30:3 9 1999
BARANYA STAMPS - Part 6: THE BARANYA II ISSUE

Dr. Paul J. Szilagyi

1. Postal History:

Historically, by the time the summer of 1919 came around, all of the stamps of Baranya I overprint-issue were gone from the post offices. Consequently, there was an immediate need to obtain additional stamps or to overprint some new values. Furthermore, by 1920 the First Inflation had started and the postal rates had been increased. The newly increased postal rates in the ballpark of 3 to 5 koronas made it necessary to place 10-15 stamps on a letters. According to the sources listed in the references, Postmaster Solti had personally requested the Postal Directorate in Budapest to let him overprint the still available stamps and postal stationery. He also obtained a quantity of Harvester/Parliament stamps inscribed Magyar Posta, which were not available previously in occupied Baranya. These were also used for overprinting at this time. Gyula Miertl was commissioned to design the overprint. Several of his conceptual designs proved to be too complicated. The final format selected consisted of a Japanese style lettering called secessional half round. The 'Baranya' text was prepared using this typesetting. These letters were provided by the Paizs Printing Shop. The actual printing plates were set into type by the Dunántúl/Transdanubian Bookprinting Company's workshop, while the numerals of value were prepared separately in the Literary Guild of Pécs (Egyenlõség) printing shop. These numbers were printed in carmine red color. The multiple sources for the text, the plates and the overprinting work resulted in many mistakes and errors, some of which were discovered while the stamps were being overprinted.

It is important to note that the printing plates were made quite differently from the Baranya I issues. According to data found in contemporary records, columns of 10 stamps were prepared. Five of these columns were than soldered together, copied (by stereotype) and the master and duplicated sections were joined to prepare the printing plate of the 100 stamps. One may note that the B in 'Baranya' has a different orientation in each and every row. Furthermore, the numbers do not occur in a straight line, but dance above and below on an imaginary horizontal line on even on the same row. Interestingly, the numerals are not the same size either, some are larger than the others on the same sheet! This can be observed by looking at the illustrations of the multiples of 20 and 100 in the Surányi Book (pp. 74/75). However, due to the reduced size this may not be obvious; but, if one looks at a full-size sheet, the differences become readily visible.

Before the printing started, trial prints were made. Examples of some of these are in collectors' hands (see Figure 1), while most of them are in the Stamp Museum of Budapest. These trial prints can be recognized by the fact that the numerals are printed in black color; or, the overprint is on thin brown waste paper! The printing was done in two steps; first, the Baranya text was printed in black then the numerals in red. Consequently, the many mistakes exists, such as Baranya w/o numbers, part of the overprint inverted, mis-aligned text with respect to the numeral, and so forth.

The stamps were overprinted in Pécs at the Egyenlõség Printing shops. The post offices started to sell the new series of stamps on December 18, 1919. The 15 new values were not bought up by the public as eagerly as the first Baranya Issue. A few values were faked, consisting of mostly the low quantity value of 20f/2f stamp. These stamps remained in postal use until the Serbian troops left the region on August 18, 1921 and were accepted for postage until December 31,1921.

2. The Baranya II Overprinted Stamps:

Corrected Table I. (Last list in The News contained a typographical error.)

The Baranya II Overprints

New Value (in red)	Basic Stamp Value	Basic Stamp	Quantity Overprinted	Number of Errors Printed
10 f	2 f	Newspaper	49,700	300
10 f	10 f	Postal Savings	53,200	900
10 f	2 f	Sürgös	61,200	1,100
20 f	2 f	Harvester	9,400	100
20 f	2 f	Magyar Posta	109,700	800
30 f	6 f	Magyar Posta	59,200	800
50 f	5 f	Harvester	19,600	100
50 f	5 f	Magyar Posta	198,300	1,800
100 f	25 f	Magyar Posta	153,000	500
100 f	40 f	Magyar Posta	19,200 1	800
100 f	45 f	Magyar Posta	34,700	300
150 f	15 f	Károly/Köztársaság	79,200	400
150 f	20 f	Harvester	19,400	600
150 f	20 f	Magyar Posta	29,800	200
200 f	75 f	Parliament	54,800	200

¹ The quantity for this stamp is listed as 148,200 in the Magyar Bélyegek Kézikönyve.

