The Stamp Duty Act of 1853 required that a 1d. duty be paid on receipts of £2 or more; this duty was paid with revenue stamps. The Act of 1881 made it legal to pay those duties with postage stamps as well. In 1920 the duty was raised to 2d.

In order to prevent the theft of stamps intended for this fiscal use, some companies had overprints put on their stamps. This site lists the British commercial overprints that I am aware of, and shows examples where possible.

To view the overprints by name, click on the appropriate letter in the alphabet above. To see descriptions of the overprints, click on the names that appear in this area. You will see descriptions like this one:

Pattern	Style	518	613a
Ayrton, Saunders & Co. Ltd.		X	X

• The Pattern shows the wording of the overprint. The shape of the letters (serif or sans-serif) matches the overprint.
• The Style shows where the lines of the pattern appear on the stamp; the arrows show the direction of the text.
• The number is the Stanley Gibbons' number of the stamp. An "O" indicates a stamp that has been reported; an "X" indicates a stamp that I have seen.

If you know of other overprints or other issues, please contact me.

To learn more about British commercial overprints and the commercial overprints of other countries, visit the Commercial Overprint Society of Great Britain site.