Anyone able to catalogue/value this Semi Postal (Official ?) Scott B19 with perforated (punched) Cross? I see the note before the Officials O1 onward with an overprint cross. The Note refers to a 9 hole perforated cross.
It's a perfin for the Bank of Langenthal. You can see the town name in the cancel. The only reference I have is a copy of a Swiss perfin exhibit which shows an example of this on a 10 centimes stamp of this 1921 semi-postal set.
Thank you both! I agree, internet is something else! Cannot believe how quick the responses were. I did not give perfins a thought, because it looked so much like the overprinted cross.
1. Is the Langenthal bank a government bank and therefore an "Official"? 2. Is the bank in Bern? 3. What is Bern (a state county town?)
Langenthal Bank would have been a local bank, not government official.
Bern is the capital of Switzerland. I don't think Switzerland has national banks as we know them. All banking was local, and most transactions during the 19th century were in cash, with very few people having bank accounts. That's why the postal system developed the COD system to such an extent. Then it "invented" circa 1900, the GIRO system which actually was a bank operated by the post office and used as a bank for people to send money to each other's accounts.
Thanks again. I interpret Pro Juventute to mean "for the children" and that is what makes it a "semi postal". So, I assume the bank paid for the then current postal rate, and paid an additional 20c. The usual semi postal has a base figure and a + figure. Now I have to look up GIRO LOL.
Actually the stamp paid 20 centimes postage and a certain amount went to the Children'sFund. I forget how much went into the fund.In later years the stamps were denominated as 10+5, or 30+10 so the public knew how much went to the fund. Someone else may know the correct amounts at this early period.
