WW2 Luxembourg Occupation -- a rare Zahlkarte control label: Fiscal or Phantom?

Zahlkarte Label

14 Jan 1941

Control No. 007656
40a Lux

Luxemburg P Sch A cds

1700 RM deposited

The fee for transfer of amounts from 1500 RM to 1750 RM is  
paid with the 5F Luxembourg Three Towers stamp surcharged to 80 Rpf.

During the 1900s, most European postal services offered direct cash deposit (or 'giro') accounts to their patrons.  Money could be paid into these accounts at any post office, eliminating the need for the payee to receive, present, and wait for a bank check to clear.  Today the availability of electronic money transfers and debit cards has greatly reduced the importance of these postal accounts.

In Germany, the Reichpost recorded giro account deposits on a three-part form called a Zahlkarte (in English:  a "payment card").  The postal service retained one part; another was sent to the account holder; and the depositor kept the third as a receipt.  

Up until the 1970s or 1980s, a control label was affixed to the card.  While it did not itself create the credit to the recipient's postal account, the Reichpost required use of the label as part of the administrative procedures for recording and authenticating the money transfer.  When affixed to a Zahlkarte, the control label provided the unique number that identified the transaction.  It thus served a fiscal accounting purpose and was a necessary part of the money transfer.  Accordingly, I believe it should enjoy the status of a revenue stamp, notwithstanding that it is the 80 Rpf. surcharged stamp that pays the transfer fee.

Collectors in Germany tell me that Zahlkarte control stamps are scarce and that only two are known for occupied Luxembourg, as the Reichpost routinely retained and destroyed the cards.  If you know more about these cards, I'd be happy to hear from you.  Write to Arsdorf@gmail.com .

Stadt Luxemburg 0,20 RM Gebühren used in a Livret de Famille in 1943

20 Rpf Stadt Luxemburg Gebühren 

 

Clausen, 6 Jun 1943

1.25Fr Timbre Fixe Imprint on Livret d'étranger in 1932

Timbre Fixe Imprint

 

 

1.25Fr Timbre de Dimension Imprint in 1918 Livret d'Étranger

 

Esch-sur-Alzette

6 Jan 1918

Timbré Gratis Imprint in a Foreigner's Identity Card

Timbré Gratis Imprint

 

Marienthal

23 Feb 1959

 

Pierre François Alphonse De Rua

Belgian Missionary

BeNeLux Visa

Issued 9 Aug 1993

Tax is shown at the bottom left

Effets de Commerce---Mixed Franking in 1930

Mixed Franking--1920 Provisional & 1928 Definitive

20c 1928 New Definitive &

50c on 25c 1920 Flower Ornament

 Provisional Surcharge

694.40 BFr Commercial Bill

18 Oct 1930

Banque Generale du Luxembourg

 

Etablissements SAPOLI

Brussels

to

Mr. Bertogne

Droguerie, Grand Rue

Luxembourg 

 

 

Luxembourg's 1928 Effets de Commerce Arabesque Surcharges

The 1928 Effets de Commerce
 Arabesque Surcharges

Shortly before the newly designed Effets de Commerce issue appeared in 1928, remainders of at least four of the old 1914 Green Flower-ornament (5% tax) issue were surcharged with new values and ranges showing 10% tax. The old value was obliterated with a small arabesque and the range with a larger arabesque.  See the example illustrated below.  

The arabesque surcharges apparently were needed to supplement the supply of certain values of the 1922 Flower-ornament issue.  Barefoot (2nd ed.) lists just three arabesque surcharges. I have recorded a fourth. Others not yet reported might exist.

 2F on 45c (Barefoot 190)

 2F on 50c (Barefoot 191)

3F on 50c (Barefoot 192)

10F on 45c (author's collection)

3F Arabesque surcharge (tax 10%)

on the 50c 1914 Flower-ornament issue (5% tax) 
S flip+180
L +90 
Serifed '3 Fr'
Used 3 Aug 1929

Orientation of the Arabesques

The arabesques can appear in eight orientations:  0 degrees (base), rotated 90 degrees left, 90 degrees right, and 180 degrees, and likewise when the arabesque is inverted (a "flip" in my parlance). With 8 possible positions for each of the two arabesques, 64 different pairs are statistically possible.  But without large multiples or access to government records, the pairs that were actually created in the surcharging operations cannot be fully determined. 

To help identify the pairs, I have tabulated the possible orientations for both the small and large arabesque.

Table 1.—Small Arabesque Orientations (S)

Type S (base)	Type S +90	Type S -90	Type S +180
Type S flip (base)	Type S flip +90	Type S flip -90	Type S flip +180

Table 2.—Large Arabesque Orientations (L) 

Type L (base)	Type L +90	Type L -90	Type L +180
Type L flip (base)	Type L flip +90	Type L flip -90	Type L flip +180

 
In addition, the abbreviation for francs is found either serifed or sans serif, as shown below:              

Table 3.—Abbreviation of Franc

Serifed “Fr.”	Sans Serif “Fr.”

Some Examples 

The arabesques are identified by reference to Tables 1 and 2.

2F on 45c

Type S Flip+180 & L +90

Sans serif '2 Fr'

3F on 50c
Type S flip+180 & L flip+90
Serifed '3 Fr'
Used 22 Jun 1929

10F on 45c

(previously unreported)

Type S base & L +90

Sans serif '10 Fr'

 Commercial Check

28 Jun 1930

2210 BFr

Garage Wengler, Ettelbruck

Payable to

Ford Motor Co., Belgium S.A. 

S-base

L Flip-90
Serifed 'Fr.'

 

Can you help me add to our knowledge of these surcharges?  Scans are always welcome:  Arsdorf@gmail.com .