Peru 1 Sol Revenue Stamp with "MUESTRA" Specimen Overprint

Peru · 1874 · 1 Sol

This is a revenue stamp, also known as a fiscal or tax stamp, from Peru. The central design features the Peruvian coat of arms, a common motif on the country's official documents and stamps. This particular example has been overprinted with the word "MUESTRA" in red, which translates to "SPECIMEN" in English, indicating it was intended for reference or archival purposes rather than for postal or fiscal use.

Issued in the 1870s, this stamp was part of Peru's system for collecting taxes on official documents and transactions. Specimen overprints were used by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and national postal authorities to distribute examples of new issues to other member countries and officials without the risk of them being used fraudulently.