News

What has been added to the site — new articles, additions to the records and updates to the statistics. The news log itself is kept in Czech.

• 13. 10. 2026 15h — Another stock sheet of perforation F stamps (13¾ : 11½) from plates I and II, 53 pieces from an older part of the collection already counted in the records, has been processed: the sheet position was attributed for every piece and the perforation measured; 29 newly dated cancellations were added (the earliest from October 1919). One piece with a tiny white ring in the ornamental band has been added to the Blank spots chapter as item 5, with a detail beside an ordinary copy. The records now stand at 23,372 attributed stamps, 8,005 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 12. 10. 2026 15h — Another stock sheet of perforation F stamps (13¾ : 11½) from plates I and II, 54 pieces from an older part of the collection already counted in the records, has been processed: the sheet position was attributed for every piece and the perforation measured; 10 newly dated cancellations were added (the earliest from December 1919). One piece with a markedly displaced perforating grid has been added to the Perforation shift gallery as item 29. The records now stand at 23,372 attributed stamps, 7,976 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 11. 10. 2026 15h — Two more stock sheets of perforation F stamps (13¾ : 11½) from plates I and II, 57 pieces in all from an older part of the collection already counted in the records, have been processed: the sheet position was attributed for every piece and the perforation measured; 5 newly dated cancellations were added (the earliest 23 IX 1919). The records now stand at 23,372 attributed stamps, 7,966 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 7. 10. 2026 15h — Three stock sheets of perforation F stamps (13¾ : 11½) from plates I and II, 161 pieces in all from an older part of the collection already counted in the records, have been processed: the sheet position was attributed for every piece and the perforation measured, and 63 newly dated cancellations were added, almost exclusively from January to May 1920 (Olomouc, Dvůr Králové, Jihlava, Kežmarok, Most, Karlovy Vary, Brno, Vsetín, Bratislava, Jaroměř, Prešov, Děčín, Plzeň, Litoměřice, Kutná Hora, Smíchov, Dobruška, Pardubice, Nová Paka…). One heavily filled-in copy from these sheets was added as a new example to the Filled-in print chapter. The records now stand at 23,366 attributed stamps, 7,961 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 4. 10. 2026 15h — Four stock sheets of perforation F stamps (13¾ : 11½) from plates I and II have been processed, 174 pieces in all: the sheet position was attributed for every piece and the perforation measured. 61 dated cancellations were added, mostly from January to May 1920 (Pardubice, Varnsdorf, Most, Olomouc, Hradec Králové, Gelnica, Spišské Podhradie, Znojmo, Podmokly, Broumov, Jablonec n. N., Trutnov…), a few from October to December 1919. The records now stand at 23,364 attributed stamps, 7,898 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 2. 10. 2026 15h — Two stock sheets of perforation F stamps (13¾ : 11½) from plates I and II have been processed, 94 pieces in all: the sheet position was attributed for every piece and the perforation measured — no perforation H intruder turned up among them. The cancellations are almost exclusively from September to December 1919 (Bratislava, Vejprty, Liberec, Kroměříž, Tábor, Duchcov, Most, Budějovice…), adding 81 dated pieces. The records now stand at 23,187 attributed stamps, 7,835 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 1. 10. 2026 15h — Two stock sheets of perforation D stamps (11½ line) from plates I and II have been processed, 80 pieces in all: the sheet position was attributed for every piece and the perforation measured as a check — one piece (88/II, Poděbrady 18 II 1920) turned out to be perforation B and joins the list of post offices documented on perforation B and the map. 57 dated cancellations were added, among them several from the first days of July 1919 (Zlonice, Vysoké Mýto) and the end of June 1919. The records now stand at 23,093 attributed stamps, 7,754 of them with a legibly dated cancellation; the D group of plates 1–2 has reached 1,000 dated pieces.
• 30. 9. 2026 15h — Eighteen single stamps of perforation C from plates V and VI have been added to the records, each with its sheet position attributed and its perforation measured; all of them bear cancellations from a single month, March 1920 (13–31 March; Prague, Duchcov, Opava, Teplice-Šanov, Děčín, Hoštka, Vimperk), and the date could be read on 17 of them. The records now stand at 23,013 attributed stamps, 7,697 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 29. 9. 2026 15h — Both remaining sheets of imperforate stamps have been processed (108 pieces, 54 each in a 6×9 grid): the sheet position was attributed for every piece and 42 new dated cancellations were read on them, so the imperforate group on plates 1–2 has grown to 419 dated pieces. The records now stand at 22,995 attributed stamps, 7,680 of them with a legibly dated cancellation.
