Gallery

 

Two more of Bill Ruh’s proofs, with burlage descending from the upper right toward the lower left, at a 38 degree angle. Type 451 with violet points up is at the left, and 4511 with violet points down is at the right. Burt Miller offers more information from his second letter, as seen below.

Thanks for your letter and the copies of the essays(?), proofs(?) of the burlage issues from Bill Ruh’s collection. Also, for the preliminary viewing of the coming issue with your work on the currency reform issue.

I am not aware of any essays of the Michel Nr. 185/192 issue. There were some proofs. Of course, there are the three imperf proofs without the overprints as are listed in Michel of the 50 Mk (#139 Lt. blue), 100 Mk (#141 Green) and the 1000000 Mk (#168 Orange) in the new lilac-red color with watermark 4. They apparently were not printed using new plates and show the same plate defects as on the previous issues (such as Feld 11 of the Gulden values with diagonal streak through the “K” of MARK.). I think that there were very few plate flaws that had developed from wear on Nrs. 139, 141 and 168. Several of the subsequent flaws on Nrs. 183-192 probably developed during the printing of the Gulden issue.

I have never seen or heard of essays of this issue or seen proofs of the overprints. However, as with most other issues they very well might exist. I can’t imagine that the overprints were not at least proofed before they started printing the stamps, but whether any of these proofs were retained we will probably never know. There just might not have been time to prepare any. The design so closely follows that of the earlier inflation overprints that they may have felt that none were necessary.

 

Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 65 - October - November - December - 1989, Page 35.