Spanish Civil War (1936-39)

renden ,

I am not a specialist collector of Spain. I, only, can observe the striking differences between the overprint on millersville 's stamp and that depicted in my own 2023 Edifil Cátalogo Unificado, or on the one offered on Ebay.

The seller on Ebay is an established stamp dealer from Barcelona. Neither his listings on Ebay, nor his listings on his own website give me a reason to doubt the stamp he has on offer. However, a stamp with an obscure overprint that he claims is listed by Edifil with a catalogue value of € 475, even at the offered price half the catalogue value shouts 'Can you provide a recent certificate?'

As for the stamp posted by millersville, I think there is good reason to doubt the genuiness of that overprint. Again, I am not an expert. Nor do I have one of these specialised Edifil catalogues. If millersville does not come to the same conclusion - which is understandable -, there is the posibility to have it expertised by one of the established Spanish expertisers.

I think the colour of the overprint itself is not a reason to disqualify the stamp as genuine but the very poor quality, likely, is.

I'm neither a collector nor a specialist on Spanish stamps. But, I happen to have an "Edifil especializado"(1995) catalog on my library. It lists a black overprint variety on the blue 50 cents (Canarias # 29hcc) with a very high quotation (75000 pta = 625 €) for the time. The text looks very much like the one on the stamp for sale and it's different from that of our friend. I guess, it's a forgery. I'm Sorry!

Assuming you do not want to keep it:

It appears to be a forgery. But I wonder if that was what people thought when the black overprint first surfaced. Destroying it would deny specialists to assess whether it is a forgery or an unknown overprint such as a proof. Alternatively, if it is confirmed as a forgery (as it appears to be), destroying it would deny the collecting community the opportunity to use it as a reference of what they should look out for.

If confirmed a forgery, it should, clearly and indelibly,  be marked as such. If so, I do not see the harm in selling it as a forgery.
As long as it is not confirmed, I can also understand that it is sold with the caveat it, likely, is a forgery. Marking it as a possible forgery is an option. I would hesitate to do so indelibly if there is any reasonable doubt.

I did not find in the catalog Scott the 5c stamp and no information about the use of half of Scott # 647.




I saw that the catalogs mention the use of cut stamps - I guess when it was legal.
Is this also the case here?

rednaxela, thank you, but by accessing your link this is what I got

gstamps

"cut stamps" = Bisects.

The "Pro Sevilla" obligatory charity stamp,  is a consistant date with the covers I have seen of 1937  (Sevilla to Stuttgart)

also Seville to Paris 24th December 1937

Beryllium Guy, a wonderful idea! I'll reach out to the AFRL and see if it is of interest. Thank you as well, salmantino . Chris

 My word!  YES very interesting !

This discipline is possibly the most difficult in all Philately  (Along with Turkish Postmarks)
You need very rare and expensive catalogues

I collect them, but really I only meddle, as they are difficult to source.

You have a fine starter collection. (lots of Pro Sevilla,  the boxed frame cancel is a Seville Registration strike)

cursus   should be able to identify the CATALUNYA examples


This interloper is Spain  Postage Stamp 1938 Scott 599  45c  ("Republic" with Phrygian Cap)

djcmh


1938 Air
Nacional Stamp
Habilitacion tipografica
Emision Privada
3 Values
15c
30c
1 Peseta blue and orange

Asturias Liberada
Agradecica a
Franco
Ariba Espana
Correo

There are several categories of civil war local issues. This one is a local private overprint (emisión local privada). Quite a few Spanish dealers have a section for these on their website. The stamp title tends to include 'ELP.' The specialised Edifil catalogues tend to list these. Almost all are utter fakes.

Gálvez - Edifil recently reprinted the 1960 edition - also lists them. It should be kept in mind that, as a dealer, Gálvez had something to gain by presenting them as authorised. It does not invalidate his listing. You just should keep in mind you are buying stamps someone overprinted to make collectors part with money. Many stamps were considered to have been authorised by local military commanders. However, as more of these authorisations have been investigated, many are found to be authorised years after the fact, and / or by commanders that were not responsible for the area at the time they were "issued." This is feeding the believe most are utter fakes.

The postal authorities, often, condoned their use, as the basic stamps were genuine and exalted the military or republic that controlled the area. 
 
Local stamps that were genuine are those of Asturias and León that were issued on the Republican site shortly before the military took control of the regions, the provisional issues for Menorca, and the Canary Isles' airmail overprints that paid the surcharge for the service from Las Palmas to Lisbon and Germany operated by Deutsche Lufthansa (flight TO 191, connecting with line 22 to Burgos) from 31 October 1936 until the end of April 1938.

Then, there are the local stamps often constituting a compulsory tax on mail. Many of these are catalogued by Julio Allepuz Querol (several volumes divided into volumes for republican and nationalist locals).
 
In this specific case, the basic stamp is Edifil nr. 835, issued in the nationalist part of Spain (Burgos government, not a local issue!) for the 1937 Jubilee Year of Santiago, in 1937. The overprint falls in the category 'ELP' and should be considered a fantasy (fake) item, as there was no requirement for airmail stamps before 5 May 1938, and Asturias (Oviedo) itself had no airmail service in 1937.

Finally, there are forgeries of authorised and private overprints.

Interestingly, the exact same stamp (same placing of overprint, same torn lower right perforation, same background) with forged overprint made it to Colnect.