363 / September 2016

1927, City Views 5-40 m. each with part of the sheet watermark, overprinted "PROOV", unused, very fine, certificate Löbbering BPP

City Views 12 m. as horizontal pair with left sheet margin, unused without gum, very fine, certificate Löbbering BPP (Hurt/Ojaste G:4)

City Views 20 m. from the lower right sheet corner, unused without gum, very fine, certificate Löbbering BPP (Hurt/Ojaste G:4)

1928, New Currency Overprint, overprint proof on yellowish paper, vertical crease, otherwise fine, very rare (Hurt/Ojaste p.118)

1928, New Currency Overprint 10 m. imperforated with right sheet margin showing marginal bar, mint never hinged, fine, rare, signed Nemvalz (Hurt/Ojaste A1)

1928, Coat of Arms 5 s. red and 15s. yellow, each with plate flaw from position 72 "5th paw", used, fine, 5s. signed Nemvalz

1923, Kroon-Surcharge 3 k. with double printing of burelage and reversed printing of burelage and surcharge, used, a very rare variety of which only about 10 used stamps are known, very fine, certificate Löbbering BPP

1931, Red Cross 2s. block of nine on yellowish paper without red print, between second and third row black register number, horizontal fold through three stamps, otherwise fine, a scarce multiple, in addition a 10 k. banknote with red "PROOV" overprint showing the same kind of register number (Hurt/Ojaste G2)

1931, Red Cross 2 and 10-20 s. imperforated proofs, 2s. mint never hinged, the others unused, very fine, certificate Löbbering BPP

Caritas issue 1936, 10s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 42x52mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Virumaa. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The frame at the right and the left, the ribbon with the inscription CARITAS and the value tablets are similar on the 10S postage stamp of 1936. In the design sequence this pencil drawing AK-1A is the basis of water color design AK-7C.

Caritas issues 1936-1937, 15s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Paide. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The CARITAS ribbon is similar to the EESTI POST ribbon in AK-9C and may be the origin of the EESTI POST ribbon on the 50S postage stamp of 1937. Both the CARITAS and EESTI POST inscriptions have a slanted 'S', similar to AK-3A. A slanted "S", only in CARITAS, is shown in AK-2B, AK-2D, AK-3C and AK-5B and a slanted "S" only in EESTI POST in AK-1C, AK-7D, AK-9A and AK-9C.

Caritas issue of 1936, 25s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 42x52mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Haapsalu. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The font of the value inscriptions, the ribbons and the position of the Caritas heart are similar on the 25S postage stamp of 1936. On the 25S postage stamp of 1936, however, the arms of Haapsalu were replaced with the arms of Tartu and EESTI POST was placed above CARITAS. All pencil drawings by Roosman (AK-1 thru AK-5) do not indicate the year of issue. The inscription "1936", missing in AK-1C, was placed on the 25S postage stamp of 1936 into the right ribbon.

Caritas issue of 1936, 50s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41,5x51,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Valga. Caritas heart with 1 flame. The font of the inscription CARITAS is with serifs, the font of EESTI POST without serifs. In the design sequence this pencil drawing AK-1D precedes the watercolor design AK-7B, in which the values "50" were changed to "10" and the inscription "SNT." was added. Hand-written correction mark "senti" at the bottom. Oak leaves as ornament, as on the 15S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 10s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. ​Arms of Võru. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The arms are placed inside a circular inset of the frame. Oak leaves as ornament, as on the 15S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 15s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Paldiski. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The positioning of the Caritas heart and of the CARITAS ribbon around the shield is similar to AK-2A. The shield is larger than in AK-2A. Slanted "S" in CARITAS, as in pencil designs AK-2D, AK-3A, AK-3C and AK-5B. Oak leaves as ornament, as on the 15S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 25s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Harjumaa. Caritas heart with 3 flames. This pencil drawing contains design elements used on the 15S and 25S postage stamps of 1936. The value inscriptions and value tablets are similar on the 25S postage stamp. The vertical lines in the frame, on the right and on the left, are similar on the 15S postage stamp. The hand-written correction mark "P.PÄRNU" at the bottom indicates that the arms of Harjumaa should be replaced with the arms of Pärnu. 

Caritas issue of 1936, 50s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51,5mm, on perforated cardboard. The fours stars in the arms are of Valgamaa. Caritas heart with 3 flames. On AK-2D the Caritas heart overlaps the CARITAS ribbon on the left, on AK-5D and AK-9B on the right and on AK-1A and AK-7C in the middle. Slanted "S" in CARITAS, as in pencil designs AK-2B, AK-3A, AK-3C and AK-5B. The asymmetric design of AK-2D was made more symmetric on the two partially asymmetric 15S and 25S postage stamps by positioning the Caritas heart and the arms shield horizontally next to each other and by using horizontal and symmetrically positioned value inscriptions.

Caritas issue of 1936, 10s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Combination of two coats of arms, the arms of Petserimaa (province) at the top and the arms of Petseri (town) at the bottom. Experimental design of an asymmetric postage stamp. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The whole design is tilted to the left. A subsequent experimental pencil drawing, AK-4A, is tilted to the right and only partially asymmetric. No potentially symmetric ribbons or value tablets. The asymmetric design of AK-3A is perhaps the starting point for the design of the partially asymmetric 25S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 15s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Pärnu. Caritas heart with 3 flames. In the design sequence this pencil drawing AK-3B precedes the water color design AK-8B. In this pencil drawing AK-3B the value inscriptions are not yet inside value tablets, while in water color design AK-8B the value inscriptions were placed inside value tablets. The X-shaped crosses with double lines, at the right and left of the CARITAS inscription, also occur in the water color design AK-8C for 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 25s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Tartu. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The value inscriptions and the EESTI POST ribbon are similar on the 25S postage stamp of 1936, but the value inscriptions of the pencil drawing are not yet inside value tablets.

Caritas issue of 1936, 50s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Narva. Caritas heart with 1 flame. The value inscriptions "50" and the frame around the value inscriptions are similar to AK-4D, with the "5" shaped slightly different. A mesh of horizontal and vertical lines, with spaces of 1,0 mm in between, is in the background, like on 1mm graph paper, perhaps as an aid for the artist in the preparation of this miniature design.. A similar mesh of horizontal and vertical lines is in the background of another pencil drawing, AK-12A.

Caritas issue of 1936, 10s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Caritas heart with 3 flames. Experimental partially asymmetric design, with the coat of arms tilted to the right. In an earlier experimental asymmetric design, AK-3A, the coat of arms and all other design elements are tilted to the left. The asymmetric CARITAS ribbon is a near mirror image of the EESTI POST ribbon on the 25S postage stamp of 1937. Asymmetric design, without value tablets, the Caritas heart is positioned at the left of the arms shield and oak leaves as ornament, as on the 15S printed essay and postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 15s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Kuressaare. Caritas heart with an additional surrounding line, as on the 25S printed essay of 1936. No value tablets, value inscriptions without a frame and vertically on top of each other, as in AK-2D. The font of the CARITAS ("A" rounded at top) and EESTI POST inscriptions is similar to the 25S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issues of 1936-1937, 25s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 40x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Rakvere. Caritas heart with 3 flames. X-shaped crosses at the sides of CARITAS and EESTI POST, similar to those in AK-1C, AK-3B and AK-4D. In the design sequence this pencil drawing AK-4C precedes the water color design AK-8C. The pencil drawing AK-4C has the value inscriptions "25" and no issue year indicated, while the water color design AK-8C indicates "15" and "1937".

Caritas issue of 1936, 50s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. ​Caritas heart with a flower bud and 2 petals. The Caritas heart of this pencil drawing AK-4D is very similar to the Caritas heart on the cover of the Roosman Album. A big Caritas heart with the inscription ÜHISABI is shown instead of the coat of arms of a city. The surcharge on the Caritas postage stamps was given to the Ühisabi charity and Ühisabi was responsible for the stamp design. The font of the value inscriptions "50" and their frame are similar to AK-3D. The shape of the "5" is similar on the 15S postage stamp of 1936. Oak leaves are used as ornament on the 15S postage stamp of 1937.  

Caritas issue of 1936, 10s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41,5x52,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Viljandimaa. Caritas heart with 3 flames. Blossoms and leaves around the shield, as an alternative to oak leaves used on the 15S postage stamp of 1937. Reindorff, in his designs for 1939-1940, similarly uses blossoms and leaves as ornaments. The mesh of lines in the blossoms in Roosman's AK-5A is similar to the mesh in the blossoms in Reindorff's AK-17A. Head and tail of the eagle in the coat of arms are turned to the left, in contrast to Reindorff's design on the 10S postage stamp of 1939. With an extra line around a shield pointed at the bottom, similar to the 10S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 15s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Caritas heart with 3 flames. The shape of the "5" is similar to AK-3D. The asymmetric "+" sign is similar to AK-5C and to the 25S printed essay of 1936 on AK-6. Slanted "S" in CARITAS, as in pencil designs AK-1B, AK-2B, AK-2D, AK-3A and AK-5B. The horizontally elongated "+" sign is similar to AK-1A, AK-2C, AK-5C, AK-7B and the 10S, 15S, 25S and 50S printed essays of 1936. The vertical lines at the left and right of the frame are similar to AK-2C and to the 15S postage stamp of 1936.

