Lot 307 German Democratic Republic #155-171 1953 First 5 Year Plan Definitive Issue, Specialized CTO and Used Lot of Originals and Reprints, Horizontal and Vertical Wove Papers, Some Fluorescent

A Specialized lot of 94 stamps, most being cancelled to order, as noted in Scott, but with 18 stamps having genuine postal cancellations, though some of these are favour cancels. This set was printed on both horizontal and vertical wove papers, as well as fluorescent and non-fluorescent papers. The lot begins with the original printings on non-fluorescent horizontal and vertical wove papers, and includes 10 values on horizontal wove and 8 on vertical wove, many of which have the attached corner selvedge. These stamps all have genuine postal cancellations. Then, it continues with the first reprints on non-fluorescent paper, again both horizontal and vertical wove. These stamps all have printed cancellations, and once you become familiar with what they look like you can spot them easily, because they always look the same. For these reprints, the shades are also different from the originals and sometimes the depth of the half-tone lithography is different. For the vertical wove papers there are papers showing clear vertical mesh and others that show none at all. In this lot there are 10 reprints on horizontal wove, and 21 on vertical wove, with some slight differences in shade or reaction under UV light. Then finally, there are the subsequent reprints on papers of varying fluorescence, from low fluorescent to high fluorescent, again on both horizontal and vertical wove papers. These, again have all printed cancellations, and there are 18 stamps on horizontal wove and 27 on vertical wove.
The Scott price of 25c per stamp is for the reprints, which are plentiful. The originals are much scarcer, but are not priced used. However, if you look at stamps of this period for other issues there isn’t a significant difference in price between mint and used. So, I would estimate that the originals are worth at least $1 per stamp. So, my estimate for this lot is $35. It is a fascinating series to collect, as there are two or three more sets, all with design differences and their own watermark and paper changes, as well as original and reprints.

Although not mentioned in Scott, the early east German Pieck definitives can be found on both ordinary unsurfaced paper, as well as chalk-surfaced paper. Almost all commemoratives can be found on both horizontal wove paper and vertical wove paper, though usually, one orientation will dominate for each issue. Starting in about 1955, several issues can be found on both non-fluorescent and fluorescent paper, and by the late 1950's most issues are on fluorescent paper. Most of the used lots in this sale will contain a good number of genuine postal cancels, as opposed to the common CTO cancels. Bidders should note, that with exception of the souvenir sheets, the used prices given in the catalogue are for CTO, so the stamps with postal cancels should be worth a significant premium.