THE 1940 IMPERPORATED QUEEN WILHELMINA STAMPS
| In early August 1940 the German occupiers of the Netherlands decreed that the Queen Wilhelmina (Konijnenburg design) series of stamps would no longer be valid for postage. A large quantity of these stamps (denominated as 5, 10, 12 1/2, and 15 cent) were still sitting at the Enschedé printing offices waiting to be perforated before shipment to the various post offices. These stamps became surplus; the Germans confiscated them and they ultimately ended up in Berlin in 1941. | In the Maandblad of November 1941 these imperforated stamps were offered for sale (without mentioning a price!) for the first time. 640,000 sets of these stamps were printed. They were never valid for postage; however, they have their own number in the NVPH catalog (# 332v through 337v, listed at Euro 4.50 in the 2004 catalog). |