Many guarantee marks can be found on the Baranya II issues including Miertl a/b, Werner, Abonyi, G, KG ( = Képes Géza) among others. Also etalons can be found with relative ease for the complete set. This issue was not extensively forged, but fakes do exist. On genuine stamps, the overprint is shiny black, and the printing can be recognized by the embossing appearing on the back of the stamp. The carmine numbers are dark and are also recognizable on the back of the stamp. The fakes are lithographed, thus the printing is flat, the red ink is light, and the black color of the Baranya-text is matte in finish, that is, not shiny.

3. Error Prints:

Due to the complicated (and primitive) way these stamps were overprinted, there was a great number of sheets with errors (89) came into existence which could not be sold at the post offices. These were not discarded but were donated to the Postal Workers' Hospital after the Serbian troops left Baranya. Two engineers named Dragos and Káplán marketed these stamps for the benefit of the Hospital. They endorsed each stamp on the backside in carmine color with their steel guarantee stamp consisting of their initials K.D. and the text 'Baranya II Tévny./Baranya II Error Print.' The list of these stamps (the quantity listed is for the number of each stamp, not sheets!) is the following:

• 10f/2f Newspaper stamp, quantity: 300. Missing numeral of value, number shifted 45 degrees, Baranya shifted down;

• 10f/10f Postal Savings stamps, quantity: 900. Numeral of value only, Baranya inverted, doubled numeral of value, inverted Baranya text only, Baranya text normal but numeral of value is inverted, shifted Baranya text but numeral in normal position.

• 10f/2f Sürgös/Express stamp, quantity:1,100. Both overprints inverted, Baranya text only, numerals of value only, doubled numerals of value;

• 20f/2f Harvester, quantity: 100. No numeral of value, this is a 'blind print';

• 20f/2f Magyar Posta, quantity: 800. Baranya text only;

• 30f/6f Magyar Posta, quantity: 800. Baranya text only, Baranya text only but in inverted position, numerals of value shifted up, Baranya text shifted down;

• 50f/5f Magyar Posta, quantity: 1,800. Baranya text only, numerals of value shifted up, shifted Baranya text only, numerals shifted sideways;

• 50f/5f Harvester, quantity: 100. Baranya text only;

• 100f/25f Magyar Posta, quantity: 500. Baranya text only, Baranya inverted, inverted & shifted overprint, numerals of value radically shifted up;

• 100f/40f Magyar Posta, quantity: 800. Baranya text only, double overprint, both overprints shifted left, Baranya shifted down;

• 100f/45f Magyar Posta, quantity: 300. Baranya text only, Baranya text only but shifted;

• 150f/15f Charles/Köztársaság, quantity: 400. Baranya text only, Baranya inverted & the numerals of value normal;

• 150f/20f Harvester, quantity; 600. Baranya text only;

• 150f/20f Magyar Posta, quantity: 200.

• 200f/75f Parliament, quantity: 200. Numerals of value only.

There are many 'shifted' overprints and many pairs where only one stamp is overprinted due to coverage by part of the sheet. Some of such pairs exists for the following values: 20f/2f Magyar Posta, 150f/15f MP, 150f/15f MP, 150f/15f Charles/K, 100f/40f MP, 200f/75f Parliament. Prints on the back from blotting are known on many of the values, such as the 20f/2f, 50 only on 5, 30 only on 6, 100f/40f, 150f/20f, 200f/75f.

