Ο

NE point brought out by Garet Garrett in his recent article, "Thus Germany Wept," in the Saturday Evening Post, is to the effect that Germany is obtaining revenue in large volume from foreign sources by selling abroad millions of the paper marks which the Teuton printing presses are turning out daily. As long as persons in other countries will continue to purchase this paper money, Mr. Garrett declared, the printing presses would be kept at work. The gold thus lured into German possession does not actually return to Germany; it is stored away in foreign banks-to be utilized as part of the reparation funds when Entente pressure becomes so strong that Germany will be compelled to pay, as demanded under the Versailles Treaty.

Germany's philatelic activities of the past few years may be interpreted in something the same way! Collectors the world over are paying untold amounts for unused copies of stamps of Teutonic manufacture. In the aggregate, many thousands of dollars and francs and pounds and lira have been surrendered by philatelists in the United States and France and England and Italy in return for uncancelled adhesives which Germany has been printing at almost no cost at all, and, similarly, contri

4 | 36 | 21 | 74 | 29 |175

butions are being made by collectors in other lands to a Government whose international pledges are only bits of paper to be destroyed when Germany wills.

Germany is making the most of this stamp situation. The postal authorities in Berlin are not asleep. They comprehend the world demand for postage adhesives. They visualize the financial gains to be derived from new values, new colors, new designs.

One hundred copper pennies given up by one hunderd American boys for German mint stamps equals one gold American dollar, with which much may be done in Germany. Multiply this many, many times over, as it has been done during the past few years, and keep in mind that the same buying has been going on steadily in France, England and Italy, and indeed in all quarters of the globe, and it is not difficult to understand why Germany issued 74 varieties of stamps in 1922-why as many as 175 varieties have appeared since that August day when William Hohenzollern plunged the world into its greatest war.

Germany has repeatedly raised postal rates; probably there was an actual need for some of the increases.

New designs have been introduced; the world's philatelists will not begrudge the action of the Germans in eliminating, be

not appear in the 1906-11 series which was in use at the time the World War was begun.

The same table shows that there have been fifty-seven varieties in colors of values which were already in existence at the time these alterations were made.

It should be stated that this table of new values created and changed colors directed does not include the official stamps, or the stamps of the National Assembly and Municipal Fair series, or the airplane and charity issues, all of which are set down in the general table of totals on page 82. The table of values and colors relates exclusively to the regular issues: it embraces the "woman in armour," numeral, industrial and posthorn types and the seven surcharges which appeared in

1920.

Some values have been in circulation a few weeks or months only and have then been changed in either color or design or both, or else have been discontinued and new denominations substituted. Thus the collector may obtain for his album today certain values in various colors; sometimes various colors of the same denomination and same design are to be had.

As examples, there are available (including stamps of the "woman in armour" series of 1906-11) the following: 5pf: green-red brown-claret.

10pf: carmine-orange-olive green. 15pf: yellow brown--dark violet-violet brown-greenish blue.

30pf: orange and black, salmon-dull blue-deep green.

40pf: lilac and black-carmine rose-red

orange.

50pf: purple and black-red lilac-violet. 60pf: magenta-olive green-red violet. 75pf: green and black-red violet-deep ultramarine.

Sopf lake and black-blue violet-carmine rose.

Im carmine rose-red-violet and green -yellow green.

2m: gray lilac-carmine and blue-deep violet and rose-deep violet.

5m: slate and carmine-brown orange— orange-orange and yellow.

10m carmine and rose-brown, buffblue-ultramarine-rose and

dull pale rose.

- rose

20m indigo and green-deep rose, pink -violet and orange-dark violet-purplemagenta.

More than thirty other denominations have been brought out first in one color or combination of two colors and then altered. Some of the more recent high values, including 200, 300, 400 and 500 marks, have already been given colors different from the original ones.

More than sixty colors and combinations of colors have been utilized. Taking violet as an example, we find stamps in: violet--blue violet-deep violet-black violet -red violet-dark violet-brown violetviolet and green-violet and orange-deep violet and rose. In the browns we have: brown-red brown-dark brown-violet brown-brown, buff-bistre brown, buffyellow brown-deep brown-dark brown and violet. Certainly Germany's justly famous dye industry is 100 percent proof!

