Kennedy - May 29 Overprint

1964, 15 September

Printer: Helio Elecronic Press
Designer: Paul Koroleff
Sheet Size: 10 x 10
Perf.: 12 and imperforate

• The 75np value stamp was overprinted in red and the two remaining values in green.
  The souvenir sheet has a deep blue and gold overprint. It is found with the gold missing, and black with the gold missing. Often one has to use a strong magnifying glass to tell the difference between the deep blue and the black. The numbers at the top of the sheet were done for counting purposes by Mr. Stephan and Mr. Mosden. The sheet exists without the numbers and would be the more desirable of the two varieties to have in one's collection. The numbering of sheets was done to several other issues as well. Thomas Johansen has reported that the blue and gold sheets are numbered, but the ones in black are not.
  

This issue was prepared to help dispose of unsold quantities of stamps that remained from the original set issued on 15 January of the same year, and remainders of the New York World's Fair set, issued on 22 April of the same year. The three values of the original Kennedy set and the souvenir sheet, along with six stamps from the World's fair set and the souvenir sheet, were overprinted with two differing overprints designed by Archam Tcheterian. The three Kennedy stamps were overprinted with red on the low value and green on the remaining two higher values. The overprint was in blue and gold on the souvenir sheets. In a letter dated 1 May, 1964, Mr. Lorenzo, the Postmaster, authorized Mr. Stephan to prepare the above stamps. As it turned out, Mr. Lorenzo himself went to Beirut and controlled the overprinting. By this time Mr. Lorenzo was very much into creating oddities and errors, or at least assisting in the production of them, as untold varieties and quantities of such exist for this issue. This was certainly irregular as Mr. Lorenzo was the Postmaster for the government of Dubai, not an employee of the Dubai Philatelic Agency, nor the Baroody Stamp Company.

The Kennedy set is found in two different printings. The only difference in the stamps appears to be the perforation guidelines printed in the margins. They do not exist in the first printing. This is the opposite of the 22 NOVEMBER stamp as the perforation guidelines existed only in the first of three printings. No other difference has been detected in the two printings. The shade varieties in the colors, especialy the gray, cannot with any certainty be assigned to any one printing. In a letter of 20 May, 1964, Mr. Lorenzo set the release date as 29 May for the three overprinted Kennedy stamps and souvenir sheet, but failed to mention the overprinted World's Fair stamps and souvenir sheet. Due to illness and his entering the hospital in Beirut a short time later, Mr. Stephan had to deal with the numerous new issues and the selling of the contracts he, Mr. Stephan, had for the stamps of Ajman, Fujeira and Um al-Qiwain. As a result, the overprinted World's Fair stamps and SS were never issued but remained in the possession of of Mr. Stephan until 1997 when he began to sell them. Essays for the three issued Kennedy stamp exist for this set with slightly different colors for the basic stamps and totally different centers, in a variety of colors.

CLICK HERE - Unissued Kennedy Overprints

Set of 3 and 1 SS

SS: One sheet with an overprint
CTO: None
Plate Numbers: None
FDC: Three covers exist, one for the perforated stamps, one for the imperforated and one for the souvenir sheet. A black commemorative cancellation was used and the cachet was printed by the Baroody Stamp Company.
Cost:

• ABOVE TOP: The FDC for the overprinted perforated set.
  ABOVE MIDDLE: The imperforate set on FDC. Note that the cachet is the one used for the 22 NOVEMBER issue several months later. This cover was most likely made months after the issuance of the stamps and they had depleted the envelopes printed for this issue.
  ABOVE BOTTOM: The over-printed souvenir sheet. Note the numbers at the top of the sheeto. Some sheets have them, others do not. Mr. Mosden explained they put these on when counting large orders. Escentually, that would mean these are of less valuable as collectors do not want to purchase stamps, covers, etc. with markings on them that were added later and are not part of the design.
  inserted here

• Margin copies of the second printing of the Kennedy set with no guidelines in the margins.

ITEMS CREATED UNDER THE BAROODY CONTRACT
 

• The above set is also from the second printing. I have no idea what these numbers represent. It could have been an attempt to make it appear there were plate numbers on the sheets, but that is only a guess on my part. In Arabic, the writing is read from right to left, but the numbers are read from left to right. Starting on the left they read: Number 0065, Number 0064, and Number 0069. This is the only example of this printing on the margins that I have ever found.

• A lighter colored paper missing the brown printing. This is from the second printing.

• An imperforate pane of the second printing of the 1R stamp with a doubling of the MAY 29 overprint on the upper six stamps.

• The set of stamps in blocks with a black overprint, rather than the issued red on the 75np and the green on the 1R and 1 1/2Rs value. These blocks of four are from the second printing.

• Three blocks with double printing of the MAY 29 overprint. The 75np to the left has the overprint in black, with one inverted. The center block has two black overprints and the one on the right has a greenoverprint with an inverted red overprint. The center block is from the second printing and it is likey that the other two are as well as they created many varieties using the second printing.

• This double impression was created for the philatelic market. Due to the fact that J.F.K. stamps were a very popular collecting topic at this time, many "errors" were created and sold by the Dubai Philatelic Agency, meaning Mr. Stephan and Mr. Mosden.

1 October - Anti-Tuberculose Overprint

Unissued Kennedy Overprints

10 May - Second Definitives - Pictorals

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