Heraldryshop
Catalogue and shop of heraldic collector's items

Cigar Bonds
Heraldic Albums
Matchbox labels
Postcard series
Tobacco cards
Tea- and trading cards
Postage stamps
Other stamps

Austria
Germany
Netherlands
Netherlands Indies
Switzerland

Shop

About us

Contact

Wanted

Civic heraldry literature

Guestbook

What is new ?

Heraldryshop > Catalogue > Albums > Hag >

Die Wappen der Schweiz
Armorial de la Suisse

Album information :

Issued by : Café Hag, Feldmeilen bei Zürich Date of issue : 1911- +/-1965 Number of stamps/cards (official) : 2053 Image variants : Thousands, due to multiple reprints and different heraldic artists, +/- 5000 different images exist.

Introduction

The Swiss Coffee Hag series are the most complicated series of all the Coffee Hag albums. The Swiss albums were actually the first to be issued, as early as 1910 and were reprinted many times until the mid 1960s. This has resulted in a series of at least 76 different albums and more than 2500 variations in images. In total the number of stamps issued for the Swiss series is more than for all other series combined !

The series were started in 1911 with the first album with Kantons und Stadtwappen (arms of Cantons and cities), numbered 1-80. This album was printed at three different locations (München, Laupen and an unmarked issue) with the same images, but the stamps differed slightly in design. The 2nd album with arms of towns and villages (Stadt-und Dorfgemeinden, numbered 81-144) was also issued at the same time and same locations. The third album (images 145-288) was issued only at two locations in 1922. In 1923 the fourth album, named Stadt-und Dorfgemeinden (Serie C) was issued, and the numbering was started again with 1-48.

The series was then discontinued in the same style and redesigned. In 1926 the new series were started, in which not only town arms, but also personal and other arms were planned. The series started again with album 4, which has the same towns as the old series number 4, but now in a different design of album and images. Later albums 5-18 were issued in more or less the same style. Albums 4 and 5 were later combined to album 4/5, which, in a later issue, was again renamed album 5. In the 1950s the lay-out was changed again, and all albums (5-18) were issued with the new design, and an album 19 was added. Before WWII also two albums with arms of monasteries, dioceses and othe religious arms were issued as numbers 1 and 2. An album 3 was never issued in the new series.

To complicate matters, the albums were also continously revised. Arms were changed and updated due to recent grants, and the number of inhabitants was adjusted. In a few cases towns were replaced by other towns. This all has resulted in the (at least) 76 different albums.

The arms were also often restyled and the towns and cantons of the old albums 1-3 were re-issued in the new series. Some arms thus have been published in more than 5 variations ! An example is shown below for Altstätten.

	The upper row shows the arms from the old series, the lower row from the new series in different design. In the last image the bear no longer has red claws.

Some differences in style of the back of the images (later issues have no longer any information on the back)are shown below. More than 5 styles are known, but not for each town all styles have been issued.

Overview of albums issued

The albums were issued with the following front types :

	type 1		type 2		type 3		type 4

Type 1 and 2 were only used for the old series, albums 1-4. Types 3 and 4 were used for the second series.

The table below shows the different albums that have been issued. The albums can be distinguished in most cases by the advertisement on the back, with the exception of the old series, and in the new series with type 4 fronts.

For the old series 10 different albums have been issued, for the new series at leat 66 different albums are known.

The albums of the old series :

Album code	front	back	identification marks, when backs identical
O1-A
O1-B			Identical as O1-CD, no publisher mentioned
O1-C			Identical as O1-BD, issued by Polygrafische Gesellschaft, Laupen bei Bern
O1-D			Identical as O1-BC, issued by B. Heller, München
O2-A
O2-B			Identical as O2-C, no publisher mentioned
O2-C			Identical as O2-B, issued by Polygrafische Gesellschaft, Laupen bei Bern
O3-B
O3-C
O4-C

The albums of the new series (fronts only type is given, not actual front, which differs only in the number of the album):

Album code	Images	front type	back	identification marks, when backs identical
1A	Klosterwappen 1	hardcover, no markings	hardcover, no markings	Special issue in very limited edition
1B
1C
1F			only name of publisher
2A	Klosterwappen 2	hardcover, no markings	hardcover, no markings	Special issue in very limited edition
2B
2C
2F			only name of publisher
4A	Images 1-48
4B				Image smaller as for 4A, index at the end of the album
4C				Identical cover as 4B, but with index at the beginning of the album and smaller typeset
5A	Images 49-138
5B				Identical covers as 5C, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 48 Altdorf has 4127 inhabitants.
5C				Identical covers as 5B, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 48 Altdorf has 4200 inhabitants.
4/5D	Images 1-138
5F (or 4/5 F)	Images 1-138		no markings
6A	Images 139-228
6B
6C				Identical covers as 6D, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 139 Sirnach has 6771 inhabitants.
6D				Identical covers as 6D, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 139 Sirnach has 4950 inhabitants.
6E
6F			no markings
7A	Images 229-336
7B				Identical covers as 7C, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 230 Bremgarten has 1031 inhabitants.
7C				Identical covers as 7B, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 230 Bremgarten has 953 inhabitants.
7D
7F			no markings
8A	Images 337-447
8B
8C
8F			no markings
9B	Images 448-555			Publishers name in lower right corner
9C				Publishers name centered
9D and 9Da				Album 9Da is a misprint, with last page missing, images have to be glued on the cover.
9F			only name of publisher
10A	Images 556-663
10B
10D
10F			only name of publisher
11B	Images 664-771			Identical covers as 11C, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 664 Agno has 368 inhabitants.
11C				Identical covers as 11B, but the numbers of inhabitants of the towns differ; nr 664 Agno has 420 inhabitants.
11F			only name of publisher
12B	Images 772-879			Identical covers as 12C, but name of publisher Fretz Frères S.A. Zürich
12C				Identical covers as 12C, but name of publisher Impr. Fretz Frères S.A. Zürich
12D
12F			only name of publisher
13B	Images 880-1005
13C
13F			only name of publisher
14B	Images 1006-1131
14C
14F			only name of publisher
15D	Images 1132-1257
15E
15F			only name of publisher
16B	Images 1258-1383
16C
16F			no markings
17B	Images 1384-1509
17E
17F			no markings
18C	Images 1510-1635
18F			only name of publisher
19E	Images 1635-1761
19F			only name of publisher

Contents:

The albums are bilingual and in the table below all names are mentioned in both languages as shown in the albums.