• Note: All prices based on "Die Soldatenmarken der Schweiz" 1990 Katalog, published by Heinrich Sulser 

    • Military "Soldier" Stamps 

      During each World War, the Swiss military mobilized to ensure that Switzerland would not become one of the participants. Since Swiss military service is compulsory for all men between the ages of 18 and 48, this inevitably created financial hardship for many of those called up for active duty. During each war, individual military units issued fundraising labels that could be placed on mail to indicate charitable support. Since those on active duty enjoyed free-franking privileges, they often placed these military stamps on their mail in lieu of regular postage. These stamps were duly cancelled by the field post offices. Different parts of a unit sometimes had their own stamps.

       
    • From Sulser Catlogue: 
      The soldier-stamps were not issued by the swiss-mail (PTT) but by the individual units. They were not allowed for non field-post pieces but they were authorized by the PTT. The designs had to be presented to PTT general administartion at Bern for approval (Armyorder Nr.102 from 16.12.1939). They were classified as charity stamps. 
    • Armeebefehl Nr. 102 was issued: 
      1. Every unit may only issue one stamp until 1.9.1940, no variations and only one printrun! 
      2. All future designs shall be presented to the PTT directorate at Bern for approval. 
      Later on this order where supplemented with more rules to follow: 
    • Armeebefehl Nr. 125 (26.4.40) changed the right of approval from PTT to the Generaladjutant of the Army’s office. 
      Most remarkable are the later paragraphs of this order: 
      4.The printers which are printing the stamps are to be bound by contract with penalty clause to take care that no stamps are sold from the printers-stock. All essais and printing error’s are to be destroyed at the spot and are forbidden to be brought into circulation. 
      5. printing plates shall be handed out to the commander of the issuing unit or be destroyed under personal observation of the units commander. 
    • Armeebefehl Nr. 159 (28.1040) 
      Term definition for the no-variations rule from army order 102. 
      1. Each army unit down to Bat. and Abt. may issue one stamp per year of mobilization (timespan from 1.9. –31.8.). Only one single stamp in one printrun without any variations in colour, paper, perforation, text, picture (i.e. tête-bêche), gum, souvenier sheets, mini-sheets of 1,2,3,4 or more stamps or any other variation. 
      2. Only perforated blocks of 4 with plain white margin, without any aditional printings are not counted as a variation and are allowed even if singles of this stamps are issued . 
      3. Generaly overprints are not allowed. Only if a issuing unit has a large stock of last years stamps, it may be allowed by the Generaladjutant of the Army’s office to overprint them as the stamp for the new year. 

      But not only the high command issued orders on the soldiers-stamps. Also the Fieldpostdirectorate had some important ruels on soldiers-stamps. 
      Order Nr. 10 (5.10.39) 
      The military charity stamps may be canceld with the troops standard cachet BUT NOT by the dated cancels of the fieldpost offices. 

      Oder Nr. 12 (24.10.39) 
      The military charity stamps are to be designed in size that a confusion with PTT stamps is not possible. Also no value is allowed to be printed on the stamps. 
      Collectors have to use an additional PTT franking on their letters. 

    •  

      Don Wainwright, operating under the name "StampWright", has an ebay feedback score of 100% on 20,000+ ebay transactions over the past 4 years. Your full satisfaction is his priority! Don was General Manager and Publisher of Unitrade Associates from 1979 to 1989. He was the creator of "The Unitrade Press" and Publisher of 75 philatelic and numismatic titles including the original book which led to the award-winning "Unitrade Specialized Catalogue of Canadian Stamps". Don is based in Toronto, Canada.

       

      • See scan for actual stamp you are bidding on! Place your bid on what is shown. Examine the image(s) carefully for centering, perfs, colour and any obvious faults. For all early mint stamps, I cannot guarantee if the stamps are regummed or genuine. If the description is unclear or questionable, please contact us prior to bidding.

       

      ·  INFORMATION:

      • Note: We DO offer combined shipping! Ignore ebay message that states Seller does not offer combined shipping! An ongoing incompatibility between eBay.com and eBay.ca forces buyers who are logged in on eBay.ca to make immediate payment for each individual item purchased from my eBay.com store. When making multiple purchases, you can get around the incompatibility by logging in on eBay.com. We can combine winning stamp auctions into one shipment at no additional shipping charge!  Albums, books and accessories can be combined to lower the overall shipping cost but please wait to be invoiced with the correct shipping costs.  In order to take advantage of this offer, do NOT pay for each winning bid, one by one. Place your order in your Shopping Cart and then request an invoice from me when your bidding is finished. I will then lower the shipping cost to you. However, as my lots are all on ebay.com, you must place your orders there. This will NOT work on ebay.ca! My advice is to always request an invoice from all sellers if you are ordering more than one lot from the same seller. That gives the seller a chance to lower your combined shipping cost. Please understand, that ebay and Paypal sellers fees are charged on the entire order INCLUDING shipping and neither ebay nor Paypal refund any sellers fees even if the seller gives a partial refund later. 

      ·  What is the best way to contact dwainwri?  For the fastest response, we prefer that you contact us through eBay messaging system. We try our best to respond within 24 hours. 

