Lithuanian Gardinas Overprints on Tsarist Stamps

Lithuania · 1919 · Various Kopecks

This listing features a set of Russian Empire postage stamps that were overprinted for use in Gardinas (Grodno), Lithuania, in 1919. The overprints, likely applied locally, served to 'Lithuanize' the existing tsarist stamps during the early period of Lithuanian independence.

Following World War I and the collapse of the Russian Empire, newly independent Lithuania faced the challenge of establishing its own postal system. These provisional overprints reflect the transitional period as the country asserted its sovereignty and prepared to issue its own definitive stamps.