Sigmund Friedl

Sigmund Friedl (born January 11, 1851 in Leibnik , Moravia ; † April 7, 1914 in Vienna ) was an Austrian philatelist who, towards the end of his life, used his knowledge to produce counterfeit stamps to the detriment of collectors.

Life

Sigmund Friedl became interested in stamps at the age of thirteen. He started trading with them just two years later. In 1872 he opened his own stamp shop in Vienna. He soon established himself as a stamp expert and began working as an examiner. He had great success with his business. So he sold, for example, the unique of the Tre Skilling Banco for 4000 guilders in 1894 to the famous collector Philipp von Ferrary . Thanks to his relationships with the post office, he was also able to acquire and sell numerous remaining postage stamps cheaply.

Friedl forgery of vermilion Mercury

At the same time he wrote the first Austrian stamp catalogs and developed the stamp albums further. Sigmund Friedl finally set up his own stamp museum in his villa in Unterdöbling . In 1881 and 1890 he organized the first major Austrian stamp exhibitions, which also attracted great international attention.

Sigmund Friedl is best known among Austrian philatelists for his Friedl perforations and the more inglorious Friedl forgeries. The Friedl perforations were private perforations for Austrian postage stamps that were tolerated by the post office. The Friedl perforations were always made in different perforation grades than the respective original perforation of the post office of the postage stamp series. The forgeries were mainly forgeries of the Mercury from 1851, which were sold to collectors with fraudulent intent. Some of these had to be bought back by Sigmund Friedl after the fraud was discovered.

Friedl was the bearer of the Officer's Cross , the Takovo Order , and the Royal Serbian Order of the Red Cross . He was also an honorary citizen of Unterach.

Friedl was married to Emilie, née Siegel. He had four children and one granddaughter at the time of his death. At his request, he was transferred to the Dresden crematorium for cremation after his death .

His summer residence in Burgbachau am Attersee (municipality of Sankt Gilgen), the Villa Friedle , was given to him by Philipp von Ferrary, who was on friendly terms with him. The house is still one of the best preserved historicist villas in the Attersee region.

literature

• Wolfgang Maassen: Who is who in philately? , Volume 2, E – H, Phil Creativ, Schwalmtal, 3rd edition, 2017, ISBN 978-3-932198-96-0 , pp. 123–128

Web links

Commons : Sigmund Friedl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• BDPh - Wolfgang Maassen: Who is who in philately?