      · Payments: Payments should be made within 7 days of the auction ending, or receiving an invoice.  If you have multiple auctions you're bidding on, please wait for those auctions to end to be invoiced for correct combined shipping costs. To be able to process your order quickly, all Payments should be completed through PayPal, which is the fastest and the securest way to receive your payment. E-checks take up to a week to clear and delay shipping.

      ·  What if I don’t have a PayPal account? Alternative payment methods can be arranged by contacting us through the eBay messaging system. Orders will be processed within 24 hours of receiving payment.

      · Shipping - Within Canada: under 500 grams are shipped via Canada Post First Class Mail. Items over 500 grams are shippied by Canada Post parcel or CanPar. Note that within Canada, if your item weighs less than 500 grams, there will be no tracking number. If you prefer to have a tracking number, you have to contact us through the ebay messaging system and request to be billed for XPRESS POST (expensive). 

      ·  Shipping to United States: items under 200 grams (7oz) are shipped via Canada Post first class mail. Orders over 200 grams generally are shipped WITH Tracking through USPS. 

      ·  Shipping Outside North America: Items under 100 grams are shipped by Canada Post international first class mail (no Tracking) while items over 100 grams are shipped via a courier (either Landmark Global or Asendia USA). International buyers are responsible for any customs charges in their country. Tracking is only available at an additional charge through either Canada Post or Asendia USA.  We ship anywhere in the world! (except Italy and Russia and restricted countries like North Korea)

      · How much is Registered or Tracking? Registered Service within Canada is $10.00 PLUS postage (weight and size of mailing). This is the cheapest option to add tracking for first class mail. There is no insurance, unless amount of insurance is requested and paid by the buyer at an additional cost. Canada Post no longer offers Registration outside of Canada. Tracking is generally included to the U.S on parcels over 200 grams. I can also add Tracking to USA envelopes weighing less than 200 grams (7 oz.) for an additional $1.50 charge. Outside North America, Tracking is available but all services would have to be individually quoted.  If there is a particular service you prefer, please use the ebay message system to request which service, and we can discuss whether that option will work, and be cost effective for you. Shipping item/s over $100 in value must have Tracking". International:  There will be NO tracking unless one of the above options chosen (e.g. Asendia USA), and you will be at risk, for non receipt, if the item is not received. We can no longer take the risk, when we clearly sent the item. If you pay for the items before you are invoiced for the service: you will receive a Paypal invoice requesting the difference in the postage costs. Your item will be held onto until the difference has been paid. In order to NOT delay the processing of your item/s, we request that you communicate with us right away, informing which you prefer, REGISTERED/NON REGISTERED. 

      ·  Please note, that dwainwri can no longer be responsible for non-receipt of high value items. For our buyers to be protected under the “ebay Buyer Protection Program”, we only ship to the address in your profile. It is the buyer’s responsibility to confirm correct shipping address upon checkout. If you would like your item sent to a different shipping address, it’s your responsibility to provide that information upon checkout within ebay.

      · What’s taking so long? I haven’t received my item? Although orders with North America are usually delivered with 7 days, we kindly ask our buyers to allow up 30 days for delivery of an order. Some of our Domestic buyers have been experiencing longer delays than usual, due to the closures of sorting stations across the country. Mail had been redirected for sorting in some areas, causing unusual delays. When leaving feedback on shipping times, we ask kindly that you refrain from scoring us low. Please be aware that we have no control over the processing times once shipments have left our office. Arrival times vary greatly depending on the country, processing times of those countries, and in some countries, the weather. We can only track an item, if the shipment was sent with a tracking number. 

      · International: Customs taxes are the responsibility of the buyer, NEVER the seller!

      · How soon after making a payment do you process my order? Orders paid over the weekend will be mailed no later than Tuesday by 4pm. Any auctions won from Monday to Thursday, are processed daily, time permitting. All orders will be processed in the order that payment was received.

      · If I'm not satisfied with my order, can I return my item for a refund? We offer 100% satisfaction. We often process over 100+ listings weekly. Due to the amount of listings, we do our best to describe our listings to the fullest. We inspect our lots, but at times it can be difficult to inspect every single stamp, sheet, and first day cover in detail. In lieu of inspection, we provide many detailed photos for your viewing. If you receive an item that you’re not satisfied with, we will be happy to have the item returned to us within 30 days of receiving items as it was sent to you. If you want to return the item, please contact us first directly through the ebay message system. 

      · Please note: Scott or Unitrade Catalog numbers used unless noted otherwise. 

      ·  DESCRIPTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED: MNH= Mint Never Hinged or Un-mounted, MINT OG= Unused having been hinged with its original gum, NG= No gum, CTO= Canceled to order, DG= disturbed or spotty gum, RG= re-gummed, NGW= natural gum wrinkle, LH= a lightly hinged copy, VLH= very lightly hinged, HR= has a hinge remnant, HHR= has a heavy hinge remnant, AD= some type of adhesion (such as paper, album offset, etc.) on its gum, PMG= pencil mark or notation on its reverse, FDC= First Day Cover or a First Date of Cancel, CR= crease, TH= Thin, MD= a minor defect, SF =space filler