Bohemia and Moravia
Stamps of 1939

Michel 8
"Portraits - Milan Stefanik"

Issued 15th July 1939. Czechoslovak issued stamps with "BÖHMEN u. MÄHREN / ČECHY a MORAVA" overprint. Former country name obliterated using 3 lines. This stamp features a portrait of Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880-1919), politician, diplomat and aviator.

Mi 8
60H
blackish violet purple
Milan Stefanik

Valid until: 15th Dec 1939

Quantities: 277,600

Unlike some other stamps in this set Michel 8 exists overprinted on existing stamps as well as on new stamps. Existing overprints are much rarer than overprinted new printings.

There are many counterfeit overprints in existance, the genuine overprints can be detected by magnification where it can be seen that the overprint is made up of small dots. The counterfeit examples are typically solid and do not show individual dots. In addition there are many counterfeit cancellations, many of which are backdated and these need to be expertised to ensure they are genuine.

The new printings can be differentiated from the original printings in that there is a coloured dot above the 1st and 20th stamp as well as below the plate numbers on the sheet. None of the original printings have these dots.

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