal stamps with Veth stamps quite a feast.
Type Konijnenburg
On April 1, 1940 a dozen stamps of then Queen Wilhelmina Konijnenburg type were issued to replace the Veth type stamps. During the period 1924-1940 only short-term and surcharge series appeared. No one could have guessed that this first part of the Konijnenburg type stamps would only have a very short life. By order of the Germans the Queen Wilhelmina Konijnenburg stamps were withdrawn on October 11, 1940, almost immediately after the appearance of the Guilloche / “Behind bars’ stamps which appeared on October 1, 1940. The stamps with the picture of Queen Wilhelmina which were already held by the people could be used up.
High denominations of Veth type
In the period from 1924 until the issuance of the Guilloche stamps in 1940, no other high denominations (one guilder to 5 guilders) appeared. The high denominations of the Konijnenburg type (one guilder to 10 guilders) did not appear until 1946.
The object of this article
Showing of the late use of stamps and postal stationery with the picture of Queen Wilhelmina Veth type. Late starting date of use will be April 1, 1940. Where possible combinations will be sought with events relating to the Second World War. It should be noted that the 22½ cents orange did not appear until April 1, 1939 due to the lowering of the registered mail surcharge from 15 cents to 10 cents.
Set up of the article
The covers will basically be shown in chronological order.
Amsterdam CS, April 12, 1940. Registered airmail letter bound for New York, USA. Rate: letter 50 grams, 41-60 grams is 27½ cents, 10 cents registration surcharge, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams, 50 grams 10 x 32½ cents 3.25 guilders. Total 3.62½ guilders.
Amsterdam CS, April 12, 1940. Airmail letter with destination North Canton, USA. Rate: letter 15 grams to 20 grams 12½ cents, airmail per 5 grams 32½ cents, 15-20 grams, 4 x 32½ cents 1.30 guilders. Total 1.42½ guilder, mixed franking with Queen Wilhelmina type Konijnenburg. Censorship Frankfurt markings on the back.
Amsterdam-Keizersgracht, May 6, 1940. Registered airmail letter bound for New York, USA. Rate: letter 42 grams, 41-60 grams: 27½ cents, 10 cents registration surcharge, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams, 9 x 32½ cents 2,92½ guilders. Total 3.30 guilders. Mixed franking Queen Wilhelmina type Veth and type Konijnenburg. Purple marker from USA “duty free”
Maastricht-Station, July 12, 1940. Express Letter destination camp Crailo in Laren. Rate: letter to 20 grams 5 cents, 10 cents express surcharge. Total 15 cent. Perfin SB, Spoorweg Boekhandel. Crailo camp is being used for many purposes; during this period (partly) for Dutch Prisoners of War after the capitulation on May 15, 1940.
Schiedam, August 15, 1940. Airmail Letter with destination Birmingham, USA. Rate: letter to 20 grams 12½ cents, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams. Total 45 cents. Rare double franking of the 22½ cents orange type Veth.
Haarlem, September 25, 1940. Postcard sent thru Deutsche Dienstpost Niederlande (DDPN). Rate: postal card abroad 7½ cents. It is not possible to verify 100% if the card was sent with the DDPN. In the text on the back is written that the Dutch PTT is not entirely to be trusted handling mail from Germans, so he sent this card via the DDPN. Civilians were allowed to use the DDPN but they had no free postage privileges, which was only reserved for German military authorities. Paul Galley (the sender) was a German musician, hired by the “Kraft durch Freude” (K.D.F) -organisation to entertain the German Wehrmacht soldiers stationed in the Netherlands.
Amsterdam CS, 30 September 1940. Airmail Letter destination Pasadena, USA. Rate: letter to 20 grams 12½ cents, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams, 6-10 grams is 65 cents. Total 77½ cents. Mix franked Queen Wilhelmina type Veth, type Lebeau 1927 !! and type Konijnenburg.
Rotterdam, October 7, 1940. Airmail Letter destination Baltimore, USA. Rate: letter 30 grams, 20 cents for 21-40 grams, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams, six units, 26-30 grams, 1.95 guilders. Total 2.15 guilders, paid for with with Queen Wilhelmina type Veth and type Konijnenburg. Bermuda Censorship Strip.
