Bidspirit auction | Emergency Mail Stamps – Tsefat

Emergency Mail Stamps – Tsefat (10 Mils) – Siege Period, 1948 - Philatelic exhibit page describing the local emergency stamps of Tsefat issued during the 1948 War of Independence when normal postal services ceased. The decorative heading Israel Postal Issues features Zionist motifs, Stars of David and views of modern Tel Aviv and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The page displays two 10 mils local “Doar Tsefat” stamps: Left: example cancelled in red. Right: example uncancelled (or with partial cancellation). The printed text explains the historical background: during the siege of Tsefat the Mandate post office closed and a temporary Jewish postal service opened on May 4, 1948. Since Mandate stamps were exhausted and Minhelet Ha’am stamps were unavailable, approximately 2,200 locally produced 10 mil stamps were printed and used until the arrival of Doar Ivri stamps on May 15. The stamps were printed on the inside of security envelopes with blue wavy lines, ungummed, and affixed by the postal clerk at the time of mailing. Early mail was cancelled with a crude boxed handstamp and later with a circular “Doar Tsefat” cancel in carmine red. An attractive and informative exhibit item illustrating a short and remarkable chapter in the postal history of the 1948 siege of Tsefat. Condition: Very good. Format: Philatelic exhibit page with two original stamps.