1/8c Yellow Green
Issued 1886
50mil Bistre
Issued 1887
1c Gray Green
Issued 1888
2c Carmine
Issued 1880
2-1/2c Brown
Issued 1880
2-4/8c Ultramarine
Issued 1882
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2-4/8c Ultramarine
1st RETOUCH
Issued 1883
2-4/8c Ultramarine
2nd RETOUCH
Issued 1886
5c. Gray Blue
Issued 1882
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8c Yellow Brown
Issued 1880
10c Green
Issued 1880
20c Bistre Brown
Issued 1882
When the decision was made to surcharge existing stamp stock to meet the demands of the public, the postal authorities utilized those stamps which were readily available, regardless of the previous intended usage of the stamp. As a result, postage, revenue and telegraph stamps all were surcharged for use in the mails and for prepayment of cables.

Eleven different postage stamps and one newspaper stamp, all from the most recent or current issues, were subsequently surcharged. As the issue dates of these stamps show, some of the stamps used for surcharging were issued during this eight year period.

 This reflects the provisional nature of the Surcharge Era stamps. The Public Treasury Department issued Ordinances under which surcharged values were created to tide the public until new supplies arrived. Each Ordinance compelled the surcharging of particular stamps with specified values in predetermined colors.   When the supply created proved inadequate, additional Ordinances were promulgated. Stamps on hand would again be surcharged. This often included recent shipments which had arrived from Spain in denominations inadequate to fill the needs of the public.
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