Mystery Stamp Item 0001

The lettering on the stamps is all Greek. The example stamp shown to the right is denominated 10 ΛEΡTA (10 Lepta). The inscriptions are: ΠΡOΣΩPINH KYBEPNHΣIΣ (PROSORINE KUBERNESIS), and the small lettering underneath a picture/statue of a grieving woman holding a rifle says KPHTH ΔOYΛH (KRETE DOULE). The frame of the picture seems to be a circle of chains. The design is an allegory of Crete enslaved.

This item has been identified as one of a series of Revolutionary Issues from Crete in 1905. These stamps are not listed in are listed in the Scott Catalogs, although there is a note that these stamps were "issued for sale to collectors," and "were of no postal value whatsoever." The stamps are listed in Michel catalogs of Europe, the Vlastos Catalog of Greece, and others.

Item 0001
(Click on Stamp for fullsize image)

Historical Notes:

Crete had been conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1669. Until 1898, Crete was an occupied territory of the Ottoman Empire, although there was much local resistance and attempts by the Cretans to achieve independence and/or unite with Greece. In 1898, after a war between Greece and Turkey, the European powers (England, France, Russia, and Italy) occupied Crete and declared an autonomous Cretan state under Turkish rule (governed by the occupying powers). In 1905, the revolution of Therisso, led by Eleutherios Venizelos, took place. Venizelos declared the desire that Crete be unified with Greece, which eventually happened in 1913.

Philatelic Notes:

The revolutionary government was based in Theriso, where they created three series of stamps. The first series is described as a set of handstruck provisionals.

The second series was a set of six lithographed stamps, the second shown here (Vlastos lists the shown stamp as Crete #45). The values were 5 lepta orange, 10 lepta gray, 20 lepta lilac, 50 lepta blue, 1 drachma red and violet, and 2 drachma green and brown. One correspondant notes that he has seen two different types of paper used for this set.

A third series, showing a map of Crete, was printed but apparently never "issued" as the revolutionary government was suppressed before the stamps could be put into use.

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