Hermes (Greek stamp)

Starting early 1920s, the subjects used to illustrate the Greek postal stamps are becoming diversified and let down the Hermes effigy.

[3] A decree, dated on the following June 10, announced the choice of Hermes, messenger of the Gods in the Greek mythology as the effigy of the stamps.

[9] To determine the choice of the inks and the papers and as well to calibrate the printing press, Désiré-Albert Barre realized, with the printer Ernest Meyer,[10] about a hundred of different types of plate-proofs and imprimaturs for all the values.

These seven values are the 1 lepton, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40 & 80 lepta: The Paris issues are easily recognisable by the extreme finesse of their printing on satin papers, lightly tinted, of a very good quality.

The printing of the control numbers at the back of the stamps is becoming a constant, except for the two smallest values, the 1 lepton, brown, and the 2 lepta, bistre.

The most advanced studies on the subject: Pemberton, Groom, Dorning Beckton, Brunel, Nicolaïdès, de Smeth, Kohl Handbuck, Constantinidès, Bellas, Coundouros, Basel..., are describing them in details.

The classification of Yvert et Tellier, resumed and completed by Orestis Vlastos in the Vlastos catalogues[16] and by Michael Tseriotis in the Hellas/Karamitsos catalogues,[17] allow us to go through them: The stocks of stamps received from Paris became empty very quickly, in particular in the main post offices (Athens, Piraeus, Syros or Patras...), though starting the month of November 1861, the Greek postal administration was obliged to start to use the typographic plates received from Paris, in order to print its own first sheets of stamps.

Thus, the result was disappointing, the background of the medallion was not uniform anymore, the Hermes head was very often circled by a whitish halo and the four spandrels were also often "unclear".

As for all the Athens printings, these various issues identification is only possible, for sure, by using the "control numbers" at the back of the stamps that are mandatory for a correct classification.

Indeed, one can believe that these stamps, due to the poor quality of their printing for some of them, were plate-proofs done by the Greek printers to initiate themselves to these new technics...

For a long period of time, one believed that it was due to the cleaning of the typographic plates as the named of these printings is referring to.

The German worker(s) who came in Athens to install this new machine have also done a new "mise en train" and have printed, using the hard method ("à sec"), sheets of the two most used values: (1 lepton for the newspapers and 20 lepta for the domestic letters, up to 15 grams).

The result was once more, very disappointing: the impression was fine but, the shadow lines of the cheek are very short, in particular for the 1 lepton which is named "the shaved" by the collectors.

The "control numbers" are milky-blue or deep-blue and always clear by are becoming even more thicker... From the beginning of the 1870s years, the supply of the papers from France has been stopped due to the Franco-Prussian war.

The Greek mint started to use papers from unknown provenance of relative good quality but with half-transparent and regular "clouds" visible by transparency on the light.

The shadow lines of the cheek and the nape of the neck of the Hermes head are long and uniform but thicker than on the previous issues.

After fifteen years of usage, the "control numbers" plates is giving very thick figures without any distinction between the downstrokes and the upstrokes.

The majority of the "large Hermes head" has also the facial value printed on the back of the stamp: Not any single official document has been found so far allowing us to understand the exact purpose of these numbers.

The unique writing comment existing, to this date, about these "control numbers" is the one that can be found in the post scriptum of a letter of Désiré-Albert Barre written to the Greek administration for the second shipment of the stamps and plates to Athens on September 11, 1861.

I believed that it was necessary to apply this innovation to these stamps, this idea came to me late and which appears to offer some great advantages.".

[42] It exists the same type of "small problems" on some French classical stamps build in the middle of the 19th century, in the same French Mint, under the responsibility of the Chief Engravers: Jacques-Jean Barre , then his son, Désiré-Albert Barre, who has also realised the dies and the typographic plates of the "large Hermes head" of Greece.

Like for the 30 & 60 lepta stamps, the Chief-Engraver supervised the company: Charles-Dierrey, 6 & 12, rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Paris, on the manufacturing of the postal stationery typographic plate, composed of 24 pure copper "clichés", by using a galvanic method.

And like for the 30 & 60 lepta stamps, the sheets were printed in typography on Bristol paper, by the company: J. Claye & Cie, 7, rue Saint Benoît, in Paris, on April 13 & 14, 1876.

The documents exchanged between Désiré-Albert Barre and the Greek government, are indeed contradictories regarding the exact quantity ordered: 5.000 or 8.000 sheets (?)...

The design was by Henri Hendrickx (1817–1894) and it was engraved by Albert Doms, Atelier de Timbre, Belgium.

One of these twelve values, the two drachms in large format, represents a Hermes statue inspired by Praxiteles.

The utilised figure that time is a statue from the sculptor of the 16th century, Jean Boulogne, or Giovanni da Bologna or, Giambologna: the "flying Hermes".

This fourteen values issue, perforated in three different types (a, b et c) has been realised by the English printer J. P. Segg & Co in London.

This set was issued for the international mailing, in particular for the parcels and the postal orders ("mandats"), but will be also used for the common usage.

All these issues have been overprinted in many cases up to 1920:[48] Value, colour and type of the sixteen stamps of common usage set, printed in "taille douce" in 1911 : General Philately: