Colonial Krone / Adler Color Variations

Colors of the Krone / Adler Overprints

The earliest postage used in most of the German Colonies & PO Abroad were overprints of the German Krone/Adler issues. The 6 values of these issues have numerous color varieties, only some of which are known to have been used in the Colonies/PO Abroad. The information below is an attempt to provide illustrations of the various colors.

HUGE DISCLAIMER: Matching colors to an image on the Internet is virtually impossible. Variations in scanners, monitors, and browsers can cause the colors of an image reproduced on screen to be dramatically different than the original stamp. These images are not intended to serve as a substitute for expert opinions, but rather as an illustration of the relative differences in the color shades. All images were scanned on the same scanner (Epson 12000XL), with the same software (SilverFast 9) calibrated with an IT8 target for the best color reproduction possible. No color processing has been applied to any image. All stamps are certified by experts in the relevant areas.

NOTE on UV COLORS: UV colors are included for those stamps that demonstrate a color change under shortwave (254 nm) ultraviolet light. For stamps that don’t demonstrate a notable color change, UV Color is listed as not applicable (“N/A”), but an image under UV light is included to aid in comparison with those stamps that do exhibit a Michel-listed color change. Images of the stamps under UV light aren’t of the same quality as the normal images because it’s difficult to get quality photographs under UV light and without the stamps being pressed flat by a scanner lid, but hopefully they are sufficient to aid in comparison.

3 Pf. Overprints

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6
1	Sample
2	Color	mittelbraun	hellockerbraun	hellocker	lebhaftorangebraun	lebhaftbraunocker	dunkelockerbraun
3	UV Sample
4	UV Color	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	braünlichschwarz

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6
5	Germany	45 b	45 c	45 ca	45 cb	45 d	45 e
6	DNG	1 f	1 b	1 e	1 d	1 c	1 a
7	DOA	1 I, 1 II, 6 a	6 b	6 e	6 f	6 c	6 d
8	DSWA	1 a	1 b, 5 b	1 f, 5 e	5 d	5 c	5 a
9	Kamerun	1 a	1 b	1 e	1 f	1 c	1 d
10	Karolinen				1 I		1 II
11	Kiautschou
12	Marianen				1 I		1 II
13	Marshalls	1 II b	1 I a		7 b	1 I b	1 II a, 7 a
14	Samoa						1
15	Togo	1 d	1 b	1 e	1 f	1 c	1 a
16	China	1 I a	1 I b, 1 II b	1 I d, 1 II e	1 II d	1 I c, 1 II c	1 II a
17	Morocco						I, 1
18	Turkey

5 Pf. Overprints

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4
1	Sample
2	Color	grün	dunkel(grau)grün	gelblichgrün	(lebhaft)opalgrün
3	UV Sample	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	UV Color	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4
5	Germany	46 a	46 aa	46 b	46 c
6	DNG				2
7	DOA				2 I, 2 II, 2 III, 7
8	DSWA				2, 6
9	Kamerun				2
10	Karolinen				2 I, 2 II
11	Kiautschou
12	Marianen				2 I, 2 II
13	Marshalls				2 I, 2 II, 8
14	Samoa				2
15	Togo				2
16	China				2 I, 2 II
17	Morocco				II, 2
18	Turkey	6 a	6 aa	6 b	6 c

10 Pf. Overprints

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6	color7	color8	color9
1	Sample
2	Color	rosarot	lebhaftrosarot	mittel(karmin)rot	mittel(karmin)rot	lebhaftlilarot	rotkarmin	lilarot	dunkelrosa(rot)	dunkelrosa(rot)
3	UV Sample
4	UV Color	leuchtend karmin(rosa) bis rot	braun	ocker	dunkelgelb	rot	dunkelrot	hellzinnober	lebhaftocker	gelblichorange

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6	color7	color8	color9
5	Germany	47 a	47 b	47 c	47 ca	47 d	47 da	47 db	47 e	47 ea
6	DNG					3 a		3 b
7	DOA		3 I a	3 I b	3 I e	3 I c, 3 II c, 3 III c, 8 a	3 I d, 8 b	8 c	8 e	8 d
8	DSWA					3, 7 a	7 e	7 b	7 c	7 d
9	Kamerun					3 a	3 b	3 d		3 c
10	Karolinen					3 II a	3 I, 3 II e	3 II b	3 II d	3 II c
11	Kiautschou					1 I, 1 II, 2, 3, 4
12	Marianen					3 II a	3 I, 3 II d	3 II b		3 II c
13	Marshalls					3 I, 3 II a, 9 a	3 II d, 9 c	3 II b, 9 b	3 II e	3 II c, 9 d
14	Samoa					3 a	3 d	3 c	3 e	3 b
15	Togo					3 a	3 c	3 d		3 b
16	China					3 I a, 3 II a	3 I b, 3 II d	3 II b		3 II c
17	Morocco					3 a	III, 3 c	3 d	3 e	3 b
18	Turkey	7 a	7 b	7 c	7 ca	7 d	7 da	7 db		7 e

20 Pf. Overprints

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6
1	Sample
2	Color	mittelultramarin	(mittel)blau	dunkelblau	lebhaftgrauultramarin	(lebhaft)kobaltblau	violettultramarin
3	UV Sample
4	UV Color	blau, selten weißgrau	blau, selten weißgrau	N/A	N/A	grau	N/A

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6
5	Germany	48 a	48 b	48 ba	48 bb	48 c	48 d
6	DNG						4
7	DOA						4, 9
8	DSWA						4, 8
9	Kamerun						4
10	Karolinen						4 I, 4 II
11	Kiautschou
12	Marianen						4 I, 4 II
13	Marshalls						4 I, 4 II, 10
14	Samoa						4
15	Togo						4
16	China						4 I, 4 II
17	Morocco						IV, 4
18	Turkey	8 a	8 b	8 ba	8 bb	8 c	8 d

25 Pf. Overprints

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3
1	Sample
2	Color	gelborange	gelblichorange	dunkelorange
3	UV Sample	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	UV Color	N/A	N/A	N/A

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3
5	Germany	49 a	49 b	49 ba
6	DNG		5 a	5 b
7	DOA
8	DSWA		I a, 9 a	I b, 9 b
9	Kamerun		5 a	5 b
10	Karolinen		5 I, 5 II a	5 II b
11	Kiautschou
12	Marianen		5 I, 5 II a	5 II b
13	Marshalls		5 II a, 11 a	5 II b, 11 b
14	Samoa		5 a	5 b
15	Togo		5 a	5 b
16	China		5 I a, 5 II a	5 I b, 5 II b
17	Morocco		V, 5 a	5 b
18	Turkey	9 a	9 b	9 ba

50 Pf. Overprints

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6
1	Sample
2	Color	(lebhaft)bräunlichrot	bräunlichkarmin	(lebhaft)braunrot	(lebhaft)lilabraun	mittelbraunrot	lebhaftrötlichbraun
3	UV Sample
4	UV Color	dunkelrosarot	braunkarmin	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

sortorder	title	color1	color2	color3	color4	color5	color6
5	Germany	50 a	50 aa	50 b	50 ba	50 c	50 d
6	DNG						6
7	DOA					5 II a	5 I, 5 II b, 10
8	DSWA						II, 10
9	Kamerun						6
10	Karolinen						6 I, 6 II
11	Kiautschou
12	Marianen						6 I, 6 II
13	Marshalls						6 II, 12
14	Samoa						6
15	Togo						6
16	China						6 I, 6 II
17	Morocco						VI, 6
18	Turkey	10 a	10 aa	10 b	10 ba	10 c	10 d