10¢ - Yellow orange, deep yellow orange
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Subject: James Monroe
Number issued: 1,890,000
Perforations: 11 x 10½
Overprinted: Nebr.
Scott #: 679
Issued: April 18th, 1929
Used
60¢ - $1
No postmark with gum (MH)
$13 - $20
Full perfect gum, no postmark
no trace of stamp hinge mark (MNH)
$25 - $90
#679 was issued with the following plate #'s
Number only
19234-35
A first day cover of #679, dated May 1st, 1929. This was the first date it was issued at the Philatelic Bureau in Washington DC. The true first date of issue was April 18th, 1929, the day it was issued in Nebraska.
The vignette came from a painting of President James Monroe by J. Van der Lin
Monroe was chosen because of the foreign policy that bears his name, the Monroe Doctrine
To prevent the thieves from transporting stamps out of Kansas and Nebraska and selling them elsewhere, the Post Office tried overprinting the letters Kans. on stamps slated for sale in Kansas and Nebr. on stamps that were to be sold in Nebraska. All post offices in Kansas and Nebraska received overprinted stamps except for Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita, Omaha, and Lincoln There larger post offices were not included as security at those post offices was considered sufficient. Higher values were not included as the overprints could only be performed by rotary press.
This was an experiment, which if successful would be extended to all states. These overprints would be valid throughout the United States. However it did not prove a success as many postal workers in the USA were not aware of these overprints and would not accept them as valid postage.
The overprints were commonly faked. The amateur simply used a typewriter. The professional fake was a bit more advanced. Here are some clues to a stamp having a fake overprint.
The faint ridges seen horizontally across the gum are called gum breakers. They were applied by the Bureau in order to prevent the stamps curling. Sometimes they are so faint they can only be detected by running your finger over the gum. The gum breakers on the Kansas and Nebraska overprinted stamps are 22mm apart. Which means only one gum breaker, or two if the breakers are at the very top and bottom of the gum, should be present. The example above is NOT an overprint as the gum breakers because the gum breakers should be further apart.
The counterfeit stamp shown above has an incorrect typeface on the Nebr. overprint.
An obvious forgery, the overprint is both the wrong typeface and the letters are not aligned.