• 24. 9. 2026 15h — The records of dated cancellations have grown to 7,636 pieces (258 more since 13 September), mostly in perforation C of plates 5–6, whose earliest documented use has moved to 1 February 1920 (field 36/VI). The article Cancellations dated outside the validity period gains five new pieces — Karlsbad 4 V 21, Terezín 20 V 21, Ústí n. Labem 2 X 21 and Krombach 26 VII 21, the latest date in the records so far, plus the opposite case: a pair from Karlín dated 22 V 19, i.e. before the stamp was even issued. The cancellation map gains Terezín (plate III) and Krompach (perforation A, plate VI).
• 13. 9. 2026 15h — The statistics show a marked growth in the records, to 22,486 attributed stamps, 7,378 of them with a legibly dated cancellation (a gain of 333 and 427 pieces respectively). The page now also compares the perforation shares against Johan Sevenhuijsen’s collection and the printed Monograph; the differences (most notably for perforation B) suggest that the established view of the rarity of some perforations deserves revision. The plate I/II split for perforation B has also been refined (now 106 : 310 pieces).
• 9. 9. 2026 15h — Production flaws gains a chapter on filled-in print: an excess of ink on the forme fills the narrow unprinted grooves of the design, so that the sky merges into a single field and Hradčany is left a dark outline. Fourteen copies show the range from mild to complete filling-in, including a vertical pair and a 40 DOPLATIT overprint. The chapter also explains why a filled-in copy loses the long crossbar of the crossbar types: six copies from fields 78/II, 5/I and 83/I show that “no crossbar” is a state of the printing, not a type — filled-in print can only shorten the crossbar, never lengthen it. Torn-off ink gains three further copies (55/I, 92/II with a Poděbrady cancel of 17 IX 1919, and 11/II), and thin print four imperforate copies from fields 26, 27, 28 and 97 of plate II — three of them side by side in one row, which points to a property of one print run rather than of one place on the plate. Statistics now rest on 22,153 attributed stamps, 6,951 of them dated.
• 8. 9. 2026 15h — Production flaws gains a new chapter, Torn-off ink — sheets stuck together while wet: a stamp from field 23/II on which hundreds of white specks cover the whole design, frame and inscription included. It is not a weak impression — the ink printed everywhere and part of it was pulled away when the freshly printed sheet stuck to the gum of the sheet laid on top of it; it is the other end of the very incident whose first end, the set-off on the gum, the site already shows. Double perforation gains a third specimen (38/II): the second row of holes on the right side reaches into the frame of the design. The statistics now rest on 22,084 attributed stamps, 6,932 of them dated — one hundred and five new dates came from the reconstruction sheets of plates I and II (perforations A, D, F and imperforate), raising the number of dated copies of perforation A on plates I–II from three to twenty-two.
• 6. 9. 2026 15h — The records kept growing: the statistics now rest on 22,029 attributed stamps, 6,818 of them dated. The biggest gain was in perforation D (11½ line, plates 1–2) — up from 750 to 855 pieces. Kařez has been added to the list of post offices documented on perforation E, which now numbers 161 offices and is also on the cancellation map.
• 6. 9. 2026 15h — Processing of the stock sheets of strips and blocks is complete: the statistics now rest on 21,922 attributed stamps, 6,790 of them dated. The cancellation map gains Varnsdorf and Cheb on plate III, Karlovy Vary and Heřmanův Městec on plate IV, and Chyše, Zábřeh and Ústí nad Orlicí in the layer of perforation A on plates V–VI. The list of post offices documented on perforation B has been reconciled with the map — it now has 60 offices, and every one of them (except the still unlocated Schenkenhahn) is on the map. Double and multiple print gains a fourth piece: the second impression is shifted up and to the right and rotated, so that the inscription ČESKO-SLOVENSKÁ runs obliquely through the middle of the stamp. The Colours and shades page gains Marek Vrba’s practical key (Filatelie 11/2013): how the five catalogue shades behave under the UV lamp and how to recognise chemically recoloured forgeries of the brownish red 7a.
• 5. 9. 2026 15h — The Postal use of the 15h page now covers the last day of the Hradčany's validity, 30 April 1921: four pieces from that day span all three main perforations of the later plates — field 64/IV (perforation A), fields 99/IV and 46/IV (perforation B), and field 16/V with a machine cancel (perforation C). A new article, Cancellations dated outside the validity period, documents a block of four 15h stamps from plate 6 (fields 48/49/58/59) with a cancellation dated 13 June 1921 — over a month after validity ended, most likely due to a misset date wheel.
• 4. 9. 2026 15h — The Postal use examples page now gives a full attribution for every cover: the sheet position and printing plate of each 15 h, the perforation, the accompanying stamps, the place and date of posting, the tariff period and the type of franking. Two items have been added that already had articles of their own — a letter bearing fields 9 and 19 of the rarest plate VII (Humpolec, 3 August 1919) and a postally used imperforate 15h from plate VI (Košice 2, 13 July 1920). Seventeen covers in all.
