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Collecting Eagle Shields
On January 18th, 1871, towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War, King Wilhelm of Prussia was declared Kaiser (emperor) of the newly founded Deutsches Reich (German Empire). The imperial constitution came into effect on May 4th, 1871. Therefore, this day became the "First Day" of the Reichspost, which comprised the former Northern German States, the so-called Reichslande Elsaß-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) and w.e.f. 01.01.1872 also the former State Baden (Bade). Kingdoms Bayern (Bavaria) and Württemberg belonged geographically to the Reich but maintained their postal sovereignty.
Small Eagle Shield Large Eagle Shield
The imperial Cabinet immediately directed production of postal stamps to be decorated with the Prussian Eagle Shield. The first edition ( the Small Eagle Shields,MICHEL Nos. 1-11, 14, 15) had to be printed, edited and distributed without delay , in order to be available from January 1st, 1872. Thereafter, however, the imperial heraldry demanded several changes to the first emblem which should rather show the Aachen Crown (of Charlemagne) and the Hohenzollern coat of arms. These alterations resulted in a significantly larger emblem of the second edition, the Large Eagle Shields (MICHEL Nos. 16-30) which were distributed from June 1872 onwards.
The high-value stamps of 10 and 30 Groschen (MICHEL Nos. 12, 13) remained mostly unchanged, got the correct imprint "Deutsch-Reichs-Post" and continued to be handled only by Post personnel.
The German Eagle Shields are rightfully counted as final series of German classic stamps. The well-known graphic artist H.G. Schilling combined in his well-balanced design typographic and embossing techniques which were rarely achieved in subsequent decades.
After the Franco-German war of 1871/72 the postal traffic between the two countries was immediately continued, however with severe incriminations, such as the double-franking between January and May 1872 ,but based on previous procedures. New postal treaties came into effect as from May 15th. 1872.
It is obvious that the philatelistic attraction of the German Eagle Shields was remarkable at all times. The opportunities for individual specialisation of MICHEL Nos. 1 - 30 are such that each collector can find a new niche and develop his expertise.
Equally intense as with postmarks, many collectors specialise on "the Stamp itself" and its special features. Beginning with different sizes (between 14 and 16 vertical perforation holes), followed by color variations, differentiated by a-, b- and c-colors, a growing group of collectors focus on plate-errors, which have been researched thoroughly and published by Working Group members, meanwhile in the second edition of 2000.
Here, you (will) find additional information regarding
- printing technique
- perforation
- Schraubenkopfabdrucke
- plate-errors.
For more detail we recommend the MICHEL Catalogues from the Schwaneberger Publishing Company.
