Inverted Dendermonde

The 65-cent postage stamp depicting the town hall of Dendermonde was issued on August 5, 1920. She completed the standard series of postage stamps, issued in 1915-1919, with the image on stamps of low denominations - from 1 cent to 25 cents - King Albert I and high denominations - from 35 cents to 10 francs - various subjects.

The face value of this postage stamp was originally supposed to be 20 cents. By the time the permit was issued for its publication, postal rates had changed and there was a need for a stamp of 65 cents for express mail.

A circulation of 10 million marks was ordered. The brand was designed, engraved and printed by the Dutch company Joh. Enschedé in Haarlem (Netherlands), there are two versions of the brand: the first edition was printed in sheets of 25 copies (5 x 5), the second edition was printed in sheets of 100 copies (10 x 10). This was due to a lack of paper.

These two runs can be determined by the size of the image. In the first edition, the image size was 26.25 mm x 22.5 mm, and in the second - 27 × 22 mm. The serration was 11½. The end date of the postal circulation is May 1, 1931.

Two sheets of the first print run were upside down in the center, so the depicted town hall was turned upside down. Most likely, the reason for this error was similar to the reason for the appearance of Inverted Jenny , as the Belgian brand is also made in two colors. The first sheet was partially sold at the Ghent Post Office. After the error was discovered, the Belgian post management went to Enschede to check for the existence of other such sheets. The second sheet was discovered, delivered to Brussels and destroyed.

One sheet of the second edition was also turned upside down. 50 copies of such brands were discovered in January 1921 in Leuven . They were confiscated by the post office before they could be sold to the general public. The remaining 50 were still in the Netherlands and were cut, as witnessed by officials from the Netherlands and Belgium. 50 brands already in Belgium were destroyed by burning them on January 21, 1921.

18 of the 25 stamps were sold at the post office of Ghent (about Gand) on August 13, 1920. When an error was detected, only 7 copies remained.

At the moment, 17 copies are known: 15 quicklime and 2 quicklime. The only known cancellation is “Gand on August 13, 1920” (“Gand on August 13, 1920”).

In 1942, a stamp dealer from Brussels was killed, who had two copies of such a postage stamp. The killer and two brands were never found.

The value of the redeemed stamp is estimated at 75 thousand euros, which makes it one of the most expensive brands in Belgium.

• In 2003, this brand was at the center of the plot of the comic strip Het mysterie van de omgekeerde zegel (The Secret of the Inverted Brand) in the Stam en Pilou series.

• In 2004, this brand was at the center of the plot of the children's book De omgekeerde Dendermonde (Inverted Dendermonde) by Henri Van Daele.

• Officiële Belgische Postzegelcatalogus 2010.

• Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalog, Volume 1