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Article

01

Ruud Verberne: Preface 2016: 50 years of the Hellenic Philatelic Society of the Netherlands

02

Frans van Limpt: The Greeks and their heroes

Frans shows how some of the "Heroes of the Revolution of 1821" in the course of time have been given the designation "hero". He pays particular attention to the life story and the hero worshipping of Laskarina Bouboulina, Andreas Vokos (Miaoulis), Markos Botsaris and Theodoros Kolokotronis.

09

Ruud Verberne: The first Greek inflation period: emissions 1942-1944

Between September 11th, 1942 and September 15th, 1944 in five stages a large, long-running series appeared, known as the 'landscapes'. Ruud describes the course of the series, the series of rate changes and the additional fee stamps. All this is well illustrated with images of mail franked with single, multiple and mixed frankings.

30

Hans Paul Soetens: The First World War and Greece in timelines part 8 Noemvriana and blockade; censorship up to 1916/censorship in Athens and Thessaloniki

In the first part of this trilogy, the foreign censorship applied to the Greek Post is discussed. There is particular emphasis on French, Italian and Bulgarian censorship. Next, attention is paid to the National Schism that resulted in two separated Greek “Countries”. The focus is on the censorship in Greece in the area beyond the control of the Armée d'Orient. Finally, Hans Paul discusses the French and English censorship of the Armée d'Orient. Also, the "NO" marking is explained.

53

Olav Petri: Grammos, Alexandria: tracks in the philately of discord and mutiny

The mountains Grammos and Vitsi in Greece symbolize the end of the civil war that tore the country in two factions after the Second World War. Nationalists / royalists and communists were fighting each other. Olav tells of a number of events that illustrate this conflict, such as the emergence of resistance during the Second World War, the mutiny inside the Greek Navy in Egypt and subsequent tensions between left and right.

57

Jan van den Berg: The first Greek postcard

In 1876 the first Greek postcard appeared, with the impression of a value of 15 lepta. This was intended for use abroad. In the article, Jan tells about the post-historical background of this postcard. He also discusses the technical details (two types on the printing plate) and differences between the first Parisian printing and the later Athenian printing.

67

Ruud Verberne: Hellas, the history of the Greek world after the classical period to the end of 1917 in a nutshell, partly seen through the lens of philately.

Referring to a number of topics, Ruud sketches the history of Greece, illustrated with stamps relating thereto. Areas covered include the Greek-Roman relations, Byzantine and Ottoman period, the role of Napoleon and Kapodistrias, the developments of the young Greek state and Greece in the First World War.

80

Rien Smit: Fake (ing) through the years

Greek stamp-collecting is characterized by many fakes and forgeries. Rien gives a number of examples regarding issues like the Large and Small Hermes heads, both Olympiad emissions, the 1912 campaign and later series, as well as postage and surcharge stamps.

84

Joost Meijer: Ikaria, a "blue zone" in philately?

The small island of Ikaria experienced a brief period of independence in 1912, after which the island joined Greece. This article outlines the history of the stamps issued in that period and looks at a number of later forgeries and "bogus" stamps.

93

Oscar van der Vliet: Sinking with a bank; the history of the shipping company P.M. Courtgis

Oscar outlines the rise, shine and decline of this shipping- company between 1883 and 1911. The company was based in Mytilene (Lesvos). The article is illustrated with a number of fiscal documents, seals and commercial and official markings.

103

Frans Bruna: Almost 50 years of our Bulletin "Hermes”

The editor provides a brief overview of the history of the magazine "Hermes".