# 662 - 1929 4c Martha Washington, yellow brown, Kansas-Nebraska overprints

US #662
1929 4¢ Martha Washington, Yellow Brown with Kansas Overprint – Kansas-Nebraska Overprints

• In use for less than a year – scarce today
• Most often used to mail double weight letters
• “Kans.” Overprint on US #636

Stamp Category: Definitive
Set: Kansas-Nebraska Overprints
Value: 4¢
First Day of Issue: May 1, 1929 (Earliest known use April 15th)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Format: Plates of 400 subjects in four panes of 100 each
Overprinted Stamp: US #636 (Fourth Bureau Issue, 1922-26)
Perforations: 11 x 10.5
Color: Yellow Brown
Overprint: Black “Kans.”
Gum Details (Unused Stamps): 14 vertical gum ridges, maximum of 2 horizontal gum breakers (more usually 1 gum breaker)

Why the stamp was issued: As part of an experiment by the Post Office Department to help identify stamps stolen from post offices. This stamp was most often used to send double weight letters.

About the stamp design: Pictures the same design as Fourth Bureau Issue US #636. Stamp designed by Clair Aubrey Huston with vignette based on a drawing by French artist Charles Francois Jalabert. Jalabert’s drawing was based on a portrait of Mrs. Washington by Gilbert Stuart. The vignette was engraved by Leo C. Kauffmann while the frame was engraved by Edward M. Hall and Joachim C. Benzing.

Distribution: The stamps were distributed to all post offices in Kansas except for those in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita. They were also sold at the Philatelic Sales Agency in Washington, DC. Officially sold beginning May 1, 1929, but used examples are known as early as April 15th.

About the Kansas-Nebraska Overprints: To discourage stamp theft, the Post Office Department decided to experiment with overprints. Kansas and Nebraska were selected to test the idea. Kansas received supplies of Series of 1922-26 stamps overprinted with the abbreviation “Kans.” Nebraska was given a supply with the overprint “Nebr.” Officials hoped that if the stamps had overprints, it would be difficult to steal them in one state to resell in another. If the plan worked, the practice would be expanded across the nation.

Unfortunately, even postal clerks were confused by the abbreviations printed on the stamps and often refused to accept them. Less than a year after the stamps were issued, officials declared the plan a failure and quickly stopped producing the overprints.

Although the experiment was unsuccessful, collectors throughout the country were eager to get these scarce stamps immediately after they were issued. This and the low number of Kansas-Nebraska Overprint stamps that reached the public has made them quite scarce today.