Officials With Specimen Overprint

I recently got hooked on buying 1873 Officials. I also picked up a few with the SPECIMEN overprint. Can anyone tell me where I might find how many of these were over printed? Any links to a site with basic information about Officials would also be helpful.

They are listed in the officials section of the Scott Specialized along with quantities issued. They usually fall into two categories, the fairly common ones that show up regularly and the all but impossible to find ones that are almost never seen.

There were technecially five special printings (overprints) of the U.S. Officials but the stamps from only four of the printings survived

Continental BNC printed 1000 each of the dollar values and 10,000 each of the other departments on white wove paper. See the Scott Specilaized section revcollector mentioned for the number of each sold.

Continental BNC printed 10,000 each 1 cent Agriculture, Executive, Justice, and State on ribbed paper.

American BNC printed 5000 each 1 cent Executive and Navy on soft paper

American BNC printed 5000 1 cent State on soft paper.

The best source of information on the overprints is the APS booklet by W.V.Combs. The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society of course has lots of information in the Cronicles. Here an index of "Official" articles in the Cronicles.

Officials columns.. Cronicles
U.S. Census Mail of 1880, Lester C. Lamphear III 240
U.S. Official cover to Foreign Destinations 1873-1884 L.C.L. III 239
Treasury and War Combitnation Use L.C.L. III. 238
Late Use of Official Stamps and Envelopes L.C.L III 237
Rediscovery: The 3c Post Office Plate #40 William Steven Birmingham 236
Favor Cancelations on U.S. Officials Alan C. Campbell & L.C.L. III 235
Foreign Entry 15c on 12c Agriculture George G. Sayers 234
Secert Service Mail in 1874 L.C.L. III 233
Executive Stamp use Outside Washington,DC L.C.L. III 232
Auction Report D. Lobdell Coll of War Dept A.C.C 230
Official at the Centinnial Exhibition L.C.L. III 229
Constant Plate Varieties War Dept. G.G.S. 228
Constant Plate Varieties Treasury Dept G.G.S. 227
Contsant Plate Varieties State Dept G.G.S. 226
Contsant Plate Varieties Post Office G.G.S. 225
Production Plate Varieties, Opaque Inks, G.G.S. 224
Contsant Plate Varieties Navy Dept Alfred E.Staubus & G.B.S. 223
Contsant Plate Varieties Justice Dept G.G.S. 222
Contsant Plate Varieties Interior Dept G.G.S. 221
Contsant Plate Varieties Executive Dept G.G.S. 220
Contsant Plate Varieties Agriculture Dept G.G.S. 219
Contsant Plate Varieties in Marginal Markings G.G.S. 218
Quest for Perfection Grading and Perforating A.C.C. 216
1873-1897: The Smithsonion Instution and the
United States fish and Fisheries Commision L.C.L. III 215
The Plate Proofs on Card 1873 officials: a
Re-Examanation, History of 6th Printing G.G.S. 214
Oval Spirial Scratches on the Official Plates G.G.S. 213
Official: Roll to Plate Defects From Foreign Fibers G.G.S. 212
Commercial Vulcanized Rubber Killers on Officials A.C.C 211
Combs' Broken C at Pos 28: Comformation of a Constant
Overprint Variety of the Specimen Second Printing A.E.S. & G.G.S. 210
The 3c PO: Double Tranfer at 4L Plate 41
Early and Late; Corrections to the Record A.E.S. & G.G.S. 209
Unique Set of Agriculture Dept Special Printings William E. Mooz 208
Foreign Entry & Erasure of 1c Executive on 6c State G.G.S. 208
Official TC Die Proofs Apr.73 Are they Essays?
War Dept 2C Jackson, Dept Aricultute 3c Washington G.G.S. 207
Official Stamps Added During Transit in the Mails L.C.L. III 205
"Atlanta" Proofs of Dollar Value State Stamps:
a Re-Examination of the History G.G.S 205
Department of the Treasury First Day Usage Matthew Kewriga 204
