[Hugh]

Here are two interesting stamps issued during the Soviet Occupation of the Province of Saxony in 1946.

Why interesting? They were printed on very thin paper ... Michel refers to it as "so-called 'cigarette paper'" So thin it is almost transparent.

Stamps:
Province of Saxony under Soviet Occupation
Series: Land Reform in the Province of Saxony - Farmer Plowing
Issued on February 21, 1946

6Pf, dark opal green, "cigarette paper"
Mi.Nr. 90
12Pf, red, "cigarette paper"
Mi.Nr. 91

Here are the stamps scanned against a white background.

   

   

And, here are the same stamps as they appear on a light table. I photographed the 12pf stamp from the back just to illustrate how transparent they are. The image is as clear from the back as it is from the front. (The item on top of the 6pf stamp is just the end of my stamp tongs. The stamps have a tendency to curl so it is holding it down).

   

As Michel says "The watermark is barely visible". Very true ... I've just about given up. There's something there but none of my devices is able to resolve it into a clear image.

The perfs look good ... K 13x13.25.

[Hugh]

Between the Michel catalogue listings for German Local issues and the listings for Allied Occupation Issues, is a small section called "Unofficial Issues / Private Creations (Not Local Issues)."

Michel takes pains to point out that "According to prevailing German commercial law, Unofficial Issues and private creations may not be designated as 'local issues'." They further note that these unofficial issues and private creations will not be expertized.

An example, in April 1946, in the city of Dessau within the Soviet Occupation Zone, three 'official' occupation stamps (Mi.Nr. 87-89) that had been issued in January of that year, in the Province of Saxony, were  overprinted with the name of the city and sold as charity stamps. Or, more accurately, as charity 'labels' as they could not be used for postage.

In other words, they were private creations.

Michel notes that permission for these three labels "was denied by the Halle PD!" At the time, Halle was the capital of the administrative region of Saxony-Anhait.

Labels:
Charity Labels without Porto Value
Reconstruction of the Province of Saxony
Issued: April 1946
Overprint DESSAU in black on Saxony, Mi.Nr. 87-89

6+4Pf
Mi.Nr. I

12+8Pf
Mi.Nr. II

42+28Pf
Mi.Nr. III

   
   
   

[Hugh]

A few album pages I created recently for some of my German local issues:

   

'A' is the perforated set and 'I' refers to Type 1 of the following four types:

   

The 'x', 'y' and 'z' refers to the combination of paper and gum type. 

   
   

[Hugh]

Arrived from a dealer in Lithuania ... a German Local Issue, Storkow, Soviet Zone, Mi.Nr. 9.

It's always nice to finish a series, even a short one. Lots of perforation errors in this set.