Saar Plebiscite Territory
Issues of 1920-1921
The Saar Plebiscite Territory (Sarre in French), or Saar Occupation Territory (Saargebiet in German), was mandated to France following the end of World War I. The League of Nations mandate carried a provision that a plebiscite would be held within 15 years, to determine the national affiliation of the former German Imperial territory.
The first postage stamps for the Plebiscite Territory were issued in 1920.
Between January and March of 1920, the contemporary Germania and Representative Subject stamps of Germany, issued
between 1906 and 1919, were overprinted Sarre, with a bar at the
bottom obliterating the inscription "DEUTSCHES REICH". All of them are
shown in the image above, with the exception of the 30 Pf. orange and
black (Mi. #1-17, Sc. #1-17).
There are three types of the
overprint. In the images above, the types are mixed, but they can
easily be picked out. The type II overprint is
the scarcest of the three. The overprint types are as follows:
- Type I -- Saare is in large letters and is 10.7 mm long.
- Type II -- Saare is in large letters, as Type I. There is a tiny dash underneath the bar at the bottom.
- Type III -- Saare is in smaller letters and is 10.5 mm long. There is a tiny dash underneath the bar at the bottom.
The 2 Pf., 2 1/2 Pf., 3 Pf., 5 Pf., 7 1/2 Pf., 40
Pf., and 50 Pf. denominations exist with all three types.
The 10 Pf.,
15 Pf., 20 Pf., 25 Pf., 30 Pf., 35 Pf., 60 Pf., 75 Pf., and 80 Pf.
denominations exist with only types I and III.
Most
of the stamps in this group exist with inverted overprints, double
overprints, and in pairs with one overprint missing. These varieties
are moderately to very expensive. There are also many printing errors
in the overprint letters and bar. For details, refer to the Michel
Deutschland-Spezial Katalog volume I.
The Un-issued 3 Mark Denomination with the "Sarre" Overprint
Generally Unobtainable (Mi. #A17)
At the beginning of March 1920, the locally available
Ludwig III wartime printing definitives of Bavaria were also utilized
with a similar Sarre overprint. Instead of an obliterating bar
at the bottom, there were thin horizontal lines covering the inscription
"BAYERN". These overprints on Bavarian stamps are much scarcer than
those that were applied to the contemporary German stamps. Some of them are shown in the
images above. The "issued" stamps have the following catalog attributes .... (Mi. 18-31, Sc. #21, #23-39).
The overprint on the 5 Mk. and 10 Mk. denominations is SARRE, whereas the other stamps are overprinted Sarre.
A few 2 Pf., 3 Pf., and 7 1/2 Pf denominations of the Ludwig III issue were also overprinted, but they were not regularly issued and were rarely used (Mi. #A31-C31, Sc. #19-20, #22). Postally used examples are very rare.
A 20 Mk. stamp also exists with the SARRE overprint, but it was never issued (Mi. #D31, Sc. #40). The 16 stamps that were sold are exceedingly rare, with a mint hinged example cataloging 160,000 Euros in Michel.
There are also double overprints and many overprint errors on this issue that are noted in the Michel specialized catalog.
On April 10, 1920, the Germania and Representative
Subject stamps of Germany, issued between 1906 and 1920, were
overprinted with a new overprint. This Saar Plebiscite Territory issue
yielded new German stamp denominations, as well as a number of color
varieties. All of them are shown in the three images above (Mi. #32-49, Sc. #41-58).
This new series for the Saar Plebiscite Territory was overprinted SAARGEBIET, the German language name meaning "Saar Occupation". The overprint was positioned on each stamp to cover up the inscription "DEUTSCHES REICH", thus the 2.50 Mk. denomination stamp required two overprints.
Many
of the denominations exist with double overprints and inverted
overprints, and there are many printing varieties that are described in
the Michel specialized catalog. The errors and varieties on this issue
are relatively common, and they are very affordable. A 10 Pf. orange,
with an inverted overprint, is shown in the images above (Mi. #45K, Sc. #44a).
In February 1921, the Saar Plebiscite Territory issued
three re-valued postage stamps with the SAARGEBIET overprint.
The 20
Pf. on 75 Pf. green and black and 5 Mk. on 15 Pf. violet brown
denominations are shown above (Mi. #50-51, Sc. #65-66). There is also a 10 Mk. on 15 Pf. violet
brown denomination which is not shown (Mi. #52, Sc. #67).
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Saar Plebiscite Territory - Issues of 1920-1921