Nw York Foreign Mail on Official Stamps A.C.C. 203
Robert L. Markovits Collection of Officials
an Insiders report on the Public Auction A.C.C. 202
Usage of Justice Dept Officials A.C.C. 200
Usage of Justice Dept Officials A.C.C. 199
A New Double Impression of the 3C Treasury A.C.C. 197
A History of Post Office Dept Stamps 1873-74 Warren S. Howard 196
Usage of Dept of Aricultrue Stamps A.C.C. 194
Usage of Navy Dept Stamps A.C.C. 193
Off Cover Usage of Official in Wash.DC A.C.C. 192
Plate and Die Flaws 1c Claret Large # Postage Due John D. Irwin Jr 191
Plate and Die Flaws 1c Claret Large # Postage Due John D. Irwin Jr 190
The Killer of Fort Levenworth, Kansas A.C.C. 189
Penalty Label Usage over Official Envelopes James W. Milgram M.D. 189
High Value Official Stamps on Cover A.C.C. 188
Data on CBNC Ribbed Paper Stamps William E. Mooz 187
Some Context for the Centinential Special Printings William E. Mooz 187
New Error Discovered William E. Mooz 186
Usage of the 7c Stanton Official Stamp A.C.C. 185
Editor's Note: Officials at the 1999 Stampshow A.C.C. 184
Scissor Cutting of the 1875 Special Printings William E. Mooz 183
The Special Printings of the 1873 and 1879 Issues William E. Mooz 181
Color Cancellations on Official Stamps A.C.C 180 The Classic Penalty Franks Warren S. Howard 179
The 6c State Foreign Entry Variety Ralph Ebner 178
The 24c Interior Double Impression A.C.C 176
The 24c Justice Short Transfer A.C.C 176
Plating the Official Stamps A.C.C 175
A Unusual Plate mark on the 3c War Dept Stamp Davil H. Lobdell 174
10c 2c 3c Executive Combitnation usage L.C.L. III 173
The Land Office Story Warren S. Howard 172
Varieties of U.S. Officials: 90c Navy Short Transfer
3c Treasury Double Impression A.C.C. 171
Plate Varieties on 3c Justice and 30c Treasury Roy D. Graig Jr. 171
Dept of the Interior First Day Usage L.C.L. III 170
Postscript to the Desigh Evolution of U.S. Officials A.C.C 170
The Design Evolution of the U.S. Officials A.C.C 169
The Design Evolution of the U.S. Officials A.C.C 168
United States Official Stamped Envelopes Dennis W. Schmitt 167
The Special Printings of the 1c State & War Stamp William E. Mooz 166 The Scarcity of Used Official Stamps A.C.C 165
Meet me in St. Louis A.C.C 165
The Special Printings of the 1c Ag & 1c Exec Willian E. Mooz 164
Two Tickets to Pittsburg A.C.C 164
The Triple Misuse of the 3c P.O. Stamp Alfred E.Staubus 160
A Dead Stamp Gone Wrong Bernard Alan Biales 158
Cancellations on Official stamps A.C.C. 157
Cancellations on Official stamps A.C.C. 156
That Elusive "Crack" Rollin C. Huggins Jr. 155
A "Goodie" Clyde Jennings 155
Fiscal History in the Classic period Mike Milam 154
12 Navy Double Tranfer Plate Pos 50 Alfred E. Staubus 152
Double Transfer on 90C Interior Alfred E. Staubus 151
From The Editor Alfred E. Staubus
Foreign and Domestic Use of Ordinary Postage Stamps 150
on Official Correspondence From the Treasury Dept Alan C. Campbell 150
"Paid by Check" Handstamps on Five Officials Jack Golden 150
Third Potential UPU Special Printing Use Alfred E. Staubus 150
From the Editor Alfred E. Staubus 149
Early Use of J1 & J3 Postage Due George B. Arfken 149
An Unusual War Dept. Entire: Combination of a Late Use
with a Very Scarce Machine Cancel Transit Marking Dennis W. Schmitt 149
Short Transfer Variety on 10c State Alfred E. Staubus 149
Covers Used to Mail Shipments of Special Printings Alfred E. Staubus 148
From the Editor Alfred E. Staubus 147
Stamps For Official use on Correspondence to Foreign
Destinations Under GPU and UPU Treaties Alfred E. Staubus 147
New Cronicles Section in the Works Alfred E. Staubus 146

Volume 169 will not load for me.
I became interested in Officials long ago, and my first O3 really set the hook.

