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Schaffner Bahnpost Revisited

From Pat Rothnie of England: I am writing to say that I am now viewing this once—prized item with some suspicion. It was purchased in an auction and the description of the postmark did mention that the year was missing, and, as a result, this was “unusual”. In a recent conversation with John Whiteside, I mentioned that the date on the postmark was in Septe;mber but that there was no year. John recalled that Part II of the Arge postmark catalogue mentioned a Scha finer Bahnpost mark that was incomplete and which did date from the month of September. The actual cat. entry reads: “30.9.1882...nur mit Tagesziffer und Uhrzeit”. John’s example (below) has only the day (25) and no month or year. The full date can be obtained on the reverse side, and the format of John’s card sent alarm bells ringing! As you can see from the enlarged copy of the postmark in question, it is fairly clear that both Scha finer Bahnpost marks include a partial figure “8”, and, in the lower mark, traces of further illegible figure where the year date should be. All pointing to the fact that my Schaffner Bahnpost mark is q normal, fairly poor 1880’s specimen! Caveat emptor...again!

John Whiteside’s authentic card and Pat’s enlargement of the questionable Schaffner Bahnpost mark with faint print of year.

 
Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 51 - April - May - June - 1986, Page 3.