German Margin HAN

[MikeC99]

I have been expanding my collection of Germania stamps and today received in the mail the following two beauties with HAN numbers in the margin:

The HAN is a print run/job number.  In this case it starts with "H" then a five digit number and followed by a period with a two digit number representing the year the sheet was printed.

I have seen other margin numbers from the 1940s and there is no alpha number in the HAN.  Is there anyone who can tell me some more info about HAN numbers and did the alpha character in the HAN only last for a certain period of time?

Mike

[Craig]

I didn't know about these!

[Admin Bear]

always learning something new.. thanks man..

[PostmasterGS]

HAN numbers were first used during fiscal year (Apr-Mar) 1902.

Initially, the HAN numbers consisted of 3 or 4 digits, beginning at 101. Around 1904, the "H" was added, and around 1908, a two-digit suffix was added denoting the fiscal year. For example, your samples above are from FY15 and FY19.

Sometime in the 1920s, the "H" was dropped. "V" made an appearance in the 1930s, and "D", "Br", and "Hü" in the 1940s. In between (and later), a strictly numeric series was used with digits denoting the order number, series, plate number, and/or fiscal year. The HAN numbers were discontinued altogether around 1966.

I don't know of any detailed references in English, but if you happen to speak German I can point you to a few.

[MikeC99]

PostmasterGS, thank you very much for this additional info on HAN numbers. I don't speak German so those other references won't help.
Mike

[Gordon Lee]

Greetings Mr. MikeC99 and Mr. PostmasterGS
.
Maybe one of you can tell us poor folks that have been born under a rock what "HAN" stands for or what it translates into for us? Sounds like to me, one of the un-enlightened, that it is nothing more than a "block" number -- or is it?
.
Respectfully,

Gordon Lee

[Butterfly]

This has been a mystery to me also, though I do speak a bit of German.
HAN is just an abbreviation for Haus-Auftrags-Nummer, which translates literally to in-house order number, which still leaves one in the dark as to the exact meaning. I'm thinking, from what PostmasterGS said, that it denoted different things at different times, such as order number or batch number or whatever the printers thought might be useful.

I'm guessing that the 6 in the block of 2pf stamps denotes 6th sheet in that batch.

[PostmasterGS]

HAN stands for Hausauftragsnummer, which literally translates as "house order number". The HAN was an in-house number used by the printer to track the order under which the printings were billed. In the blocks shown above, the "H" was the standard HAN prefix at the time, the 4-digit is the order number, and the trailing 2-digit is the fiscal year of the order.

The "6" on the 2 Pf block above is a plate number.