German Eagle Shields

German Eagle Shields are the first two stamp editions of the German Reichspost (1872-1874), MICHEL catalogue Nos. 1-11, 14, 15, 16-30. Their name refers to the two different colorless embossments in the inner circle of the stamp's face. A distinct image of these embossings decorates the headline of our Working Group's logo.

In the midst of the 19th century, there were two different currency systems in use in the older German States which were united to the German Empire (Reich) on May, 4th, 1871: The Taler- and the Gulden-currencies.
These different currencies continued to be valid and to be used for the new stamps, even after January 1st, 1872. Thus, postal stamps for the two regional currencies were printed and distributed.  Their inter-regional use was seldom, but was tolerated as long as the franked value was found correct.
The Taler-currency (1 Taler= 30 Groschen) valued in the northern parts of the Reich, the Gulden-currency (1Gulden=60 Kreuzer) in the southern parts. Their exact value equation is 2 Groschen = 7 Kreuzer.
Hamburg, however, was an exception in that the large city-state continued to use the Schilling-currency and accordingly the so-valued stamps of the Northern German District until December 31st, 1874.
With effect from January 1st, 1875, the introduction of the Mark-currency unified and standardized the monetary system of the German Empire.

First values of Small Eagle Shields

Taler-currency                          Gulden-currency

First values of Large Eagle Shields

Taler-currency                           Gulden-currency

The field of interest of our Working Group includes:

Two stamps with numeric values in Taler- currency: 10 and 30 Groschen (MICHEL catalogue Nos. 12 and 13).

The 1/2-Schilling stamp for the local post in Hamburg (NDP, MICHEL catalogue No. 24)

Our field of interest furtheron includes Printed Matters

Printed postal Cover, value 1 Groschen

Printed postal wrapper, value 1 Kreuzer

Printed Postcard, value 1/2 Groschen.