This guide will be composed of several parts to cover both the 1936 Olympic Winter and Summer Games. It is impossible to include (or to agree on what to include) all the material that is backed up by thorough research, so I try to cover the breadth with quality illustrations and hope it will
- Provide some guidance as what to collect utilizing eBay
- Explore how scarce they might be
- Expand collecting areas for your collection (an FIP eligible exhibition if you desire)
- Encourage more research and learn from each other
As such I try to at least include the following philatelic elements Stamps, essays, proofs, and varieties
, Postal stationery, FDCs, Usage of postal rates (e.g. Registration, Special delivery and COD), Postal meter franks, Cancellations, Special postmarks, Special cachets, Eligible labels, and Telegrams.
While I am utilizing modern technology to show you colorful images and my database to discuss the scarcity ( Click here for a five-star ranking system ) of the items, I have no position and intention to make it a pricing guide yet. Also I have no plan to include the modern items, such as stamps issued recently.
Acknowledgement - I started my philatelic focus on Olympics since I was at high school, but didn’t have a realistic shot at exhibiting at FIP shows until I was fortunate to obtain wonderful literature written by pioneers such as Ernest Troy, and later on Dieter Germann and James Danner. Of course I can’t say enough how helpful by joining organizations like SOC and SPI. Also without the mentorship from James Bowman, John Crowther, and the long-time SOC president Mrs. Franceska Rapkin, who I never met in person but was instrumental to my success, I probably still have no clue on how to excel in the highest level of philately. Last but not least, I have to thank my family who has supported me all those years while someone thinks how silly I am to spend the time and money on something worth absolutely nothing to them.
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If you asked me how scarce the mint or used issues before September 1998, when eBay went IPO, I would have given them at least a two-star rating. Well things have changed. Today I think you will find mint hinged (MH) issues constantly on eBay, at a price lower, if not much lower, than the catalog value. So the fun will be to find scarcer margin copies or Mint Never Hinged (MNH) sets, which still don’t come by that easily but are priced often very modestly on eBay.
Technical Information:
- Denomination - 6+4 rpf, 12+6 rpf and 25+15 rpf (surcharge supposedly designated to finance the Games directly)
- Issue Date - 25 November 1935
- Valid for Postage until - June 30, 1937
- Designer - Max Eschle
- Printing - Recess
- Quantity - 100,000 sets
- Perforation - 13.5 x 14
- Watermark - Yes (Swastikas)
- Distribution - Post offices and through various sports organizations
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Although no record of die proofs exists in my database, there are specimen sets available on the market occasionally. The exact “specimen” process is not quite clear yet, but according to a well recognized auction house in Germany, "specimen" is found on stamps presented to the UPU. Also it is believed one or two sets were given to the national archives of each member state where “specimen” were overprinted or handstamped. They are obviously very rare.
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Stamps marked as “MUSTER” (at bottom right in black) were presented to the press before the official release. They may not be as rare as the specimen sets, but I sure will be delighted if to see them on eBay. A three-star ranking is certainly not enough, so two “++”.
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In addition, a special telegram form was issued by Reichspost. It was used in Garmisch-Partenkirchen from 3-22 February 1936 with a purchase price of 40 pf. How many survived is unknown but the common belief is that the used ones are very scarce and in hundreds at most.
The congratulations telegram displayed below was sent to a legendary ski jumper Birger Ruud, the two-time gold medallist (1932 and 1936 Winter Olympics) and winning a silver medal at 1948 St. Moritz at age of 36, from Norwegian Consulate in Berlin.
- A Philatelic History of the Olympic Games – Part Six, Ernest Trory
- The Reichspost in 1936, Dieter Germann
- The 1936 Olympic Games: A Philatelic History, James F. Danner
- “Fernauktion” catalogs from Heiko Volk Olympia-Philatelie
- Kohler-Auktion catalogs
- David Feldman auction catalogs
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