Supplement to the expertising rules

The following regulations amend or supplement the currently valid version of the expertizing regulations of the Bund der Philatelistischen Prüfer e.V. (BPP).

They concern the issues:

Free City of Danzig (incl. official stamps, postage due stamps and postal stationery)
as well as the authenticity of cancellations on postage stamps of the German Reich that were used in the territory of the Free City of Danzig in the period from 10.1.1920 to 19.7.1920 as precursors or fellow travelers.

1. Quality

2.1 Mint expertized items with slight colour adhesions (flaking) or calender bends due to the production process are deemed to be in perfect condition if the stamp image is not impaired.

Toothed test specimens that have evenly complete dentition on all sides, including the canines, are considered to be in perfect condition.

2.2 The perforation may show irregularities due to the issue-specific use of poor or unsuitable paper or due to the simultaneous perforation of several sheets, which do not constitute a defect. Perforated test items with even perforation on all sides are considered to be flawless,
although slight inaccuracies may occur at the corners due to the manufacturing process. A small number of incomplete points (tongues) does not constitute a defect.

2. Cancellations

Due to the special features of the cancellations in this area – some types of postage stamps were hardly used in the regular postal service for various reasons, stocks of postage stamps that could no longer be sold regularly (including production precursors) were sometimes sold at postal auctions while the stamps were still in circulation, and some postage stamps were not used for postal purposes but to finance the state budget – the cancellations in this area are divided into different categories:

2.1 Genuine, timely cancelations
2.2 Genuine, untimely cancellations (= from the period within the stamps’ trading period)
2.3 Backdated cancellations (= from the period after the stamps’ period of issue)

Loose stamps or stamps on letter pieces and covers with postmark cancellations that are not verifiably in time will be treated in accordance with the BPP expertizing regulations, but will also be marked with a cross-hatched circle if they are signed.

Issues with limited validity may also have been canceled with backdated dates during the period of validity. An exact classification cannot always be made. In these cases, there is no differentiation between genuine, untimely cancellations (from the period within the stamps’ validity period) and backdated cancellations (from the period outside the validity period).

2.1 Decades ago, the INFLA expertizing office developed expertizing criteria for genuine, contemporary stamped expertized items from the inflation period 1920 – 1923, which are also applied to various Danzig issues (postage stamps Michel Nos. 1 – 192, official stamps Michel Nos. 1 – 40, postage due stamps Michel Nos. 1 – 29, postal stationery Michel Nos. 1 – 23), which are used in addition to the expertizing regulations of the BPP.

The INFLA round stamp is only given to inspection items with a clearly legible and sufficiently identifiable stamp impression. Items with an incomplete stamp impression, but which can be determined by the expertizer to be genuine and in time, receive the INFLA square stamp. Neither marking stamp says anything about the quality of the expertized items; they are only marks of authenticity for the cancellation and as such are completely equivalent. Complete items that can be proven to have been used for postal purposes in accordance with the postal rates and at the correct time will usually have the INFLA decorative cancel Einwandfrei – INFLA-Berlin on the back at bottom right.
These marking stamps identify the respective expertizer by the code letter or mark they contain.

2.2 Test items with an imprint of an original stamping device that cannot be determined to be contemporary are given the additional mark “cross-hatched circle”. This may be missing from earlier proofs.

2.3 Certain issues could hardly or no longer be used at the time, e.g. Mi. Nos. 47 – 49, A 124, 124 Z, 154 Y, Dienst 24 P, 32 X. If the stamp or overprint is authentic, a corresponding attestation is made even if the cancelation is not contemporary or backdated.

Surcharged stamps were often used in the regular postal service even after the official rate period had expired. Cancellations on Mi. Nos. 90 – 92 up to 31.03.1922 and on Mi. Nos. 131 – 132 up to 30.06.1923 are therefore recognized as genuine postmarks.