EFO 1942 JapOcc 5c surcharge

Bottom stamps have the two-line COMMONWEALTH overprint completely covered by deleting bars, top stamps not, in this block of four provisional issued on September 1, 1942.

EFO 1943 Limbagan

Top left stamp has a thin and short deleting bar over UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, top right stamp has thick and long deleting bar.Block of four 12-centavo Limbagan overprint of 1943 on 20-centavo "Juan dela Cruz" stamps of 1935 overprinted with small COMMONWEALTH in two lines.

EFO 1942 surcharge B

Short deleting bar covering UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Block of six 5-centavo surcharge of 1942 on 6-centavo Filipina allegory stamps of 1935 overprinted in 1939 with small COMMONWEALTH in two lines.

EFO 1942 surcharge A

Top stamps have deleting bars covering the small COMMONWEALTH overprint, bottom stamps don't.

Block of six 5-centavo surcharge of 1942 on 6-centavo Filipina allegory stamps of 1935 overprinted in 1939 with small COMMONWEALTH in two lines.

EFO 1961 overprint C

Broken N of National on both values.

10-centavo and 30-centavo 2nd National Boy Scout Jamboree tete-beche overprint of 1961 on the 6c+4c and 25c+5c 10th World Boy Scout Jamboree tete-beche semipostal of 1959.

EFO 1985 Philatelic Week P3

Black dot above the E of PHILATELIC, top right stamp of this corner block of four.

P3 Philatelic Week overprint of 1985 on P7.20 tranvia stamp of 1984.

Rizal martyrdom postal card

The short dividing line variety of the 1946 Rizal Martyrdom postal card.

1949: UPU 75th Anniversary

On October 9, 1949 the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union was commemorated with a set of three stamps and a souvenir sheet. Pictured is the UPU Monument in Berne, Switzerland. Philippines entered the UPU on January 1, 1922.

Quantities printed:
4c green (5,000,000)
6c purple (5,000,000)
18c blue (5,000,000)
28c imperforate souvenir sheet (1,000,000)

2,000,000 of the 18c stamp were surcharged in 1959.

Printing method: Engraved
Printers: American Bank Note Company
Perforation measurement for stamps: 12
Unwatermarked paper

Possible shades of color in all three stamps of the set.

Imperforate copies come from the souvenir sheet, which the post office allowed for use in mail beginning on August 31, 1960. The 6c and 4c are usually in pairs. Reportedly 915,000 souvenir sheets were cut up.

The quantity printed for the souvenir sheet was further reduced by an unofficial overprint in 1960 reading "President D.D. Eisenhower visit to the Philippines June 14-16,1960", and another overprinting by the post office in 1963.

[Data taken from various sources.]

1948: Rizal O.B. overprint

On December 30, 1948 another official stamp was released, this time an OB overprint on the Rizal 2c green definitive. This was the last issue for 1948.

Printing quantity: 12,999,100
Overprint printing by the Philippine Bureau of Printing
Perforation measurement: 12
Unwatermarked paper

The quantity printed was reduced by a later surcharge.

Overprint freaks:
Shifted and slanted upward (reading B.O. instead of O.B.)

[Data taken from various sources.]

1948-49: O.B. overprints

The first official stamps of the Republic era were five definitives of 1947 overprinted O.B. (for Official Business) issued on different dates:

May 1, 1948 (4c and 10c)
May 28, 1948 (16c)
January 23, 1949 (50c)
July 4, 1949 (20c)

The overprinting was done by the Philippine Bureau of Printing for the 4c, 16c and 50c and both the Philippine Bureau of Printing and the American Bank Note Company for the 10c and 20c.

Quantities printed:
4c (14,998,500)
10c (9,499,500)
16c (999,898)
20c (4,500,000)
50c (400,000)

A total of 787,879 of the 16c was withdrawn on July 26, 1950.

There are two measurements of the O.B. for the 10c:
13mm Manila printing
12-1/2mm New York printing

There are two measurements of the O.B. for the 20c:
13-1/2mm Manila printing
13mm New York printing

Errors:
4c overprint inverted, overprint doubled

Shifted overprints:
4c leftward, rightward (the extreme is B.O. instead of O.B.)
10c leftward, rightward, downward
16c leftward
20c rightward

Varieties:
10c small period after O

[Data taken from various sources.]

1946: 50th Anniversary of Martyrdom of Rizal issue

The only other Republic stamp issued in 1946 was for the 50th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal on December 30. This was an overprint of a Commonwealth definitive issued earlier in 1946 before the Proclamation of Independence issue.

Denomination: 2 centavos sepia (with black overprint)
Quantity printed: 1,500,000
Printing of base stamp by rotary press
Printers: US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (overprint by the Philippine Bureau of Printing)
Perforation measurement: 11x10-1/2
Unwatermarked paper

Shifted overprints (in different degrees):
downward
downward and to the right
downward and to the left
upward
upward and to the left
leftward
rightward

One source says forgeries of the overprint exist but I don't know what the differences are from the genuine overprint.

[Data taken from various sources.]

Rizal GO OB

Official G.O. overprint with additional O.B. handstamp.

Double impression of G.O.

1st Philacon FDC

Here's a first day cover for the Philacon '91 issue (an overprinted 1982 souvenir sheet).

The First National Philatelic Convention (Philacon '91) was held at the Manila Central Post Office from November 27 to 29, 1991.

Cachet at left represents the 10 participating stamp clubs: APO Philatelic Society, Filipino-Chinese Philatelic Society, Baguio Philatelic Society, General Santos City Stamp Club, Cebu Philatelic Society, International Philippine Philatelic Society, Chinese Philatelists' Club of the Philippines, Philippine Philatelic Auction Club, Clark Stamp Club, and Quezon City Philatelic Society.

Amitypex 85 FDC

Here's a first day cover for the 10th Anniversary of Philippine-China Diplomatic Relations issue of 1985.

According to the Amitypex '85 show cancel, the exhibit was held from June 8 to 17, but other sources say June 9 to 16.

The initial overprinting of the 1981 souvenir sheets had no apostrophes on the inscription PEOPLE'S, so these were added later by hand. Succeeding overprints have apostrophes.

EFO 1988 surcharge

Narrow P3.00 upper stamp, wide P3.00 lower stamp

Extra long upper deleting bar of bottom stamp

More varieties of the 1988 surcharge (see May 15, 2017 post).

OB missing hyphen

Clearly, a missing hyphen after the COMMON in this 1938 issue.

Scoutpex 79

This is a first day cover for Scoutpex '79, the 1st Scout Philatelic Exhibition held at Quezon City from July 4 to 14, 1979, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the first national jamboree held at Quezon City in 1954.

It's cancelled at U.P. Diliman Post Office,one of two cancellations (the other is Manila).

There also was an overprinted souvenir sheet for Scoutpex '79.

One of the three sponsors of this event shown on the cachet is the APO Philatelic Society.

museum and library

In 1992 the Philippine Postal Museum and Philatelic Library was inaugurated.

To mark this event, the 1980 MacArthur Centenary souvenir sheet was overprinted.

Sadly this facility today no longer exists.

missing hyphen

This stamp was described in an auction as a "no hyphen" error.

Under magnification, however, you could barely see the faint hyphen after COMMON — that is, if my eyes still don't deceive me!

EFO 1969 overprint

The overprints on this block of four were described in an auction sale as having "missing letters".

Under magnification, however, all letters are discernible. 

The overprint was for the inauguration of President Marcos's second term. Base stamp is the 6s value of the 1966 Marcos oath-taking issue.