US Possession Philippines stamps year 1899/1901

US Possession Philippines stamps year 1899/1901

This stamp series is a historically significant and popular area of U.S. Possessions philately, marking the transition from Spanish to American control of the Philippines.

The stamps from 1899 to 1901 were provisional issues created by overprinting U.S. definitive postage stamps for immediate use in the islands under the American military government.

🇺🇸🇵🇭 US Possession Philippines Provisional Issues (1899-1901)

1. The Provisional Overprint

The stamps are defined by a simple, diagonal overprint of the word “PHILIPPINES” in black or sometimes red ink across the face of regular U.S. postage stamps.

• Host Stamps: The base stamps were the U.S. 1894 and 1895 First Bureau Issues, which featured portraits of early American figures.
• Purpose: They were issued by the U.S. military government beginning on June 30, 1899, to replace the previous Spanish-Philippine stamps.
• Period of Use: This provisional set remained in use until the first definitive (non-overprinted) series specifically designed for the Philippines was issued in 1906.

2. The Stamps (Scott Catalogue Numbers)

The primary set of provisional postage stamps issued during this period consists of about 15 different stamps, spanning various denominations, host issues, and overprint types.

The key Scott Catalogue numbers for the regular postage stamps are generally in the range of PH212 to PH225, with a few variations:

Note: There were also Postage Due stamps (e.g., PHJ1 – PHJ5) and a Special Delivery stamp (PHE1) that were also overprinted during this initial 1899-1901 period.