First Czechoslovakia stamps period (07.11.) 18.12.1918 – 30.04.1921

On 7^th November 1918, for the purpose of courier post of Czech scouts, stamps printed by an embossed impress and “cut out” were issued in two nominal value only. These stamps are the first scout stamps issued in the world. So the scout, but as “semi-official”  only, are the first Czechoslovakia stamps.

From the design proposals by the maestro Alfonz Mucha, the Hradčany one as politically the most neutral was selected for the first postage stamps. At the beginning of the letter-press printing of this issue on 16^th December 1918 (put into use on 18^th December 1918), there was only one perforating machine for 11½-line perforation available, so most of them are without perforation. The perforation process initially encountered the solution of many technical problems, the indirect consequence of which was, in the case of Hradčany, the emergence of perhaps the most varied range of perforations of all Czechoslovak stamp issues. There are comb, line, but also mixed perforations of different sizes. In the preparatory as well as in the manufacturing phase of stamps, various imperfections, errors, corrections, attempts to repair, flaws and mistakes, deviations, between the individual drawings of the same stamp, which have been continuously detected and removed, have been created, by which then it can differentiate stamps on different sheet positions or on different printing plates. So have been created types and in combination  with the standard stamp – joined types. With one stamp might having several types (combined). For print purposes, 100-stamps printing plates were arranged in different combinations (even with stamps of another issue) into fours, rarer pairs, forming the printing form. Now it can be find evidences of the mutual positioning, framing and editing of printing plates in printing forms in the form of gutters or cross. In the case of a lack of stamps with other than a pay-off purpose, mostly previously unused stocks of the first stamps, were overprinted for those purposes by a respective overprint (airmail, postage due,…). In the northern territories, Czechoslovak stamps with SO 1920 overprint were issued for the purposes of postal transport until the planned plebiscite. Together with Hradčany the newspapers, postage due and special delivery stamps come to the existence.