A “first day cover” and the 2- and 3-franc stamps of the 1939 coat-of-arms series
Liechtenstein issued a new definitive stamp series with coats of arms on 18 December 1939. From the same day originates a registered letter posted in Vaduz to Lucerne, franked with the two highest values of this series, 2 francs and 3 francs. The cover is postally genuine but clearly overfranked and therefore unmistakably philatelic in nature. Precisely for this reason it serves well as a starting point for a content-based analysis: the focus is not on the postage rate, but on the message conveyed by the stamps themselves. Although both stamps belong to the same series, they follow two different heraldic concepts. This distinction was deliberate and can be observed particularly clearly on this first day cover.
The 2-Franc Stamp: The Prehistory of Vaduz and Schellenberg
The 2-franc stamp does not show a single coat of arms, but rather a combination of several coats of arms. Depicted are the arms of the lordships of Werdenberg-Sargans, Brandis, Sulz, and Hohenems. This representation does not form a new composite coat of arms, but instead refers to a historical sequence.
It represents the succession of territorial lords over the County of Vaduz and the Lordship of Schellenberg, from which the Principality of Liechtenstein later emerged. In the High Middle Ages, rule was first exercised by the Counts of Werdenberg-Sargans, who established the first coherent territorial authority in the Alpine Rhine Valley (banner). They were followed by the Barons of Brandis (burning branch), who actually administered Vaduz and Schellenberg locally. In the 16th century, rights passed by inheritance and contractual arrangements to the Counts of Sulz (three points). Their economic difficulties ultimately led to Vaduz and Schellenberg passing to the Counts of Hohenems (ibex), who were the last secular lords over both territories. All four coats of arms of these ruling houses reappear in the 1964 coat-of-arms series. From the Counts of Hohenems—by then virtually insolvent and entangled in numerous scandals—the House of Liechtenstein acquired Schellenberg in 1699 and Vaduz in 1712; in 1719 these two lordships were elevated to the Imperial Principality of Liechtenstein, a goal the princes had pursued for almost seventy years.
The 2-franc stamp therefore does not refer to the state of Liechtenstein itself, but to the legal prehistory of its formation. The coats of arms shown represent individual stages in a chain of ownership and legal succession. They explain where the rights of rule originated, not who exercises them today. The stamp thus works deliberately in a historical and argumentative, rather than a representative, manner.
The 3-Franc Stamp: The Princely Coat of Arm
The 3-franc stamp follows a completely different approach. It depicts the princely coat of arms of the House of Liechtenstein. This coat of arms is a closed heraldic composition and represents the dynasty, not the formation of the state.
The composite arms consist of several fields (coats of arms) referring to former possessions and titles of the princely house, mainly in Moravia, Silesia, and Bohemia, such as Troppau, Jägerndorf, or Rietberg. These territories lie outside the present-day principality and belong to the European noble history of the House of Liechtenstein. They have no direct connection to the territorial formation of the state.
At the center of the coat of arms is a small shield, heraldically referred to as the “inescutcheon (heraldic shield of the House of Liechtenstein)”. This inescutcheon is normally horizontally divided gold above red below (as shown on the multicolored stamp issued in 2006). It is the actual coat of arms of the Liechtenstein princely family. It contains no figures and no additional symbols. Its function is to clearly identify, within the complex composite arms, which house is the bearer of the depicted titles and possessions.
Two Stamps – A Deliberate Separation
The two high values of the coat-of-arms series thus differ clearly in their message. The 2-franc stamp works with several foreign coats of arms and makes visible the historical succession of rule over Vaduz and Schellenberg, up to the “installation” / tribute (see also here) of Prince Anton Florian by the Emperor and the people of Liechtenstein, respectively. The 3-franc stamp, by contrast, shows a dynastic composite coat of arms with an inescutcheon and presents the princely house as the present bearer of authority.
The two coat-of-arms stamps issued for the tribute to Franz Joseph II appeared on 18 December 1939; the stamp bearing his portrait (shown here as a miniature sheet with his signature) was issued on the day of his tribute, 29 May 1939.
On the registered “first day cover”, these two levels appear side by side. Even though the franking is not postally rate-correct, it illustrates the conceptual structure of the series particularly clearly: on the one hand, the origin of the rights of rule; on the other, the house that continues to hold those rights today.
This clear, factual separation gives the high values of the 1939 coat-of-arms series their particular appeal. The stamps avoid simplified symbolism and instead use heraldry in a differentiated way. They make visible that state and dynasty in Liechtenstein are connected, yet historically operate on different levels.
Details of the Two Stamps
- Issue date: 1939-12-18
- Valid until: 1943-11-30
- Designers: Ferdinand Lorber (engraver) | Johannes Troyer
- Format: Special stamp
- Perforation: 12
- Printing: Intaglio (engraved)
- Face value: 2 francs – Swiss francs
- Print run: 56,993