TYPE: A 4, A 5
ISSUED: January 1, 1900
PROCESS: Engraved
PERF: 11½, 12 x 11½
PAPER: Watermarked crown in circle over four stamps
DESIGNER: (A4) Johann Bohm
DESIGNER: (A5) Edmund (Odon) Tull
PURPOSE: New monetary values necessitated new stamps. 100 filler equals 1 korona
DESIGN: (A4) A turul soaring over the Hungarian crown. (The mythical bird of the Magyars).
(A5) Emperor Franz Joseph wearing the Hungarian crown.
NOTES:
The 1, 2, 3, 5, 20 and 1 kr are known to exist in horizontal pairs, imperf between; the 3-20 and 1 kr. are known to exist imperf all around.
If you are interested in the watermarks, the paper on which the 1900 issue was printed was obtained from a paper manufacturing plant located in the town of Nagyszlabos. The watermark, consisting of intersecting circles each containing a St. Stephen’s crown, appears throughout the sheet. The circles are 441½ to 46 mm. in diameter. A star appears in every third space formed by the intersecting circles. This star is the trade mark of the paper manufacturer. Underneath, and in the next row of spaces of the intersecting circles, there appears the Roman numeral IV. This is the mark of the quality of the paper. The quality and trade watermarks appear in four places in each sheet of 100 stamps. The position of the watermark depends upon the method used to feed the paper into the press. Four different positions may exist. These positions can be determined from the position of the small cross on top of the crown and the numeral IV.