Terborg, October 10, 1940. Airmail Letter bound for New York, USA. Rate: letter to 20 grams 12½ cents, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams, 3 x 32½ cents is 97½ cents. Total 1.10 guilders. Frankfurt censorship markers on the back.
Joure, October 25, 1940. Letter with destination Stuttgart, Germany. Rate: up to 20 grams 1-1-1942 12½ cents, thereafter 10 cents as occupied nation. Censorship markers on the back plus Cologne strip over the left side.
The Hague, November 25, 1940. Airmail Letter destination Washington, USA. Rate: letter to 20 grams 12½ cents, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams. Total 45 cents. Mix franked Queen Wilhelmina type Veth with type Konijnenburg and Guilloche stamp. Frankfurt censorship markers on the back.
The Hague, January 4, 1941. Airmail letter with destination Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rate: letter to 20 grams 12½ cents, airmail surcharge 75 cents per 5 grams. Total 87½ cents. Frankfurt censorship marker on the back.
Amsterdam CS, January 13, 1941. Airmail Letter bound for New York, USA. Rate: letter to 20 grams 12½ cents, airmail surcharge 32½ cents per 5 grams, 7 grams is 65 cents. The total is 77½ cents. Mix franked Queen Wilhelmina type Veth with Queen Wilhelmina type Konijnenburg and Guilloche stamp.
Rotterdam, May 18, 1945. Letter bound for London. Rate: 21-40 gram letter 20 cents. End of validity of Queen Wilhelmina Veth type stamps was March 31, 1944. Extremely rare use after WWII to Jonkheer D. van Karnebeek, member of the Dutch Legation (Embassy) in London. Arrival in London June 5, 1945.
Elspeet, August 29, 1942. Express postal card bound for Rotterdam. Rate: postcard 5 cent, 10 cent express surcharge. Total 15 cent. Delivery the same day, despite the war. Express service was suspended as of 1-12-1942 due to lack of personnel, employed in Germany.
Amsterdam CS, April 19, 1941. Registered express letter bound for Zurich, Switzerland. Rate: letter to 20 grams 12½ cents, 10 cents registration surcharge, express surcharge 20 cents. Total 42½ cents. Franking was 47½ cents; most likely the “old” express surcharge of 25 cents was assumed. Frankfurt censorship markers (strip on the back).
Nijmegen, December 3, 1946. Postcard of the windmill series, destination Mainz, located in the French zone of occupied Germany. This series of 24 postcards with scenes of various towns and villages are overprinted with 5 cents and issued in May 1946, presumably because there were still plenty in storage and the domestic rate had for some time been reduced to five cents.
The rate for a postcard abroad was per November 1, 1946 12½ cents. The 5 cent postcard has an additional postage stamp of the 7½ cents Queen Wilhelmina type Konijnenburg applied. The text on the card is in Esperanto, a written language which was very popular at that time. End of validity of the postcard is July 1, 1948.
Because the image on the front, a windmill landscape of the Alblasserwaard, the postcard was not allowed in Germany (aftermath of the war) and was sent back stating the reason. The sticker “TERUG AAN AFZENDER” (Return to Sender) used here was actually intended for postal items which were insufficiently franked. In this case the text was adjusted by hand so it could be used anyway.
References
- W.S. da Costa, Binnenlandse en Internationale Posttarieven van Nederland 1850-1990, Posthistorische Studies Po & Po nr. 14, 1990.
- J.L. Verhoeven, Catalogus van de perfins van Nederland en OG, 1991.
- H. Buitenkamp en E. Müller, Catalogus postzegels op brief, 1992/1993.
- H. Landsmann, Die Zensur von Zivilpost in Deutschland im 2. Weltkrieg, 2008.
- Geuzendam’s Catalogus van de Postwaardestukken van Nederland en Overzeese Rijksdelen, 2008.
Adam van der Linden is a member of the Dutch Academy of Philately. This article was originally published in the POSTEX 2015 program and translated by Hans Kremer.
