Double geneva
| Double geneva | |
|---|---|
|
|
| output | |
| country | Canton of Geneva |
| Face value | 2 times 5 cents |
| First day | September 30, 1843 |
| Date of Expiry | September 30, 1854 |
| layout | |
| Motif | Geneva coat of arms |
| colour | Black on yellow green |
| draft | |
| Sting | |
| Print type | Lithograph |
| perforation | Cut |
| particularities | right mark is wider than the left |
| Edition | |
| Edition | 6,000 |
The Doppelgenf ( French Double de Genève ) is the first postage stamp issued by the Swiss canton of Geneva . The designation double Geneva is derived from the special arrangement of the individual stamps. Two stamps were always connected by a common header to form a double Geneva.
It was issued on September 30, 1843 . At that time there was no uniform postal system for the whole of Switzerland. Each individual canton was responsible for its own postal service. It was not until January 1, 1849 that a separate Swiss postal service was founded , which issued general postage stamps for all of Switzerland from 1850 onwards. Until then, apart from Geneva, only the cantons of Zurich , which issued its first stamps shortly before Geneva on March 1, 1843, and Basel . The double geneva could continue to be used until September 30, 1854, although further stamps of the canton were issued in the 1840s.
The postage value of a double Geneva is 10 cents (centimes) , as it consists of two connected postage stamps of 5 cents each. These two stamps were connected by a common header bearing the inscription 10. | PORT CANTONAL. | Cent. wearing. This gives an indication of the postage value of 10 centimes and the intended use of the double geneva for letters up to one ounce within the canton. However, if you cut away this header and split the double geneva, you got two individual postage stamps of 5 centimes with the additional inscription Poste de Genève and Port local. This "half double Geneva", as it is called by philatelists , could therefore be used for franking letters from local mail, that is, within a municipality.
This kind of special separation of imperforate stamps is even explained on the stamp sheets themselves. Nevertheless, some of these provisions have been ignored. When a double geneva was cut in half, the header was only very rarely removed. There are often word fragments over half a double geneva. It also seldom happened that a double genie was handed in the wrong way round. This means that the double geneva consists of two postage stamps arranged the wrong way round, the inscription in the header therefore NTONAL. | Cent. 10. | PORT. CA is.
This type of postage stamp issue was initially only accepted very reluctantly by the people of Geneva, especially since the use of postage stamps was not mandatory. In order not to get stuck on remaining stock, the Geneva postal administration decided to sell half a double Geneva from March 1, 1844, with a postage value of 5 centimes at a price of 4 centimes. Using postage stamps saved 1 centimes for local letters and 2 centimes for canton letters. If one did not use postage stamps, one could not benefit from this discount.
The imperforate stamps were produced in black on yellow-green paper in lithographic printing in sheets of 10 stamps with 5 lines each. The Geneva coat of arms was chosen as the motif. In the halo above the letters JHS can be read, which stand for Jesus Hominum Salvator ( Jesus, savior of men ). The words POST TENEBRAS LUX ( light after dark ) can be found in the band between the halo and the coat of arms . There are no type differences between the brands. What is striking, however, is that the right mark is much wider than the left.
The high collector's value (unused double Geneva with full margins is valued at around 55,000 Swiss francs, a halved around 16,000 francs) is due to its rarity on the one hand and its high popularity on the other. Along with Zurich 4 and Zurich 6 and the Basler Taube , the double Geneva is one of the most popular stamps among Swiss philatelists .