One can also find many shifted numerals, shifted Baranya text and smeared printings. These have not been categorized by anyone, but such examples can be included in a collection showing the primitive printing conditions for these stamps. There are also 'dancing pairs' from columns 5-6 where the brazing took place and the two half plates were not adjusted correctly. The overprinting on one of the half-sheet is lower than on the other. The stamps in the middle are 'dancing.' In fact, it is difficult to find stamps with well centered overprints where both numerals and Baranya text are in the center of the stamp. (See the full sheet of the 40 fillér Baranya II overprint)

4. Plate Errors:

The existence of the following more interesting plate errors can be documented:

In 'Baranya':

• Báranya instead of Baranya. Known on Newspaper, Parliament (position #45, 50, 99, 100), 20f/2f, express (#1, 11).

• The top right part of A is missing, mostly from the 10th row.

• On the 56th stamps the B is broken (100f/40f), there is a dot in the upper half of the letter B.

• On the 12th and 80th positions there is a dot in the lower part of B.

There are many other minor plate flaws, but their enumeration is beyond the scope of this article.

In the 'numerals':

• In the 20 the point of the bottom of 2 is broken off at the 31, 35, 36, 37 positions;

• Small breaks occur on the 2 at positions 72 and 77. The breaks are not identical. There should be 94 (MKP) and 1097 (MP) each;

• In the 50 at position 21 part of the 0 is sheared off. Occurs one per sheet. MKP = 196, MP = 1983 are possible;

• In the 100, the leg of 1 is broken at position 61. 100/25 = 1530, 100/40 = 192, 100/45= 347 such stamps are possible;

• There are several positions with red dots between the 1.00, 10.0 etc. These appear at positions 45, 54, 73, 78, 91 and 96. The dots between numerals are different in each positions, so the position of stamp in the sheet can be identified. These dots are due to the lead particles left on the printing plates after inadequate cleaning.

The numerals are not one kind. I have large and small 10s, 20s, etc. It seems to me that more than one plate was prepared for the numbers and that these plates were used interchangeably. Even on the same sheet, the numbers are not always aligned well, they seem to be of different sizes and shapes.

The printed postal stationery is a part of this issue as well. This subject was discussed in a previous article along with the trial prints on waste paper and on stamps. Again, there are many minor plate breaks, variations of numerals, etc., the discussion of which is beyond the scope of this article.

5. Usage of the Baranya II Stamps:

The Serbian occupation of Baranya started on November 14, 1918 and was completed by the 17th of the month. The Baranya stamps were issued on December 18, 1919 and were used even after the Serbians withdrew from the area. This happened on in the 'large' Baranya triangle on August 18, 1921, but the stamps were permitted on letters until January 1, 1922. I have some favor usages even after this date. The 'small' Baranya triangle formed by the Danuben and the Drava Rivers with the Trianon border of Hungary, was not evacuated and today is a part of Croatia.

Because some Baranya I stamps still could be found in the hands of individuals and some stamps from Hungary proper got to Baranya and preprinted postal stationery was generally available, there was a good chance to create mixed frankings. Indeed, there is many different types of mixed frankings from this period. The most coveted and rarest types are the ones sent abroad, special handling (e.g., express) and the mailings from small towns or villages sent locally or to abroad. Commercial covers are also quite rare. Philatelic mailings are more frequently available. Properly franked single stamp frankings are also quite rare since philatelic letters oftentimes bore many stamps. While the Serbians did censor letters in beginning of 1920, this practice had been discontinued during the summer months of 1920.

Simplified Postal Rates in Baranya after the Baranya II issuance

	local letter	distant letter	letter abroad	post card	post card abroad	registration
October 1, 1919	50f	20f per 20gm	25f	10f	15f	100f
April 4, 1920	60f	60f	100f	40f	40f	100f
February 1, 1921	1K	2.5K	2.5K	60f	1K	250f
July 1, 1921	+ an additional 10% added to the previous basic fee

On August 18, 1921 the Serbian troops left and next day the national rates were in effect.

While still other plate errors and curiosities of the Baranya stamps exist, this concludes my series on the Baranya Stamps (1918-22). I had authored another set of articles in the Stamps of Hungary, the very fine quarterly journal of the Hungarian Philatelic Society of Great Britain on the postal use of the Baranya stamps on letters, cards and other postal stationery.

Used with permission from the Editor