Coffee Hag Albums - The Albums

The Albums

Two series, Germany and Switzerland, were started before World War I and were never finished. In the 1920s and 1930s the second series of these countries as well as the other countries were launched. In each country different heraldic artists were used to write the albums and draw the images.

In the 1920s the series were again published in Switzerland and Germany, followed by other countries. The following albums were published:

• Germany 1st series: 6 albums, plus a series of stamps for Silesia, but no album Silezia
• Switzerland old series: 4 albums
• Germany new series: 10 albums, the 11th album (German-Austria) was planned, but not issued
• Switzerland new series : 19 albums, with multiple reprints. More than 60 albums are known
• Netherlands: 2 albums, loose sheets with multiple storage options
• Belgium: 6 albums, 3 Dutch and 3 French albums (identical)
• Poland: 1 album, 2nd album planned, but not issued
• Danzig: 1 album
• Norway: 1 album and one reprint
• Sweden: 1 album
• Denmark: 1 album
• Yugoslavia: 1 album - also contains rare stamps from pre-WWII Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia
• Austria: 1 album, with additional luxury edition
• Czechoslovakia: 1 album, with additional luxury edition
• England/Ireland: 1 album
• France (as Café Sanka): 6 albums (of 40 planned)

In total around 125 different albums were published between 1914 and 1955. Albums for the Baltic states, Italy as well as a second album for Poland and an 11th for Germany were planned, but never issued. The French series stopped after 6 albums of the planned 40. More than 12500 different stamps were issued, making it the largest heraldic publication of the 20th century.

The image stamps were collected using coupons in the coffee packages, not only from Hag, but sometimes in packagesof other companies as well. The stamps were issued in sheets, but the sizes of the sheets as well as the distribution was organised differently in each country.