Postage stamps

Eastern Silesia · 71 stamps

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1920

1920 Czechoslovakian Postage Stamps Overprinted "SO 1920"

After 1918 both Czechoslovakia and Poland claimed the Těšín region. For the planned plebiscite both countries overprinted their stamps S.O. 1920 – Silésie Orientale, Eastern Silesia – and they were in use from February to September 1920.

The vote never took place: the border was settled by the powers on 28 July 1920.

Sources: Wikipedia: Eastern Silesia, znamky.cz: SO 1920

SW	Pofis	Type	Value	Printed
1	SO1	A	1 H	515 000
2	SO2	A1	3 H	470 000
3	SO3	A2	5 H
4	SO4	A3	10 H
5	SO5	A4	15 H
6	SO6	A5	20 H
7	SO7	A6	20 H
8	SO8	A7	25 H
9	SO9	A8	30 H
10	SO11	A9	40 H	250 000
11	SO12	A10	50 H
12	SO13	A11	50 H
13	SO14	A12	60 H
14	SO15	A13	75 H	220 000
15	SO16	A14	80 H	230 000
16	SO17	A15	100 H	280 000
17	SO18	A16	120 H	160 000
18	SO19	A17	200 H
19	SO20	A18	300 H	180 000
20	SO21	A19	400 H	170 000
21	SO22	A20	500 H	160 000
21A*	SO22 a	A21	500 H
22	SO23	A22	1000 H	120 000
22A*	SO23 a	A23	1000 H
1‑22

1920 Czechoslovakian Postage Stamps Overprinted "SO 1920" - Perforated

SW	Pofis	Type	Value
1A	SO1 B	A24	1 H
3A	SO3 C	A25	5 H
3B	SO3 B	A26	5 H
3C	SO3 A	A27	5 H
4A	SO4 C	A28	10 H
4B	SO4 B	A29	10 H
4C	SO4 A	A30	10 H
5A	SO5 E	A31	15 H
5B	SO5 D	A32	15 H
5C	SO5 B	A33	15 H
5D	SO5 A	A34	15 H
7A	SO7 B	A35	20 H
7B	SO7 A	A36	20 H
8A	SO8 C	A37	25 H
8B	SO8 D	A38	25 H
8C	SO8 A	A39	25 H
9A	SO10 C	A40	30 H
13A	SO14 C	A41	60 H
13B	SO14 A	A42	60 H
18A	SO19 A	A43	200 H

1920 Czechoslovakian Postage Stamps Overprinted "SO 1920"

Issued: February
Watermark: None
Perforation: 13
Sheet size: 100
Design: Max Švabinský
Engraver: E. Karel

SW	Pofis	Type	Value	Colour	Printed
23	SO24	B	500 H	black	5 000
24	SO25	B1	1000 H	brown	5 000
23‑24

1920 Czechoslovakian Express Stamps Overprinted "SO 1920"

Two imperforate express stamps by Alfons Mucha, the 2 and 5 h on pale yellow paper, also received the SO 1920 overprint, in blue or black – specialists distinguish several shades of the blue.

380,000 of the 2 h and 300,600 of the 5 h were overprinted. The issue dates are unknown, and so few genuinely carried covers exist that the period of use is hard to establish; the earliest known date, 13 March 1920, comes from a philatelic cover.

Sources: Burda Auction: SO 1920

SW	Pofis	Type	Value	Printed
25	SO26	B2	2 H	380 000
25A*	SO26 a	B3	2 H
26	SO27	B4	5 H	300 600
26A*	SO27 a	B5	5 H
25‑26

1920 Czechoslovakian Newspaper Stamps Overprinted "SO 1920"

Mucha's flying-falcon newspaper stamps were overprinted SO 1920 as well. The Czechoslovak overprints were issued from 13 February 1920 and were valid only at Czechoslovak post offices in the plebiscite area, until 10 August 1920.

The one exception was the post office of the Czechoslovak prefecture in Těšín, which lay in the Polish part of the town: from April 1920 it served both the prefect and the International Plebiscite Commission, and its mail was taken by car via Moravská Ostrava to the railway station at Svinov.

Sources: Lubor Kunc: Eastern Silesia 1918–1920 (Czechoslovak Specialist 5/2000), Burda Auction: Novinové (ČSR I.), Wikipedie: Seznam poštovních známek Československa 1918–1939

SW	Pofis	Type	Value	Printed
27	SO28	A44	2 H	540 000
28	SO29	A45	6 H	220 000
29	SO30	A46	10 H	170 000
30	SO31	A47	20 H	160 000
31	SO32	A48	30 H	160 000
27‑31

1920 Polish Stamps Overprinted "S. O. 1920." - Silésie Orientale

Perforation: 11½

The Polish side wanted stamps of its own for the plebiscite area, with patriotic Cieszyn subjects such as the town's main square. The National Council of the Duchy of Cieszyn (Rada Narodowa) approved the proposal on 2 January 1920, but the Warsaw government confirmed it only on 3 February; because of the delay the Allied commission stopped the issue and ordered ordinary Polish stamps to be overprinted in the same way as the Czechoslovak ones.

The ten-stamp S.O. 1920 series – five fenig and five crown values – appeared on 15 April 1920 and was valid at Polish post offices in the plebiscite area until 10 September 1920.

Sources: Lubor Kunc: Eastern Silesia 1918–1920 (Czechoslovak Specialist 5/2000), Wikipedia (pl): Historia znaczków pocztowych na ziemiach polskich, Wojtek z Roztoki: S.O. 1920

SW	Type	Value
32	C	5 F
33	C1	10 F
34	C2	15 F
35	C3	25 F
36	C4	50 F
32‑36

1920 Polish Stamps Overprinted "S. O. 1920." - Silésie Orientale

Perforation: 11½

The higher, crown values of the Polish S.O. 1920 series were used at the same time as the Czechoslovak overprints, but never together: one side's stamps were not valid on the other's territory, so Polish and Czechoslovak S.O. 1920 stamps cannot be found on the same cover.

In the villages awarded to Czechoslovakia by the arbitration of July 1920, the Polish stamps were valid only until 10 August 1920. Těšín itself was split by the border: the centre with the Těšín 1 post office went to Poland as Cieszyn, and the part with the railway station and the Těšín 2 post office to Czechoslovakia as Český Těšín.

Sources: Lubor Kunc: Eastern Silesia 1918–1920 (Czechoslovak Specialist 5/2000), Wikipedia (pl): Historia znaczków pocztowych na ziemiach polskich

SW	Type	Value
37	D	1 Kr
38	D1	1.50 Kr
39	D2	2 Kr
40	D3	2.50 Kr
41	D4	5 Kr
37‑41