Imprint (philately)
In philately, overprint is the printing of a stamp with text or value information.
An imprint can have various reasons. The most common are:
- Change in value level
- Change of currency unit
- Change of the purpose of use (e.g. a postage stamp is printed with "service stamp" and thus converted into one)
- Change of the country name (e.g. "German Reich" in "Austria")
Imprints are mostly in black. However, there are also prints in other colors. Since they are often produced in a hurry, there are often variations (see overprint errors ).
Imprints also occur on banknotes .