Postage Stamps on Banknotes to Authenticate Them As First Day Issues
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— SECTION III — Stamps on Banknotes By Brian Latonas A. Stamps Applied to Banknotes to Increase Value HUNGARY (1944-1946) Veszprém (1944-1945) A series of banknotes were printed in Veszprém by the evacuated Szálasi government and circulated in the Nazi-ruled part of Hungary in 1944.These consisted of 1944 reprints of the 100-pengö banknote of 1930 (Pick 98) and the 10-pengö banknote of 1936 (Pick 100) containing a star in the serial number. Some of the 100-pengö banknotes were affixed with a1000-pengö adhesive stamp (Pick 112). These were later replaced by the 1000-pengö bill of 1943. As an aside, in 1944, there was a plan to issue a new series of 10, 100 and 1000- pengö banknotes — all designed by Endre Horváth. Due to lack of time, only the 1000 pengö was officially put into general circulation. The 10-pengö banknotes were also printed, but only used by the evacuated troops in Austria. Postwar Inflation Series (1945–1946) In December 1945, the Hungarian government tried (and failed) to control inflation by introducing a one-time capital levy. Stamps were added to banknotes already in circulation to add to their value. Owners of the banknotes were required to pay three-quarters of their value. In return, owners received an appropriate stamp to verify payment. Three varieties of these banknotes abound: 1000-pengö banknotes with red stamps affixed (Pick 118a), and 10,000-pengö banknotes with either brown or blue stamps affixed (Pick 119a and 119b, respectively). This costly experiment was a failure. In 1946, inflation climbed to an astounding ratio of 1,000,000,000,000,000 old pengö to one new bilpengö. B. Stamps Applied to Banknotes for Tracking/Counting Purposes CZECHOSLOVAKIA (1944-1945) After WWII, two varieties of banknotes received control stamps. The first were Czechoslovakian banknotes printed in Russia and brought into the country for use by the Russian Army. Records were improperly kept as to the number of banknotes that were issued. It became necessary to count the banknotes to determine the quantity in circulation. To accomplish this, each counted note received a stamp. Those circulating without stamps continued to be counted while stamp- bearing banknotes were not counted again. Only banknotes in denominations of 100, 500 and 1000 koruna were counted (Pick 48, 49 and 50, respectively). Once counted, each received a similar blue control stamp that featured the Czechoslovakian statesman Masaryk with a block letter “E” in its lower corners. The stamps were overprinted either “100” in black (Pick 53), “500” in red (Pick 55) or “1000” in red (Pick 57), depending upon the denomination of the corresponding banknote. The second variety of banknotes were former Slovakia issues counted and stamped for the same purpose. The Slovakia banknotes received their own stamps: yellow Masaryk stamps (profile facing right with cap) with “2K” in the lower corners and without overprint (Czechoslovakia Pick 51 and 52) affixed to 100-koruna banknotes (Slovakia Pick 10 and 11); similar orange Masaryk stamps with a block letter “B” in the lower corners and without overprint (Czechoslovakia Pick 54) affixed to 500-koruna banknotes (Slovakia Pick 12); and, a larger red Masaryk stamp (profile facing left with no cap) with a block letter “Y” in the lower corners and without overprint (Czechoslovakia Pick 56) affixed to 1000-koruna banknotes (Slovakia Pick 13). As an emergency expedient, the Czechoslovakian banknotes mentioned on the previous page and the banknotes of the former state of Slovakia circulated side by side until they could be replaced with post-war issues. C. Stamps Applied to Authenticate Banknotes CZECHOSLOVAKIA (1918) After the disintegration of the Austrian-Hungary Empire (1918), several political entities re-emerged. Among these were Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. (Also, see below.) Each country developed its own monetary standard. Czechoslovakia changed the then circulating Austria- Hungarian banknotes into their own currency by adding tax stamps for which one percent of the face value was charged: Pick 1: 10-haleru blue stamp on 10-korona banknote (Austria Pick 19); Pick 2: 20-haleru red stamp on 20-korona banknote (Austria Pick 13); Pick 2A: 20-haleru red stamp on 20-korona banknote (Austria Pick 14); Pick 3: 50-haleru brown stamp on 50-korona banknote (Austria Pick 15); and, Pick 4: 1-korona orange stamp on 100-korona banknote (Austria Pick 12). For the large 1000-korona banknote (Pick 5), no stamp was actually affixed. Rather, an impression, appearing like a stamp, was printed to the obverse of Austria Pick 8. YUGOSLAVIA (1919) Like Czechoslovakia (above), Yugoslavia produced its own currency by affixing adhesive control stamps to circulating Austria-Hungarian 10-, 20-, 50-, 100- and 1000-koren banknotes. Smaller denominations received no stamps. The stamps showed no value, but differed in colour, and were variably inscribed in Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian, which created several varieties: Pick 6: orange adhesive stamps with text in three languages affixed to 10-kronen banknotes (Austria Pick 9 and 19); Pick 7: lilac adhesive stamps with text in three languages affixed to 20- kronen banknotes (Austria Pick 13 and 14); Pick 8: green adhesive stamps with text in three languages affixed to 50-kronen banknotes (Austria Pick 6 and 15); Pick 9: brown adhesive stamps with text in Serbian (Cyrillic letters) affixed to 100-kronen banknotes (Austria Pick 12); Pick 9A: brown adhesive stamps with text in Serbian affixed to 100-kronen banknotes (Austria Pick 12); Pick 9B: brown adhesive -2- stamps with text in Slovenian affixed to 100-kronen banknotes (Austria Pick 12); Pick 10: blue, brown and orange adhesive stamps with text in Serbian (Cyrillic letters) affixed to 1000-kornen banknotes (Austria Pick 8); and, Pick 10A: blue, brown and orange adhesive stamps with text in Croatian affixed to 1000-kornen banknotes (Austria Pick 8). BULGARIA (1919) Thrace was annexed from the Ottoman Empire in November 1912, and Western Thrace in August 1913. At the Treaty of Neuily-sur Seine (1919), Bulgaria ceded Thrace to Greece. At this time, Bulgarian National Bank issues (Pick S101-114) surfaced with “Thrace Internalliee” re-validation adhesive stamps affixed either in white or blue, depending on the note. At least one other type is known with a black overprint that reads: “Government de la Thrace Occidentale Administration Civil de District Gumuldjina”. Others, show circular hand stamps that contain similar elements to the Trace Internalliee adhesive stamps, but it is unknown whether or not these hand- stamped notes are genuine. GERMANY and AUSTRIA – Notgeld Private Issues (1919-1923) The largest release of emergency money (Notgeld) occurred in Germany and Austria at the close of WW1 with over 36,000 different types of notes issued by over 3,500 municipal savings banks and private or state-owned firms. Some private issuers were known to attach stamps to their notes to fix the value. Two examples include Muller 20- and 50-pfennig issues (Besigheim) and Schreiber mark notes (Siersleben). As Notgeld issues emerged, they became popular among collectors. Orders from collectors were often filled without first applying the stamps to the notes. As the stamps were not mentioned in the text, most owners were unaware that to be complete, such pieces needed the appropriate postage stamp (or, in some cases, the appropriate savings stamp) to be attached. Stamp varieties are difficult to find. A few other issuers placed stamps on parchment covers along with printed text. Notgeld was not permitted by law, but most issuers, forced by necessity, ignored the law and printed their own notes anyway as a means of providing small change. Officials did not intervene, as the law was impossible to enforce. Cities known to specifically use stamps included Alfred, Meuselwitz, Gossnitz and Burgel (postage stamps), and Krefeld and Wittenberg (savings stamps).While Notgeld is most commonly issued in the form of paper money, it has also been issued in other forms, such as coins and encased stamps. [Also see Section I: Encased Postage Stamps as Emergency Money — Germany (1919-1923).] EAST GERMANY DDR (1948) On June 18, 1948, a currency reform was announced for the western zones of Germany. Subsequently, on June 20, 1948, the reichsmark and the rentenmark were abolished in the western occupation zones and replaced with the deutsche mark issued by the Bank Deutscher Länder (later the Deutsche Bundesbank). Because the reichsmark was still legal tender in the Soviet occupation zone, the currency flooded into the east from the west, where it caused sudden inflation and became worthless. The German Economic Commission, in consultation with the Soviet Military Administration, had anticipated this situation and printed stamps (June 19, 1948) to be placed on the older series of -3- German banknotes, thereby authenticating their origin. Stamps displayed the same value as the banknotes to which they were attached in denominations of 1, 2, 10, 20, 50 and 100 marks (Pick 1-7, respectively). Only banknotes with stamps could be exchanged when the Deutsche Notenbank issued the new deutsche mark on July 24, 1948. JAPAN (1946) During February and March of 1946, the Japanese government required existing Japanese currency to be exchanged for new currency. When the quantity of the new currency was insufficient for demand, specially prepared shoshi (stamps) were issued for 10, 100, 500 and 1000 yen and applied to old banknotes (Pick 40, 51, 56 and 77, respectively) in the upper right corner (usually over the denomination value in that corner) to re-validate them (Pick 79-82). Banknotes denominated up to 500 yen were re-validated on a 1:1 ratio. The 1000-yen banknote was subject to a reduction in value. (See Other Demurrage-Based Currency below.) These stamped notes then became valid and circulated alongside existing new notes until other new notes could be printed and replace them.