Thanks guys! I appreciate your posts. littleriverphil, great info. From the numbers you posted these seem to be fairly low issue. Been dragging my feet but guess I am going to have to brake down and buy a Scott Specialized catalog.

Another question, are Proofs more common than the Specimens? I'm thinking about adding some of those as well.

Yes, there are more card proofs than the special printings. Excluding those listed below
There were 5 or 6 printings of the card proofs (Jury is still out on that question), one printing was 1000 copies each, and the rest were 500 copies each, so 2500-3000 copies each of the card proofs.

Agriculture
1 cent 20,234
2 cent 4,192
Executive
1 cent 24,652
2cent 7,430
3 cent 3,735
6 cent 3,485
10 cent 3,461
Interior
1 cent 7,194
2 cent 1,263
Justice
1 cent 19,729
2 cent 3,395
Navy
1 cent 14,182
2 cent 1,748
Post Office
1 cent 6,015
State
1 cent 21,672
2 cent 5,145
Treasury
1 cent 2,185
War
1 cent 9,610
2 cent 1,618

All of the rest of the specimens sold less than 1000 copies. Compared to the regular issues, all Official stamps were printed in far fewer numbers. And yeah, you're gonna need a Scott Specialized. You're not alone, I need a newer copy as well. I'm still trying to find out which printing of the card proofs produced the Plum shade of the War Department stamps.This is one of my favorite varieties.

Thanks Phil. Ordered a used copy of the Scott Specialized off of Amazon. Now I won't need to ask so many dumb questions.

There are no dumb questions. There are sometimes dumb answers, however.

You'll wonder how you ever got along without the Specialized, and suprised at how often you're reading it.

The only areas I am now collecting are CSA, Private Die, Revenues, and now Officials. I'm hoping this 2012 catalog will cover all of those. The last Scott catalog I had was back in the early 1970's.

It appears that a complete set of Specimens will be almost impossible to get without winning the lottery. Proofs on the other hand seems like a possibility.

Even with a lottery win, it would be almost impossible, there can only be 7 complete Specimen sets, of course thats including the dollar values. At one time Robert Markovitis had a complete set, but the key piece (the $20 state) was stolen. It's much more attainable excluding them. 72 complete sets are possible, as there where only 72 90 cent Treasury Specimens sold
See Volume 202 of the Cronicle for a report on that auction.

Card proofs (P4) can be easy to complete, unless you're trying to find every printing. If you watch ebay, nice sets can be found. Seems like most of those are re assembled as not all values match in shade. The Proofs on India (P3)are harder, but both can be found in multiples.

Then there's the Trial Color Proofs, (TCP4) ccasionally sets of one of five colors will be offered, but you'll see more singles on ebay.

Here a post of mine about the P4 proofs, and below that, a pair of O59 P3s

https://goscf.com/t/39946

If you collect private dies seriously, the Scott Specialized is only the tip of the literature iceberg. There are several others that should be on the bookshelf.

Thanks guys. Seems like the proofs might be a good way to go and one I need to add to my want list. Those I've seen have great color and detail. I'm trying not to spread myself too thin on everything I collect but it just keeps getting away from me. Every where I turn in the back-of-book stuff I find something that really peaks my interest.

Yesterday I found some Potato stamps. Never had a clue they even existed so had to have them. Not sure how it will tie into a collection which started out as First Series Revenues and CSA, then grew to Private Die and on to Officials. Now I've got Potato's.

This set only exists mint. The tax was declared unconstitutional before it was supposed to go into effect, and later the government sold sets of the stamps to dealers to help recoup some of the money spent in printing them.

Are there many ladies featured on revenue stamps?

Thanks revcollector on the background of those tater stamps. Can I assume these are listed in the Scott Specialized catalog?