Württemberg Stamps
1851
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a German state that existed from 1805 until 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. In 1871, Württemberg became a member of the new German Empire, but retained control of its own post office, telegraphs, and railways. It also had certain special privileges with regard to taxation and the army.
Michel 1 to 5
Number in frame
Issued: 15th Oct 1851 (1 to 9 Kreuzer) to Jul 1852 (18 Kreuzer). Printed typography on unwatermarked paper and imperforate. All of the five stamps in this first Württemberg issue are printed in black on coloured paper and share a close resemblance to those issued by Baden earlier in the year. They share almost identical designs and have the following inscriptions: the left hand side is inscribed 'Deutsch-Oestr. Postverein', the top panel 'Württemberg', the right-hand panel 'Vertrag v. 6 April 1850' and finally the lower panel is inscribed 'Freimarke'.
There is some variation between stamps of the same value in the positioning of the periods following the 'v' and the '6' of 'Vertrag v. 6 April 1850'.
These stamps were reprinted in 1864 and again in 1865 and can be differentiated as follows: the original has bolder 'i', 'b' and 'g' in the words 'Württemberg' and 'Freimarke', the 'vines' in the lower corners are different and the number of tick marks in the left and right letterboxes is different (32 for the originals and 29 for the reprints).
Mi 1
1Kr
yellow-white to mid-chrome-yellow
1Kr
yellow-white to mid-chrome-yellow
Mi 2
3Kr
light yellow to medium brown-yellow
3Kr
light yellow to medium brown-yellow
Mi 3
6Kr
(dark yellowish) green to vivid-green
6Kr
(dark yellowish) green to vivid-green
Mi 4
9Kr
pink-white to light lilac-pink
9Kr
pink-white to light lilac-pink
Mi 5
18Kr
violet-gray to pale blue-violet
18Kr
violet-gray to pale blue-violet