Lot 30078 – TAMEION: 1896 Olympics 1l mint block of four with Patras « Tameion » treasury hs on reverse and used 25l with Syros « Tameion » hs

TAMEION: 1896 Olympics 1l mint block of four with Patras « Tameion » treasury hs on reverse (some perf. splitting so fragile), and used 25l with Syros « Tameion » hs and cds, fine to very fine.

Note: In order to prevent these stamps from being used in Greece to the detriment of the revenue during the 1897-98 Greco-Turkish War, orders were issued that all stamps still in the hands of the Greek Government should be overprinted with a special Treasury cachet to mark their validity. The cachet was normally applied to overprint four small stamps or two large ones. Later, in order to a void confusion with used stamps, the cachet was applied to the backs of the stamps.