Serbian Occupation of Baranya: Varieties of Postage Stamps
After the fall of Austria-Hungary, Serbian troops occupied areas of Hungary known as Vojvodina (Banat, Bačka and Baranja). Postal directorate in Pécs received approval from Serbian high military command in Novi Sad to contact the Ministry of Posts in Budapest in order to get an approval for overprinting of stamps.
The ministry approved the overprinting of Hungarian stamps with inscription “Dunántúli megszállás 1919” (Transdanubian occupation 1919). The military command in Novi Sad refused this text and ordered stamp to be overprinted “Baranya 1919”, allegedly to emphasize territorial claim on the region. The new wording was later approved also by the competent ministry in Budapest.
Stamps were overprinted by Pécsi irodalmi és könyvnyomda R.T. At first, a Tiegel semi-automatic stop-cylinder press was used. The result was unsatisfactory as the overprints were blurry and thick. The rest of the circulation was overprinted in letterpress.
The stamps were in circulation until 20. August 1920 when the region was, after a referendum, returned to Hungary.
A. Types of overprints of the 5th of May issue
| OVERPRINT A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Used on: Turul, Harvesting Wheat, King Charles IV, Queen Zita and War Charity Stamps | ||||
 Type A-I |
 Type A-II |
 Type A-III |
 Type A-IV |
Types of 1919:
|
| OVERPRINT B | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Used on: Parliament | |||
 Type B-I |
 Type B-II |
 Type B-III |
Types of 1919:
|
| OVERPRINT C | ||
|---|---|---|
| Used on: Harvesting Wheat with new denomination | ||
 Type C-I |
 Type C-II |
Types of overprints:
|
| OVERPRINT D | ||
|---|---|---|
| Used on: special delivery stamp of 1916 | ||
 Type D-I |
Types of 1919:
|
|
B. Varieties of overprints
| CONSTANT VARIETIES OF THE 5TH OF MAY 1919 ISSUE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overprint B | Field number | ||
| I |  Also on Type B-III |
Letter y in Baranya broken at bottom. | 2-5 |
| II |  |
Letter r in Baranya broken at top. | 6-10 |
| III |  Also on Type B-III |
Letter B in Baranya damaged at top left. | 17-20, 66-69 |
| Overprint C | Field number | ||
| I |  |
Numeral 5 on the left side damaged or missing, numeral 4 more narrow. | 46, 49 |
| Overprint D | Field number | ||
| I |  |
Letters a and r in Baranya broken in the middle. | 1, 2, 4-6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 20-22, 24, 25, 29, 31-35, 42-45, 51, 53, 61, 63, 64, 72-75, 81, 82, 85, 91-93 |
| POSSIBLE CONSTANT VARIETIES OF THE 5TH OF MAY 1919 ISSUE (not mentioned in literature) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Overprint A | ||
| 1 | Middle horizontal line in B of Baranya broken. |     |
| 2 | Letter n in Baranya broken on top. |  |
| 3 | The first numeral 1 in 1919 broken at the top, looks like i. |  |
| 4 | The second numeral 1 in 1919 broken. |  |
| Overprint B | ||
| 1 | The second letter a in Baranya damaged at bottom right. |   |
| 2 | The third letter a in Baranya broken at bottom. |  |
| 3 | Letter n in Baranya broken on top. |  |
| 4 | The first numeral 1 in 1919 broken on top. | |
| 5 | The second letter a in Baranya broken at the bottom. | |
| Overprint C | ||
| 1 | Indentation at the bottom right side of the right numeral 5, the right numeral 4 broken in the middle. |  |
| 2 | The right numeral 5 deformed. |  |
| Overprint for postage dues | ||
| 1 | Letter r in Baranya broken in the middle. |  |
| 2 | The second letter a in Baranya broken on the right side. |  |
| COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES OF THE 5TH OF MAY 1919 ISSUE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Overprint A | ||
| 1 | Inverted overprint. |  |
| 2 | Double overprint: inverted and tilted. |  |
| Overprint C | ||
| 1 | Shifted overprint. |  |
| COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES OF THE 18TH OF DECEMBER 1919 ISSUE | ||
| 1 | Gone through paper print. |  |
| 2 | Shifted overprint. |  |
References
Bibliography
- Katalog poštanskih maraka jugoslovenskih zemalja (1991), Jugomarka (Belgrade). YU ISSN 0351-4447
- Priručnik Maraka Jugoslavenskih Zemalja (1950), Tome IX, Filatelistički Savez Hrvatske (Zagreb).
