Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
Saturday, June 1, 1867.
Perforated 9½, watermark BRIEF-MARKEN, coarse print, typographed.
Printed by Vienna State Printing Works.
| Description | Color | # used | Scott # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coarse print. | |||
| 2 Kreuzer | yellow | 67.6 million | 27 |
| 3 Kreuzer | green | 41.7 million | 28 |
| 5 Kreuzer | rose | 298.0 million | 29 |
| 10 Kreuzer | blue | 42 million | 30 |
| 15 Kreuzer | brown | 12.6 million | 31 |
| 25 Kreuzer | lilac | 2.2 million | 32 |
| Perforated 12½. | |||
| 50 Kreuzer | light brown | 440,000 | 33 |
Before 1867 the Austrian Empire included Hungary and Lombardy & Venetia. Until 1867 Franz Josef was Emperor of Austria-Hungary-Hungary. He then became Emperor of Austria-Hungary and, separately, King of Hungary. A few functions (e.g. the War Department) remained Austria-Hungary-Hungary!
In 1867 the establishment of a separate Hungarian Monarchy was agreed, and a separate stamp issue but with a common design (Scott #27-33) was used from June 1, 1867. Hungary began issuing their own design of stamps in 1871.
The Hungarian part of the empire included several well known areas, among those Croatia-Slavonia, Serbia, Transylvania and what is now the Czech Republic. others.
The 5 Kreuzer value is found in three types:
- 1867, type I: In the lower left corner, at the left of '5', the small ornament is short and has three points at the bottom.
- 1872, type II: The small ornament is prolonged and has two points at the bottom. The corresponding ornament at the top of the lower left corner does not touch the curve.
- 1881, type III: Similar to type II, but the ornament at the top of the lower left corner is joined to the curve.
This first issue was printed with a method which produced stamps where the hair and whiskers of Kaiser Franz Josef appear coarse and thick. After 1874 another production method yielded stamps with a finer and more clear impression.
Stamps of the Austria were used prior to this common issue. Hungary issued their own stamps in 1871.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Andy Taylor of the Austrian Philatelic Society for his generous help in providing the data for this page. The data presented here are based on an article in the APS magazine 'Austria-Hungary' #31: 'The Austrian Embossed Stamps 1858-1864, the numbers used' by Dr. P. Fhr. von Stritzl. Any errors in this presentation are solely the responsibility of the webmaster.
This page was last modified on Monday, 03-Nov-2003 15:44:47 PST