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Post by Ted Talks Stamps on May 7, 2023 2:42:10 GMT
The first stamps of the Swiss Confederation were inscribed with the word Rayon at the top followed by a Roman numeral I, II, or III. As such, these stamps are referred to as the Rayons. The word means, literally, radius, and it referred to the postal zone, or distance to the letter's destination. There were actually 4 rayons (zones, not stamps) with rayon 4 being for letters traveling more than 192km or requiring more than 40 hours of transport time. However, no stamp was ever produced for Rayon IV. These 3 stamps represent what will be my final complete collection of Rayons, as I will not likely ever afford any of the rest. I'm satisfied with that, though. as These stamps comprise 1 each of Rayon I, Rayon II, and Rayon III. Rayon II - Switzerland, Scott Nr 8 (1850) Rayon I - Switzerland, Scott Nr 10 (1851) Rayon III - Switzerland, Scott Nr 12 (1852)
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Post by khj on May 7, 2023 5:20:53 GMT
You brave soul!
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Post by purrfin on May 7, 2023 9:40:48 GMT
Nice collection.
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Post by Ted Talks Stamps on May 7, 2023 10:48:39 GMT
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Post by khj on May 7, 2023 18:48:54 GMT
I chuckle when I think back on hearing the term -- why are philatelists so interested in synthetic fabric? I was confused -- you see the fabric was invented by a Swiss scientist. How was I supposed to know that it's also an archaic Swiss term for shipping rates based on distance/time?
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Post by Ted Talks Stamps on May 8, 2023 1:36:12 GMT
For anyone looking: I broke off the Polish souvenir sheet discussion into its own thread under Poland.
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Post by Ted Talks Stamps on May 8, 2023 18:46:17 GMT
Here is a website that has the Rayons plated and provides a means for you to compare your own copy, to determine if it is a forgery. www.pro-philatelie.info/faelschungen/altschweiz/rayon.htmlThe problem is, although they provided a fairly large image, the scan is crap, with the histogram skewed too far to the white, washing out details. Between the crappy scan and other production variables such as inking, wiping, and such, I am fairly confident it is a match, with one proviso: On the genuine copy, and not on mine, the first two columns of the Roman numeral III are broken at the top, and tilted inward toward each other. Any opinions out there?
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Post by Ted Talks Stamps on May 8, 2023 18:52:14 GMT
My other 2 stamps, I really couldn't make a match, and I'm resigned to the probability of their being fakes.
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Post by Ted Talks Stamps on May 8, 2023 19:16:36 GMT
Here's a A/B comparison of the Rayon I (mine on the right).
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Post by Ted Talks Stamps on May 8, 2023 19:40:35 GMT
And here is the Rayon II. This actually looks like a pretty good match, I think (again, accounting for that crappy washed out scan, which also has been over-sharpened).
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