P=have O=don’t have it
Faroe Islands – A group
islands between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, about one-half
of the way from Iceland to Norway.
The Faroe Islands are a constituent country of the
See: FACTS ABOUT THE FAROE ISLANDS
Scott: #43-4P
Issued: 7.5.1979
EUROPA-CEPT 1979
Inside
#43:
Bisect: stamp cut in half which has been used to pay the
postage at half the face value of the original stamp; the bisect should
becollected on the original cover with the postmark or cancellation covering
the cut. http://www.askphil.org/b25b.htm
Inside
#44:
An interesting period in
the Faroese history of philately is the time shortly after the First World War,
when the Faroese Post Office was forced to use so called provisional-stamps. On
8 December 1918 the Post Office in Tórshavn received a message from
Copenhagen about the following increase of postal rates:
·
Inland letters on the Faroes up
to 250 gran (15 g) from 5 øre to 7 øre
·
Postcards to Denmark up to 250 gran
(15 g) from 4 øre to 7 øre
The increase in postal
rates came into force on 1 January 1919.
Due to unreliable
shipping connections, the supply of new 7-øre postage stamps failed to
reach the Post Office in Tórshavn before 1st January 1919. When it
became apparent that the increase in the postal rates would bring about a heavy
demand for stamps amounting to 7 øre, and that the Faroese Post Offices´
stock of supplementary stamps, 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-øre, would not be
sufficient to meet demand, special provisions had to be made. Thus the Post
Office in Tórshavn received authorization to bisect the ordinary
4-øre stamps and use the individual halves as 2-øre stamps.
When the stock of
4-øre stamps began to run low, the Post Office was given authorization
to overprint the required number of 5-øre stamps and use them as
2-øre stamps. For this purpose a hand stamp was made out of a wooden
block bearing the letters "2 ØRE". Part of a chair leg was
used as handle, and therefor the stamp was called "The chair leg
stamp".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postverk_F%C3%B8roya
Scott: #148O
Issued: 29.8.1986
HAFNIA '87
Inside #148: Emblem
Scott: #168O
Issued: 16.10.1987
HAFNIA '87
Inside #168: Pseudo Stamp
Scott: #???-?O
Issued: 01.10.2014
40th Anniversary of Faroe Island Stamps
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #112P
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #182O
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #186P
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #290O
Thanks to Lou Guadagno
Scott: #???-?O
Issued: 01.10.2015
Provisional Stamps 1940-41
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #4O
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #6O
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #5O
Inside #???: Faroe Islands #2O
75 years since the
Provisional Stamps during WW2 were taken into use
The two World Wars caused
many disruptions and disturbances in the Faroe Islands. The Faroes was occupied
by British forces and became totally isolated from the Danish Kingdom, the only
outside connections being via UK and Iceland. Soon there was scarcity of daily
necessities and already in 1939 ration cards were taken into use. Provisional
bank notes were introduced as well.
It was also an irony of
history that both in 1919 and 1940 the Post Office started having fears of
stamp shortage. Postmaster General Johan Danielsen knew well that the situation
could arise as it had done in 1919.
It became quite clear to
the Postmaster that the stock of current values was hardly sufficient while
there was an abundance of other values.
It soon became evident
that the prerequisites for getting more stamps to the Faroes were
unsatisfactory even though the war started in September 1939 and Denmark was
not occupied until April 9th 1940. There were regular postal connections, but
during the autumn of 1939 British Authorities ordered the shipping companies
DFDS and Bergenske, carrying mail between Denmark and Faroes, to call at
Kirkwall en route in order for the mail to be examined, which of course meant
censorship. As a consequence in February 1940 the shipping companies declared
that they no longer would accept mail on these routes.
Partly due to these difficulties
of navigation and bad ice conditions in Skagerrak and Kattegat, the
Tórshavn Post Office did not obtain the necessary stamps prior to the
occupation of Denmark on the April 9th 1940. On April 13th that year the first
250 British soldiers were sent ashore in the Faroes. “Islandsk Falk”, arriving
in Tórshavn on the 23rd February 1940, was the last vessel to maintain
normal postal connections between the Faroes and Denmark until the end of the
war.
It did not make life
easier for Postmaster Danielsen that Danish High Commissioner Hilbert, perhaps
wanting to underscore his position as “The Governor”, ordered that the new
postal tariffs in Denmark be adopted in the Faroes as of 10th July 1940 - this
in spite of doubts whether it was at all possibly to supply the Faroes with the
new values which meant an increase in the price of an ordinary letter from 15
øre to 20 øre!
Already on April 27th
1940 Postmaster Danielsen had written to the UPU office in Bern requesting that
new Danish stamps be sent to Faroes via neutral countries. However, no one knew
how this would be possible.
One of the first
solutions Mr Danielsen had in mind was a so-called FRANCO PAID hand
cancellation with the values of 5 øre, 10 øre and 20 øre.
Four sets were produced to be used in Tórshavn, Klaksvík,
Tvøroyri and Vágur.
However, Mr Danielsen had
a change of mind, not being satisfied with this un- traditional solution. He
preferred the well-known solution of 1919 where the post offices whenever
necessary made use of over-printed stamps. The FRANCO hand cancellations were
temporarily discarded.
The introduction of
over-printed stamps
The printer H.N.J
Bookstore played an important part when the decision of over-printing the first
stamps was taken in the autumn of 1940. Postmaster Danielsen had been taken ill
and therefore the acting Postmaster, chief controller Laurits D. Hansen,
conducted the operation.
