NUMERAL CANCELS ON GERMAN STATES STAMPS

Various German states used numeral cancels on their earlier stamp issues.
There was normally one number for each post town, and initially number order from "1" matching alphabetical town order, but then adding extras at the end as needed, when the postal system expanded. It is a very collectable subject.
Here is a brief summary of what is possible to find :
BADEN : 177 numeral cancels, inside a ring, various forms, including toothed. Also similar but smaller "thimble" numeral cancels are "Uhrad-stempel" (postman's cancel), used on local mail or during sorting, scarce (see front cover for a nice collection of these).
BAVARIA : "Gear wheel" cancels 1-402 in the original listing, additional numbers to 603 in 1856, totally reallocated and renumbered to 606 in 1856, replaced by "open"(square dots outside the circle) in 1857 with same numbers to 605. Hence the related town is not always easy, depends partly on the period of stamp issue.
BRUNSWICK : Numbers 1-50 in diamond of bars.
PRUSSIA : 1-1725 in alphabetical order and further numbers to 1987 added later, many small localities especially in the eastern districts, and keenly collected in Germany.
SAXONY : 1-220 in a cross-hatched ring, some known in red or blue.
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN : 1-42 in horizontal bars (like Belgian cancels) for Holstein, then most numbers between 2-225 in three-ring cancel, Danish style.
THURN & TAXIS : 1-424 in four-ring cancel, alphabetical to 87 and rest added later, some can be found in red or blue (premium).

Special use of a few numbers can be found for a couple of other states:
ALSACE-LORRAINE & NGC : about 15 old French "lozenge of dots" numeral cancels (small figures and large figures) were used as emergency cancels in the Franco-Prussian war (premium).
MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN : Danish numeral cancels can be found from some trans-border mail (premium).

Wurttemburg plus the other smaller states not mentioned above used only town names or other instructional cancels, without a numbering system.