• 4. 9. 2026 15h — The cancellation map gains Rynoltice and Mikulovice on plate III and the travelling post office 113 Broumov–Choceň; the position of Prácheň has been corrected. A copy from Košice 2 (field 29/V, 26 June 1920) has been added to the postally used imperforate stamps of plates 5 and 6, which now number thirteen. The statistics have been updated to 6 527 dated cancellations. Plate VII gains Horní Benešov (19 July 1919) and a second copy from Karviná (7 October 1919).
• 4. 9. 2026 15h — The pages on printing have been expanded. Proofs gains a section of colour trials: the same design pulled in black, brown-black, blue and several shades of red, one on pinkish paper. Being imperforate and uncancelled, they show the engraving down to the last stroke and can be set against a production stamp from the same sheet position. Production flaws gains two chapters: double and multiple printing, where the sheet went through the press twice and every line has a twin — sometimes offset by tenths of a millimetre, sometimes shifted far and rotated — and printing and offset on the gum, where two seemingly identical faults are told apart by a mirror test: a direct impression on the gum reads the right way round and proves the paper was gummed before printing, whereas an offset from the neighbouring sheet is mirrored and paler.
• 1. 9. 2026 New article – a pair of 15h stamps from the seventh printing plate on one letter (Humpolec, 3 August 1919, fields 9 and 19 of plate VII). Plate VII is the poorest documented of all seven plates — the site's records include only 122 attributed copies covering 70 fields — making this find of two different fields on a single letter one of the most significant additions to the plate's records.
• 1. 9. 2026 Issue — A new Postal use page on the main site now covers the general postal use of the Hradčany issue and an overview of the tariffs and postal rates in force in 1918–1921 (previously part of the 15h site). On the 15h site, Postal use of the 15h now also covers the issue date and postal role of the 15 h value itself; the note restricting the data to printing plates 1 and 2 has moved directly into the railway-post paragraph. The section also gained its first example: the article Sokol regional rally in Znojmo, 24 Aug 1919 on the earliest documented use of a Czechoslovak commemorative postmark on the Hradčany issue — with the cover, a second recorded copy and a look at the postmark itself.
• 31. 8. 2026 15h — New section Thin print with ink spots in Production flaws: ink that is too thin and unevenly spread gives a weak, faded impression, yet in the very same places of the design it sometimes collects into small, solidly red spots — with seven recorded copies and an analysis of why it is neither a blank spot, a wandering ring, a smear, nor a světlina.
• 30. 8. 2026 15h — The Production flaws page now offers a complete overview of printing and paper flaws: Partly doubled print (5 items), Wandering rings (14 items), Smears (19 items) and Blank spots (4 items) under Printing flaws; Creased paper (24 items) and Splinters in the paper (3 items) under Paper flaws. Under Damage to the printing plate, both articles – the cracked plate at 11/II and the damaged frame at 60/VI – are now shown directly on the page instead of just linked. The index at the top now links straight to each subcategory, and the fixed cancel map now correctly shows places under individual plate filters too, not only under “multiple groups”.
• 30. 8. 2026 15h — New acquisition: a piece with partially doubled printing (perforation A, plate 1 or 2), with a dated cancellation of 1 June 1920; the post office is not legible — this is the first documented dated example of this perforation on plates 1–2. Now featured on the Production flaws page and in the statistics (6,477 dated cancellations).
• 30. 8. 2026 15h — New acquisition: an imperforate vertical pair (15h vermilion) from plate V, fields 6+16, cancelled Košice 4, 1 September 1920 – postally used imperforate plate 5 is scarce (now 10 dated pieces).
• 29. 8. 2026 15h — New addition to the records: a piece with perforation E (plate II) with a dated cancellation of 10 March 1920; the post office is not legible. The statistics have been updated (6,474 dated cancellations).
• 26. 8. 2026 15h — New section Perforation shift – how the shift of the perforating grid against the design arises, what degrees it takes and why it is not a plate flaw; with a gallery of 28 items (29 stamps), from barely perceptibly unequal margins to pieces where the perforation runs through the design and a strip of the neighbouring stamp is left at the edge.
• 24. 8. 2026 15h — New additions to the records: a horizontal pair with perforation H (Turnov, 15 March 1920) – the earliest recorded use of perforation H so far – two pieces with perforation E, Hoštka/Gastorf (31 December 1919, a post office new to the E records) and Česká Lípa/Böhm. Leipa (September 1919), and eight imperforate stamps from plates V and VI cancelled Košice, Plešivec, Lučenec, Brezovka and Malý Lipník. The statistics (6,416 dated cancels) and the cancel map have been updated.
• 26. 7. 2026 15h — New article – a postally used imperforate 15h from the sixth plate (Košice 2, 13 July 1920, field 34/VI). The 15h cancel map now also covers legible cancels from plates 3 and 4.