The first horizontal column in the general tables on page 82 shows that Germany has issued 36 varieties in the "woman in armour" type since the beginning of the World War. It was not until 1919 that the first adhesives significant of the birth of the Republic appeared-and yet we have the spectacle of a supposedly anti-militaristic Government issuing 29 varieties of stamps, in 1920 and 1922, bearing the Empire's earlier design of the feminine figure with iron breastplate and iron crown. Even the so-called charity set of 1919 comprises two stamps of the "woman in armour" design with sword in hand.

The end is not yet. When John N. Luff, official' compiler of the "Chronicle of New Issues," returns home from Europe he will have his job cut out for him trying to list Germany's newcomers. He remarked in the April Journal that "it has become almost impossible to arrange the newly issued stamps in groups by designs or in the order of their face values," but of course Germany's postal officials are not concerned with philatelic chroniclers' troubles.

Not only is the end not yet, but apparently it is not even in sight. Germany in her new offer of reparations to the Entente Powers, early in May, states that "the execution of the obligations involving upon Germany depends upon the stabilization of German currency." Stabilization of German currency will most certainly mean that

Germany will tinker with the German mark exactly as Soviet Russia readjusted the relative value of the Russian ruble. Then will come stamps in new colors in lowmark denominations. Even stamps with values expressed in the now worthless pfennigs will be probable.

The confusing situation in Germany is paralleled, in lesser degree, in other European countries and in some of the lands of Asia. Azerbaijan's recent series, provided by surcharging stamps of 1922, created new values ranging from 5,000 to 1,500,000 rubles. Austria's new airplane adhesives are in denominations of 3,000 and 4,800 kronen. Danzig's values have ascended to the 5,000-mark point, Esthonia's to 100 marks, Memel's to 3,000 marks, Poland's to 2,000 marks.

་

When stabilization of all these and kindred currencies is effected there will come a deluge of new varieties. Meanwhile Uncle Sam's postal limit remains at $5! George Washington and the American doughboy be praised!

S

Antigua's Palace

COTT'S No. 203 of Guatemala, chronicled in the Ferbruary Journal, takes the place of the numerous earlier adhesives each surcharged 1922 25 centavos, according to information sent to The American Boy by Mrs. E. A. Osborne, who frequently contribues Guatemalan philatelic news to that juvenile publication. Regarding this 25c brown stamp the June issue of The American Boy says:

"Palacio Nacional de Antigua,' inscribed on this adhesive, tells the public which building is shown-the National Palace which stands in Antigua. For many years after the Spanish conquest, Mrs. Osborne explains, Antigua, located at the foot of a huge volcano, was the capital of Central America. But in 1776 Antigua was destroyed by earthquakes and the capital was then transferred to the city of Guatemala, today the Republic's capital."

Nazmi Bey, reminiscent of the old Ottoman stamps of 1865." Also

"The inscriptions, too, have been changed and now read "Turkia Postalari' (Turkish Posts), instead of Imperial Ottoman Posts as formerly. The new stamps are lithographed in Constantinople."

THE

1924 Catalogue Plans

HE complicated work of preparing the 1924 volume-the eightieth edition-of Scott's American standard postage stamp catalogue is well under way at headquarters in West 44th Street, New York City, and the book should be ready for distribution approximately October 15th next. Here are some facts in which the collector will be interested:

The 1924 catalogue will contain, it is at present estimated, from 100 to 125 more pages than the current volume, which has 1,326 pages exclusive of the advertising. This means that the new book will be the largest edition every issued.

The increase in size will be due in part to the recent action by Congress in enacting the legislation which permits illustrating of borders of stamps when the reproductions are at least four times the original sizes. Such enlargements take up space, and there are some 200 illustrations being prepared for the new catalogue. These will account for from fifty to sixty of the necessary additional pages.

So far as can be forecast now, the price of the new catalogue will not be increased.

The first of the advance sheets should be ready for mailing early in July. The price of these sheets will be, as heretofore, $5 a set. Orders are now being taken, and there is no objection to the money being sent with the order!

Beginning with the present catalogue number 300 in the U. S. section-the series inscribed with the date 1902-all the regular adhesives will be given new numbers. There is a reason for this. There has been increasing interest evinced in recent years, by American philatelists, in the issues of their own country. Scott's will meet the popular demand for placing coil stamps and imperforates in the major classification. Accordingly each of these types will be given a distinctive number in the next catalogue.