Copyright 1996-2000 by Toke Nørby.
This article must not be published without permission from the author
- but you are welcome to take a printout for your personal use ;-)
| The 30-øre provisionals (30/20 and 30/25 øre) were issued in five different types. At the right you see the first of the five types, issued 20 October 1955 - here postmarked with a Danish dateless postmark, a so-called "Removed Star Postmark" (in Danish: "Udslebet Stjernestempel"). You can find more about "Udslebne Stjernestempler" here. Below you see a very unusual letter with 30/25-øre issued on 22 February 1956. |  |
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The letter was sent from Denmark to the Færø Islands with the Danish ship S/S "Bergenhus". This ship did not normally carry mail, but the letter was treated correctly by the crew with respect to the Danish postal law from 9 May 1919. In Thorshavn (the capital of the Færø Islands) the letter was correctly treated as a ship letter and postmarked Friday 25 May 1956. Only two letters are known with this special S/S "Bergenhus" cancellation. The stamp is perforated with "FDB" (Forenede Danske Brugsforeninger - The Co-operative Consumer Society) who in June 1913 got permission from the Danish General Post Office to perforate their stamps with initials. |
| S/S "Bergenhus" was build in 1922 at Helsingør Ship Yard for the Danish DFDS (De Forenede Dampskibs Selskaber). She did not normally carry post on her regular service route, which at first was the West Norwegian Route. Later the route was changed to Copenhagen - The Færø Islands - Iceland. She sailed on general cargo trade but also with passengers. In 1961 she was sold for scrap to Brugse Scheepssloperij N.V. in Belgium. |
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References:
In case you ever see letters franked with Danish 30-øre provisionals, please feel free to contact ME. | |
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Last modified 2 February 1999