Description: This philatelic piece is an overprinted postal tax stamp from Greece, utilizing a base design originally issued in the 1937 Historical Definitive Series. The baseline imagery replicates an ancient silver stater coin from the Delphi-based Amphictyonic League, showing a seated Apollo holding a long laurel branch while leaning against the sacred Delphic Omphalos stone. Framed inside a prominent circular medallion, the background is inscribed with the ancient text "ΑΜΦΙΚΤΙΟΝΩΝ". The outer rectangular frame lists "ΕΛΛΑΣ" (Hellas) vertically along the left margin, balanced by "ΛΕΠΤΑ" and the initial numerical value of "40" occupying the lower corners. To fund specialized civil services during a period of critical financial reconstruction, the original 40 lepta denomination was struck with a carmine-red overprint that reads "ΥΠΕΡ ΤΩΝ ΦΥΜΑΤΙΚΩΝ Τ.Τ.Τ. ΔΡΑΧΜΑΙ 2".
Circa: 1945-1946
Condition: Unused - Hinged
Notes:
This issue belongs to a fascinating sub-category known as Postal Tax or Charity stamps, which were mandatory additions to letters during specific holiday seasons or emergency periods to raise money for social welfare. The overprint text specifically translates to "For the Tubercular of the T.T.T. (Post, Telegraph, and Telephone)," allocating the 2 Drachmai premium directly to sanatoriums and medical treatments for infected postal employees during the widespread tuberculosis epidemics following World War II. Because these surcharges were applied under stressful postwar conditions using various regional printing setups, collectors actively seek out valuable error variants including dramatically shifted text, inverted overprints, and rare double strikes.