Cyprus postage stamps year 1983 SPECIMEN British commonwealth day MNH

Cyprus postage stamps year 1983 SPECIMEN British commonwealth day MNH

SPECIMEN overprinted set of the 1983 British Commonwealth Day issue from Cyprus.

Here is a summary of the stamp set and the significance of the “SPECIMEN” overprint:

🇨🇾 Cyprus 1983 British Commonwealth Day Stamps

The 1983 Commonwealth Day issue from Cyprus (and many other Commonwealth nations) featured a set of stamps, often depicting different geographical regions or environments to represent the global nature of the Commonwealth.

• Year of Issue: 1983
• Thematic Issue: British Commonwealth Day
• Set: The issue typically consisted of four different values (stamps), each featuring a different region or scene.

The Significance of the “SPECIMEN” Overprint

The word “SPECIMEN” is a very important distinguishing feature that makes this set significantly different from the stamps that were sold at the post office for postage.

• Purpose: Specimen stamps were never valid for postal use. They were produced by the stamp-issuing authority (in this case, the Cyprus Postal Services) and distributed to members of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), government officials, or authorized philatelic agencies.
• Function: They served as advance notification or samples to show other postal administrations what the new stamps looked like, allowing them to verify the new issue and prevent counterfeiting.
• Collectibility: Because they were distributed in much smaller quantities than the regularly issued stamps, SPECIMEN sets are generally rarer and more valuable to collectors than the regular unused (Mint Never Hinged) set.