Two sheets of postage
stamps, the red 15 øre “Karavel” were used as sample prints with the
value 20 printed over the 15. These sample prints, however, were unsuccessful
because the overprinting was hardly visible to the naked eye. Consequently a
bar was placed under the value “20” when the stock of 1399 sheets was printed.
These stamps were sold for the first time on November 2nd 1940.
Even if some parcels with
stamps from Denmark arrived in Faroes via neutral countries after this first
overprinting, the list of over-printed stamps during World War II grew longer
due to various values being depleted.
The overprinted stamps
used in 1940-41 were as follows:
20/15 øre red
(AFA203a) 2.11.1940 …..…139.900 exemplars
50/5 øre wine red
(AFA246) 6.121940……...25.000 -
60/6 øre orange
yellow (254) 21.12.1940…….17.500 -
20/1 øre green
black (196a) 2.05.1941……..42.500 -
20/5 øre wine red
(246) 17.03.1941…….70.000 -
In the summer of 1941 the
second edition was over-printed:
20/1 øre green
black (196) 3.06.1941………4.000 examplars
60/6 øre orange
yellow (254) 11.06.1941……5.000 -
50/5 øre wine red
(246) 23.06.1941…………2.500 –
There is a difference
between the first and second printing; the space between the zeroes in the
over-printed stamps is 13 mm. Since the HNJ printers were a traditional book
printer many other variations are to be found in all these sheets.
FRANCO PAID taken into
use
Early in 1941 both Mr
Danielsen and Mr Hilbert realised that the situation was far from satisfactory.
In spite of the new overprints other arrangements had to be made. It was even
suggested that British stamps be used in the Faroes but instead Postmaster Danielsen
and Governor Hilbert agreed to use the FRANCO PAID hand cancellations mentioned
earlier! Later the figure “5” was removed so the postal staff could instead
write the actual value of the mail.
In a report after the war
Postmaster Danielsen wrote that these cancellations were taken into use due to
“the gravest need”.
6 øre stamps sold
as 5 øre
A consignment of stamps
from Denmark arrived in early June 1941. It came in handy but the lowest value
was 8 øre and at the time the Post Office was running out of the 5
øre value. As a consequence something happened in the Torshavn Post
Office that may well be termed a “world sensation”.
Postmaster Danielsen
ordered that in the period May 26th - September 8th 1941 no less than 180
sheets of 6 øre stamps be sold for 5 øre each stamp!
Besides a franking
machine was ordered from Britain. It did not arrive until 1943 and was not used
to any great extent.
Shipments of stamps had
now improved and after 1943 there was no need for any special measures to cover
the demand for stamps in the Faroes.
It can be added to this
story that on the April 5th 1952 Aage Tholl, the well-known Danish stamp
collector, who is a devoted admirer of Faroese postal history, sent a request
to the Danish post authorities asking whether overprints from 1940-41 still
were valid to use. Mr Tholl received an affirmative reply! However, in a letter
to the Tórshavn Post Office dated July 2nd 1953 the Postal
Administration invalidated the use of overprints which in reality has been a
temporary arrangement in the Faroe Islands during the Second World War.
Already then life in the
Faroes had returned to normal even if ration cards and shortage of goods
persisted until the end of 1952.
Postcard - provisional
stamps
Posta has issued a
postcard in connection with the 75th jubilee of the provisonal stamps on 2
November 2015. The postcard can also be purchased cancelled with a ordinary day
cancellation from 2 November 2015 and franked with one of the franking labels
from 2015.
The postcard is a reprint
of an old postcard. It depicts Tórshavn around year 1900. Four of the
provisional stamps are also shown on the front.
The original postcard was
printed and issued by H.N.J. Bookstore in 1906.
Thanks to Lou Guadagno
Scott: #????O
Issued: ??.??.2019
100 Anniversary to 1919 Essays
Inside
#????:
An interesting period in
the Faroese history of philately is the time shortly after the First World War,
when the Faroese Post Office was forced to use so called provisional-stamps. On
8 December 1918 the Post Office in Tórshavn received a message from
Copenhagen about the following increase of postal rates:
·
Inland letters on the Faroes up
to 250 gran (15 g) from 5 øre to 7 øre
·
Postcards to Denmark up to 250 gran
(15 g) from 4 øre to 7 øre
The increase in postal
rates came into force on 1 January 1919.
Due to unreliable
shipping connections, the supply of new 7-øre postage stamps failed to
reach the Post Office in Tórshavn before 1st January 1919. When it
became apparent that the increase in the postal rates would bring about a heavy
demand for stamps amounting to 7 øre, and that the Faroese Post Offices´
stock of supplementary stamps, 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-øre, would not be
sufficient to meet demand, special provisions had to be made. Thus the Post
Office in Tórshavn received authorization to bisect the ordinary
4-øre stamps and use the individual halves as 2-øre stamps.
When the stock of
4-øre stamps began to run low, the Post Office was given authorization
to overprint the required number of 5-øre stamps and use them as
2-øre stamps. For this purpose a hand stamp was made out of a wooden
block bearing the letters "2 ØRE". Part of a chair leg was
used as handle, and therefor the stamp was called "The chair leg
stamp".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postverk_F%C3%B8roya
Thanks to Richelmi Plinio
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