What And When Was The First Ever Over Printed Postage Stamp?

4 copies are known. Great info here
http://www.siegelauctions.com/2011/...Sale1005.pdf

A question people have been asking since at least 1904:

Extract from the Otago Witness (14 September 1904), p. 59:



Source:

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cg...10--1----2--

Guam 1899, Local;
Hawaii 1893, prov;
Great Britain/United Kingdom 1882, official;
Morocco Agencies 1898, local;
Turkish Offices 1885, surcharged;
Bahamas 1883, surcharged;
Bangkok 1882, local;
Barbados 1878, surcharged;
Bechuanaland 1886, local;
Bechuanaland Protectorate 1888, local;
Bermuda 1874, surcharge;
British Central Africa 1891, locol;
British Columbia 1867, surcharge;
British East Africa 1890, surcharge;
British Guiana 1875, official;
British Honduras 1888, surcharge;

Just thought I'd post this link for anyone interested in worldwide overprinted stamps. There is a ton of data here that must have taken considerable work to put together:

http://overprintedstamps.wordpress.com/overprints/

And then there's :

Cape of Good Hope - 1868
Natal - 1869
Orange Free State - 1877
Transvaal - 1877

Drew

Canada 1870, precancel;
Cape of Good Hope 1868, surcharged;
Ceylon 1869, official;
Cook Islands 1899, surcharged;
Cyprus 1880, local;
Dominica 1874, manuscript, local: 1882 surcharged;
Falkland Island 1891, surcharged;
Fiji 1872, surcharged;
Gibraltar 1886, local;
Gold Coast 1883, surcharged;
Grenada 1875, prov.;
Griqualand West 1874, manuscript, surcharged; 1877 local;
Hong Kong 1876, surcharged;
India 1866, surcharged;
Chamba 1886, local;
Faridkot 1887, Local, official;
Gwalior 1885, local, official;
Jind 1885, local, official;
Nabha 1885, local, official;
Patiala 1884, local, official;
Hyderabad 1873, official:
Morvi 1893, official;
Sirmoor 1890, official;
Jamaica 1890, surcharged, official;
Labuan 1880, surcharged;
Lagos 1893, surcharged;
Leeward Islands 1897, commemorative;
Madagascar 1884, Consular;
Johore 1876, prov.;
Negri Sembilan 1891, local;
Pahang 1889, local;
Perak 1878, local;
Selangor 1878, local;
Sungei Ujong 1878, local;
Mauritius 1858, surcharged;
Montserrat 1876, local;
Natal 1869, prov.;
Nevis 1882, surcharged;
Newfoundland 1897, surcharged;
New South Wales 1879, official;
New Zealand 1892, official;
Oil Rivers (Niger Coast) 1892, local;
Orange Free State (Orange River Colony) 1877, surcharged;
North Borneo 1884, surcharged;
Queensland 1881, surcharged;
British South Africa (Rhodesia) 1891, surcharged;
St. Christopher (St. Kitts) 1885, surcharged;
St. Helena 1863, surcharged;
St. Lucia 1881, surcharged;
St. Vincent 1880, surcharged;
Samoa 1893, surcharged;
Seychelles 1893, surcharged;
Sierra Leone 1893, surcharged;
South Australia 1866, surcharged;
Stellaland 1885, surcharged;
Straits Settlements 1867, surcharged;
Sudan 1897, local;
Swaziland 1889, local;
Tasmania 1889, surcharged;
Tobago 1880, manuscript/surcharged; 1882 surcharged;
Tonga 1891, surcharged;
Transvaal 1877, local/occupation;
Trinidad 1879, surcharged;
Turks Islands 1881, surcharged;
Victoria 1871, surcharged;
Virgin Island 1888, surcharged:
Western Australia 1875, surcharged;
Zanzibar 1895, local;
Zululand 1888, local;

Russia-China Offices 1899, local;
Russia-Turkey Offices 1876, surcharge;
St. Pierre & Miquelon 1885, surcharge/local;
St, Thomas & Prince Islands, 1889, surcharge;
Salvador 1874, prov.;
San Marino 1892, surcharge;
Senegal 1887, surcharge;
Shanghai 1873, surcharge;
Shanghai-Foochow 1893, surcharge;
Somali Coast 1894, surcharged/local;
Spain 1868,commemorative;
Andalusia 1868, commemorative;
Valladolid 1868, commemorative;
Asturias 1868, commemorative;
Teruel 1868, commemorative;
Salamanca 1868, commemorative;
Surinam 1892, surcharge;
Sweden 1889, surcharge;
Tahiti 1882, surcharged/local;
Thailand (Siam) 1885, surcharge;
Timor 1885, local;
Ottoman Empire (Turkey) 1865, surcharge;
Uruguay (Montevideo)1866 surcharge;
Venezuela 1871, commemorative;

Treaty Ports!

Amoy 1895, surcharge;
Chinkiang 1894, postage due;
Chunking 1895, postage due;
Hankow 1894, postage due;
Kiukiang 1894, postage due;
Wuhu 1894, surcharge;

Danish West Indies (US Virgin Islands) 1887, surcharge;
Diego-Suarez 1890, surcharge;
Dominican Republic 1883, surcharge;
Ecuador 1883, surcharge;
Egypt (Ottoman suzerainty0 1879, surcharge;
Eritrea 1892, local;
Fernando Poo 1884, surcharge;
France 1871, surcharge;
China-French Offices 1894, local;
Alexandria (Fr, Off. Egypt) 1899, local;
Port Said (Fr. Off. Egypt) 1899, local;
Levant ( Fr. Off. Ottoman) 1885, surcharge;
Cavalle (Greece) 1893, local;
Dedeagh (Greece) 1893, local;
Port Lagos (Lebanon) 1893, local;
Vathy (Samos/Greece) 1894, Local;
Reunion 1885, surcharge;
French Congo 1891, surcharge;
Morocco (Fr. Off.) 1891, surcharge;
French Sudan 1894, local;
Gabon 1886, surcharge/loca;
German East Africa 1893, surcharge;
German New Guinea 1897, local;
German South West Africa (Nambia) 1897, local;
Germany 1874, surcharge;
China (German Office) 1899, local;
Morocco (German Off) 1899, Local;
Ottoman (German Off.) 1884, surcharge;
Guatemala 1881, surcharge;
Haiti 1890, sucharge;
Honduras-Comayagua 1877, surcharge;
Honduras-Tegucigalpa 1877, surcharge;
Iceland 1897, surcharge;
Indo-China 1889, surcharge/local;
Iran (Persia) 1876. surcharge;
Italy 1865, surcharge;
Italian Offices Abroad 1875, prov.;

OK The US City Despatch Post, 1846, surcharged is the first overprint.
But is is important to note this had very limited use & was not a general issue of the US. With that said here is the First Ten Overprints on General issues!

United States - Wheeling, VA (WV, precancel, 1847;
Cuba - Havana surcharge, 1855;
Mauritius, surcharged, 1858;
St Helena, surcharged, 1863;
Italy, surcharged, 1865;
Ottoman Empire, surcharge, 1865;
Montevideo - Uruguay, surcharged;, 1866;
South Australia, surcharged, 1866;
British Colombia, surcharge, 1867;
Straits Settlements, surcharge, 1867;

The US City Despatch Post, introduced stamps
to the Western Hemisphere, It may seem odd that a relatively
unimportant postal service should have been ahead of the Governments in
this innovation, but the organiser of the Post,
Henry Thomas Windsor, was a London Merchant who, of course
had used stamps at home.