Underprint

Hi All

I have this "Blue Flea" stamp that has the letter "P" printed on the back. I know that Germany, and other countries, would print 'control numbers' on the back on every fifth or tenth stamp, but, this is different. What would the letter "P" represent here?

Thanks a lot

Chimo

Bujutsu

The underprint appears to be post/after usage! Unsure!

Thanks Warrehouse. This is the first I have seen and I have about 2000+ of these waiting to be sorted. I knew it wasn't stuck to anything because the "P" is proper and not reversed. Will keep trying <G>

Chimo

Bujutsu

Bujutsu: I am going to venture a guess that this is a "collector" imprint. If it had been done prior to use, there would be very little of the image left after the glue (that the stamp was overstruck on) was gone. In the past I have seen a number private collector initials on the rear of stamps (precancels, perfins and even postal stationery for example). There would be no reason for a company to put anything on the rear of a stamp that didn't somehow protect them.

Some of the collectors in the past did this to either help figure out which ones they had looked at, or to prevent them from purchasing it again if it ever came up in front of them in a store/sales book/etc. Just my thoughts.