Foreigner’s Identity Book with Revenue Stamped Paper

1.25F Timbre Fixe

Scarce 2.50F Surcharge on 1.25F Documentary Revenue used on a 1923 Death Certificate issued at Troisvierges

Barefoot lists seven 1920 surcharged documentary revenues. In my experience, they are all scarce.

In black:

1.00F/50c

2.00F on 1.00F

2.50F on 1.25F

In red:

1.00F/50c

2.00F on 1.00F

2.50F on 1.25F

3.50F on 1.70F

I was especially fortunate to find the 2.50F/1.25F (shown above) used on a death certificate issued on 8 February 1923 at Troisvierges for one Peter Heinen (below).

The document is also interesting because the German text has been translated into French on the reverse side.

 

2.50F surcharge on 1.25F
Documentary

Death Certificate for Peter Heinen

Troisvierges Commune
8 Feb 1923

1920 Effets de Commerce Provisional--1914 50c Green Surcharged to 1 Franc–Pair Used in 1929 on a Bill of Exchange from H. Kemp in Rodange

1-Franc on 1914 50c Green (pair)
Surcharged value at center

Transfer by H. Kemp, Rodange, of 1340.50 Fr
to Peschon Kiees in Hobscheid,
5 Nov 1929,
Banque Arlonaise, Arlon,
75c Belgian fiscal applied,
8 Nov 1929

 
The provisional surcharges reflect the tax increase from 5% to 10% per 100 Fr. The new Effets series that appeared in 1922 also reflects the 10% tax rate.

Combination Municipal and National Revenue Use in 1959

Civil Register Extract

6.40F Luxembourg-Ville Horseman

 (horizontal shading)
used in combination with a
30F Dimension 

10F Surcharge on 1F Petange Hotel de Ville Pictorial–Previously Unreported

 

 

Petange
10 Frs. surcharge
on 1 Fr. Hotel de Ville

4 Sep 1947
Commissariat de Police – Petange
Carte de Légitimation

 

Unsurcharged 
1-Franc Hotel de Ville Pictorial

 

Rare Kehlen Communal Revenue Used in 1948

5 Fr. Green
used to pay an Identity Card fee

 in 1948

In future years, Kehlen’s communal revenue stamps became progressively more attractive:

5F Key type 

 Lovely Coat of Arms Pictorial
 in 1988!

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.

.

Here are the Esch-sur-Alzette German-language Allegories issued during the occupation:

Communal Revenue from the Former Commune of Clemency

Clemency5-franc Pictorial
Extract from the Civil Register
Administration Communale
28 April 1969

Dead countries?  Yes, but there are also “dead” communes.  Since 2012, Clemency has been part of the commune of Käerjeng, in the canton of Capellen.  The Käerjeng commune was formed from the merger of the Clemency and Bascharage communes.

Identity Card Issued at Differedange During the WW2 Occupation Showing Extensive French Language Deletion

2 Fr. Hotel de Ville
29 Oct 1940

Taxe Communale & Differdange
Crossed Out

Cancel:  Meldeamt Differdingen
[Differdange Registration Office]

All French text has been crossed out, because the occupiers strictly enforced their German-only language law.  Even the Coat-of-Arms on the cover has been crossed out.  Imagine the resentment that this law surely engendered among the Luxembourgeoise. 

You can read my earlier article entitled Luxembourg Communal Revenue Stamps: Currency Surcharges and French Language Obliteration during the World War II Occupation here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/93aox7ibddvj2k4/Luxembourg%20Revenues%20WWII%20Echternach.docx?dl=0

Effets de Commerce--The 1928 Arabesque Provisional Surcharges

In 1928, Luxembourg surcharged the 45c and 50c 1917 small green Effets de Commerce revenues for provisional use pending production of the new 1928 Effets de Commerce definitives.  Barefoot in Benelux Revenues [2nd ed.] lists only a 2F on 45c, 2F on 50c, and 3F on 50c.  But other denominations exist (below, I show a 10F on 45c).  Moreover, the abbreviation Fr. for Franc is found both serifed and sans serif, and the numerals differ in minor respects.

But even more interesting are the pairs of arabesque squares used as part of the surcharges.   A small arabesque obliterates the denomination of the stamp; a larger arabesque obliterates the monetary range.  

The orientation of each arabesque can vary.  In theory, the following orientations are possible, such that many different pairings of the small and the large arabesques could exist.

Small Arabesque Types

Type A base	Type A +90	Type A -90	Type A +180
Type A base flip	Type A flip +90	Type A flip -90	Type A flip +180

           

 Large Arabesque Types

Type AA (base)	Type AA +90	Type AA -90	Type AA +180
Type AA (flip)	Type AA (flip) +90	Type AA (flip) –90	Type AA (flip) +180

Abbreviations of Franc

Serifed	Sans Serif

Due to the paucity of material available for study, we may never know the full range of possibilities.  If you have these surcharges in your collection, I’d be grateful to add scans to my small database!  In particular, I would like to know whether other revenue stamps were surcharged to denominations between 2F and 10F or to more than 10F.  Here are examples from my collection and the collection of Martien Zwitserloot in The Netherlands.
 

 

2 Fr. on 45c Range: 1000-2000F	2 Fr. on 45c Range 1000-2000F
Serifed Fr. Type A base and  Type AA Flip -90	Sans serif Fr. Type A base flip and  Type AA +90

10 Fr. on 45c Range:  9000-10000 F

Type A + Type AA +90 with san serif Fr. (Unlisted in Barefoot)

3 Fr. on 50c Range: 2000-3000 F

Serifed Fr. and short, thin  arm on ‘3’ Type A base and Type AA +90

3 Fr. on 50c Range: 2000-3000 F

Serifed Fr. and long, thick arm on ‘3’ Type A flip +180 and Type AA +90

3 Fr. on 50c Range: 2000-3000 F

Serifed Fr.; long, thick arm on ‘3’ Type A flip +180; Type AA flip -90

3 Fr. on 50c  Range 2000-3000F used in 1930 on a 2210F Draft

Type A Base; Type AA flip -90 Garage Wengler, Ettelbrück 28 Jun 1930, payable 28 Mar 1931

3 Fr. on 50c Range: 2000-3000F Used in 1930 on a similar draft

Type A base and Type AA +90