POCZTA <> POLSKA
Poland became a free county again at the end of the First World War.
The very first stamps issued by the Second Republic were those of Austria
and Germany overprinted with the words "POCZTA POLSKA". **Please
note that there are many high quality forgeries of these overprints.**
Overprinted stamps for "National" use were issued in Warsaw, Lublin,
Krakow, Poznan and Gniezno. Some cities issued stamps intended for
local use. Click
here to go to Local Issues page.
These overprinted stamps were employed as a temporary measure until
Poland could produce her own stamps.
Starting in 1919, Poland produced it's own stamps, but did so in two
denominations between 1919 and 1920. During this brief period, Northern
Poland (Poznan issued) used FENIGOW and MAREK (taken from the German Pfennig
and Mark) and Southern Poland (Krakow issued) used HALERZY and KORONA
(taken from the Austrian Heller and Kronen). Warsaw issues were then
made in fenigow/marek denominations for all of Poland. By 1922, the
Polish Marek was in common use. In 1923 GROSZY and ZLOTY were introduced
as the standard Polish currency.
NORTHERN POLAND-
Warsaw, Poznan and Gniezno - Click here
SOUTHERN POLAND-
Krakow and Lublin- Click here
NEW Information
on the number of Overprinted stamps produced in 1918-1919 - Click here
Good page with info on Krakow Overprints 1919
http://home.att.net/~mikemelni3a/
Click here
to return to Stamp page