Romania Stamps
1939

Michel Block 5
"Birth Centenary of King Carol I"

Issued 1939. This block is imperforate and measures 126 x 146mm. Not to be confused with Michel Block 6 which is identical except the stamps are perf 14 x 15½, or the 1940 version identified as Michel Block 11 which is identical except with a 'PRO PATRIA 1940' Overprint. This minisheet consists of 4 stamps Michel 586B, 587B, 588B and 589B which are imperforate versions of Michel 573, Michel 577, Michel 578 and Michel 579.

King Carol I (20th Apr 1839 – 10th Oct 1914) was born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and was the King of Romania from 1866 to 1914.

Romania and other balkan states issued a large number of minisheets which could be used postally but were generally aimed at stamp collectors who added them to their collections. It was a good source of extra revenue for the postal services. It is easy to find uncancelled examples of these minisheets but much more difficult to find postally used examples.