Surcharge

A surcharge is an overprint that changes the face value of a stamp. Typically, when it includes other changed information like a country name, it is still called a surcharge rather than the more generic "overprint".

Surcharges may be created due to:
 * emergency use of an available stamp value when needed values have run out. This usually but not always involves the use of a higher face value stamp surcharged into a lower value to prevent forgeries.
 * currency change due to governmental order including military occupation
 * currency change due to governmental change. These are often called provisional surcharges, where existing stocks of old stamps are surcharged before new stamps can be issued.

Surcharges can be printed or handstamped and in a few cases, written in ink.

 File:China NE provinces A.jpg|CNC surcharge for China's Northeastern Provinces (1947); the value in the checkerboard box is repeated in Chinese at left, Northeastern provinces inscription at top. File:Congo compare.jpg|thumb|right|250px|It is difficult to tell the top stamp of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a surcharged version of the now-obsolete Belgian Congo stamp. File:Indonesia surch due.jpg|1950 Indonesian postage due, surcharged on old Netherlands Indies postage due. File:Greece 1922 surch on new greece.jpg|New Greece stamp surcharged for use in Greece. 

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