A quarter of a groschen for the tobacco rollers?

The Duchy of Oldenburg (Grand Duchy from 1815) had tobacco factories but virtually no tobacco growing. However, there was a great demand for snuff, chewing tobacco and especially cigars. The tobacco leaves had to be sourced mainly from overseas, not least from Cuba. This, of course, delighted philatelists because orders to Cuba required correspondence, i.e. covers, especially those with stamp franking. But there was a problem: a cover to Cuba sometimes cost 6 ¾ groschen (which was ultimately due to the fact that the conversion of postage from foreign currencies also involved quarter fractions of a groschen). By 1860, however, there were no stamps in the ¼ groschen denomination. Apart from partial cash franking, the only option was to issue stamps in this denomination, which was done in 1861. In fact, only a few foreign letters required an additional ¼ groschen franking, which makes this stamp an exceptional rarity in used condition and especially on the cover. In our 55th auction, we can offer a cover with such a stamp under lot number 5100.