Baldus's first book was the two-volume Schwarze Post (1998), which dealt with the forged and propaganda stamps produced during the wars of the twentieth century.[3] It was later republished in an extended and revised edition as Postal Warfare: Espionage Forgeries and Propaganda Parodies of Postage Stamps, Postcards, and Letters.[4] In 2002 he produced Philatelic Witnesses: Stamps of Revolutions, one of only two of his works that were not self-published.[citation needed]
Genuine German 1941 Adolf Hitler 12pf stamp and American OSS skull parody stamp,[5] "futsch" translates as "gone" or "broken" in English
In 2003 he published The Postage Stamps of the Principality of Trinidad, the first in his series titled History and Background Stories of Unusual Stamps, which had reached nine volumes by 2012. Baldus is known for his meticulous approach,[6] in which he describes the background, production, and distribution of stamps produced by non-government entities, fraudsters, and fantasists, which are among the cinderella stamps of philately: often well known to collectors, but previously unresearched. The most recent book in the series is The Postage Stamps of the Principality of Atlantis (2012).[7]
In 2005 he continued the subject of espionage forgeries and propaganda parody stamps that he had begun with Schwarze Post by publishing German Propaganda Parodies against Great Britain that covers the topic of forgeries and propaganda stamps produced by prisoners of the Nazi regime at Sachsenhausen concentration camp during the Second World War.[3] Often the forged or parody stamps have been of so much interest to philatelists that they have themselves been forged to meet collector demand, and Baldus describes the different versions of the stamps, identifying the characteristics of the original forgeries or parodies and the later imitations.[6]
1895 $1 stamp of Clipperton Island
Also in 2005, he published OSS Hitler Stamps, A Philatelic Study on a Disputed Stamp Issue, a study of the stamps depicting Adolf Hitler that were produced by the United States Office of Strategic Services as part of Operation Cornflakes during the Second World War.[8] This operation included the forging of genuine German stamps as well as the creation of parody stamps such as one based on a genuine German 12pf stamp of 1941 that was changed to superimpose a skull over Hitler's face and with the wording changed from Deutsches Reich (German Empire) to Futsches Reich (broken or lost empire); the Americans hoped to insert the stamps into the German mail system in order to undermine civilian morale.[5][9]
German Propaganda Parodies against Great Britain. Secret Stamp Production in the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Great Britain & Commonwealth Philatelic Society, Berne. (2005) (2nd, 2006)
OSS Hitler Stamps, A Philatelic Study on a Disputed Stamp Issue. (2005)[8]
British Propaganda Forgeries of World War I. (2008)
Die Frank-Marke, Eine britische Propagandafälschung für das Generalgouvernement/The Frank Stamp, A British propaganda parody for the General Government. (2008) (With Michael Schweizer)
Parole der Woche (2009)
The President Who Lost His Face: A Philatelic Study on a Strange Postcard of Liberia. (2012)
^ abWilliams, L.N. & M. (1954) Forged Stamps of Two World Wars: The Postal Forgeries and Propaganda Issues of the Belligerents 1914–18 1939–45. London: L.N. & M. Williams. p.39.
^ abc"The Himmler Stamp", Chris Mobsby, The South African Philatelist, Vol. 89, No. 5 (October 2013), Whole No. 920, p. 175.
^ ab"Book Review The Postage Stamps of the Principality of Atlantis", Chris Mobsby, The Cinderella Philatelist, Vol. 52, No. 4 (October 2012), Whole No. 208, p. 146.
^ ab"OSS Hitler Stamps, A Philatelic Study on the OSS Hitler Stamps", The London Philatelist, Vol. 114, No. 1330 (Nov. 2005), p. 350.