Caritas issues of 1936 and 1937, 25s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Old Russian-era coat of arms of Fellin (Viljandi). Caritas heart with 3 flames. Without the inscription "Eesti Post". The Ühisabi charity had no prior experience in the design of postage stamps, but was officially authorized by President Paets to design the Caritas postage stamps. Perhaps this pencil drawing AK-5C was the first postage stamp design by Roosman and Ühisabi, when they did not yet know that postage stamps must bear the name of the issuing country or postal authority. The design does not indicate the issue year either. The indication of the issue year was necessary because each Caritas issue was valid for franking for only one year. The asymmetric "+" sign is similar to AK-5B and to the 25S printed essay of 1936 on AK-6. The shape of the CARITAS ribbon on this pencil drawing AK-5C is similar to the EESTI POST ribbon on the 50S postage stamp of 1937. In the design sequence  this pencil drawing AK-5C precedes the water color design AK-9A, in which "25" was replaced by "50" and "EESTI POST" and "1937" were added.

Caritas issue of 1936, 50s., pencil drawing by Axel Roosman, 41x51mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Tallinn. Caritas heart with 3 flames. No ribbons. In the design sequence this pencil drawing AK-5D precedes the water color design AK-9B, in which "SENTI" was added. The Caritas heart and the EESTI POST and CARITAS inscriptions are in both designs in the same positions.

4 printed essays of the Caritas issue of 1936, submitted to Alexander Koenig. 10S, 15S, 25S and 50S. The Caritas heart of the 25S essay is white and has an extra surrounding line, in contrast to the 25S postage stamp. The horizontally elongated "+" sign is similar to AK-1A, AK-2C, AK-5B, AK-5C and AK-7B. The four printed essays here were submitted to Alexander Koenig and can be distinguished from other non-submitted printed essays by the specifics of their line perforation and separation, for example the long tooth at the bottom right of the 10S printed essay. The teeth of the 4 printed essays in the Alexander-Koenig Album are specific to each essay and were already displayed in Eesti Filatelist (No.30, 1984, p.6). The 4 printed essays were described in Eesti Filatelist (1984, p.6) as "Endgültige Vorlagen" and were assigned in H/O (1986, pp.152-153) the catalog sub-numbers G:2, with the descriptions "Essay, final design/Endgültige Vorlage". Essays of the Caritas issue of 1936 are very rare.

Caritas issue of 1937, 10s., water color design by Axel Roosman, 44x53mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Paide. Caritas heart with 1 flame, surrounded by an extra white line. Oak leaves above and below the EESTI POST ribbon. With an extra line around a shield pointed at the bottom, similar to the 10S postage stamp of 1937. In the design sequence AK-7A precedes the water color design AK-7D, in which the oak leaves, the acorns and the "A" (=annum) beneath "1937" were removed.

Caritas issue of 1936, 10s., water color design by Axel Roosman, 42x52,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Valga. Caritas heart with 2 small flames. In the design sequence this water color design AK-7B is based upon the pencil drawing AK-1D, which has the value "50" instead of "10" and which does not yet have the inscription "SNT.". Four different colors were used in the design. Oak leaves around the coat of arms as in the 15S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1936, 10s., water color design by Axel Roosman, 42x51,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Virumaa (province of Narva). Caritas heart with 1 flame. Similar value tablets and ornament columns were used on the 10S postage stamp, which shows the arms of the City of Narva (instead of the Province of Narva) and EESTI POST above CARITAS. Three different colors were used in this design. In the design sequence this water color design AK-7C is based upon the pencil drawing AK-1A.

Caritas issue of 1937, 10s., water color design by Axel Roosman, 44x54mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Paide. Caritas heart with 1 flame. The value tablets with their protruding white lines, the shape of the "10" and the shield pointed at the bottom are similar on the 50S postage stamp of 1937.

Caritas issue of 1937, 10s., water color design by Axel Roosman, 41x50,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Paide. Caritas heart with 2 long flames. Asymmetric design at the top, symmetric at the bottom. Asymmetric rising EESTI POST ribbon. No value tablets. CARITAS in white letters as in AK-7A and on the 25S and 50S postage stamps of 1937. CARITAS in a font ("A" rounded at top) similar to the 25S and 50S postage stamps of 1937. The shield has the same width as in AK-7A, but is narrower than the shield in AK-7D. A flower bud containing the "+" sign is shown in AK-8D, in Reindorff's AK-17A and on the 15S and 25S postage stamps of 1940.

Caritas issue of 1936, 15s., water color design by Axel Roosman, 41,5x52,5mm, on perforated cardboard. Arms of Pärnu. Solidly brown Caritas heart with 3 flames. Possibly the beginning by Roosman of designs with value tablets. In the design sequence this water color design AK-8B is based upon the pencil drawing AK-3B, which has no value tablets and no "SNT.". Design error: The sleeve in the arms of Pärnu is usually in red color, but was painted here in blue. This design error was corrected in the final design of the 15S postage stamp, where the sleeve is in red color.