Watch List notes:

Early Jewish National Fund Raising Sheets. Rarely seen a group of fund-raising labels issued after the First Zionist Congress in 1897 printed in Germany and France as well as later in Russia. Printed in sheets of 360, this lot contains 4 partial sheets totalling about 1200 "stamps" about half of which are with "DIENSTSHCHE" overprints. Some of these stamps on the edges are torn, still this is quite a large holding of this elusive item and is seldom seen in the market place today. Included in this lot are more modern Israel covers including forerunners plus some imperforate errors of the 1951 30th anniversary of Histadruth. A very interesting semi-numismatic, semi-philatelic group. Estimated Value $1,000 - UP
The Zion stamp was first printed by the J.N.F. as a means of fund-raising on postage and all Jewish documents and correspondence after the First Zionist Congress in 1897. However, the earliest prints were in 1904 and 1905 in Berlin, Germany and in Paris, France. In 1906 Zion stamps were printed in Odessa, Russia and were used extensively, through illegally in Russian and Poland. In czarist Russia, the possession of Zion stamps and their use involved a severe penalty.

These are the authentic Zion stamps which were printed on sheets of 360. They are very rare and there are probably no more than approximately 100 such sheets throughout the world.
Ex David Hendin Collection (author of Guide to Biblical Coins).