Luxembourg Revenue Stamps

Very little has been written about Luxembourg revenue stamps or stamped paper, and even less about Luxembourg communal revenue stamps. The basic reference remains John Barefoot's BENELUX REVENUES, now in its second edition. This blog builds on and adds to the existing literature, and attempts to inspire others to share information about Luxembourg revenue philately. The revenues from the 140 communes are featured on a separate blog: www.luxcommunalrevenuestamps.blogspot.com .

Monday, October 5, 2015

Esch-sur-Alzette: the 5-franc on 1-franc Allegory surcharges

The Post-WW2 5F Surcharges

During the World War 2 occupation, the Esch-sur-Alzette Allegory communal revenue stamps were issued in Reich pfennig and Reich mark denominations. When the occupation ended in 1945, surviving stocks of the pre-occupation 1-franc Allegory were surcharged to five francs.

The surcharge is known in three different fonts, as shown below:

Left: sans serif

Center: Thin '5'

Right: Fat '5'

The identity card seen below shows two of the surcharge with the sans serif ‘5’ used to pay the card issuance fee on 30 June 1945 for Mathias Roth, a master plasterer (maitre-plafonneur). Notice that the French language, banned during the occupation, is again in use by the government.