Issue date High Values of the first set " Independent Crete " without Overprint

 

High Values are the 25 Lepta, the 50 Lepta lilac, the 1 Drachma, the 2 Drachma and the 5 Drachma.  

Statement:

The "Feenstra" and the "Karamitsos" are listing these stamps under the 1st March 1900.

Facts:

1. These stamps must have been on Crete already on 23rd February 1900, because a law with that date  was published on 29th February 1900 and became valid on 30thMarch 1900, which  allows to use these stamps as Revenues; that use was forbidden since 29th January 1901, because then a set of Revenues all with the color bistre-yellow was  available

2. 1 Drachma stamps were used as Revenues already on 6th April 1900, see picture 486 in the "Feenstra"

3. The first known postmarks occur much later:

XANIA     30 NOEM 1900   on 5 Drachma

XANIA     13 ΦΕΒΡ 1901    on  25 Lepta

XANIA      3 MAPT 1901  on all five stamps together as franking of a registered letter

The November 1900 Postmark I have never seen on other items than the 5 Dr. Value

4. A list with the yearly sum of money paid for all the sold postage stamps shows, that all high values were already offered during the first year of cretan postal service 1.3.1900 to 28.02.1901

Result:

1st March 1900 cannot be ruled out as issue date, but then the lack of postmarked stamps until November 1900 or even February 1901 must be explained.

According "Karamitsos" the stamps were not sold for some time although they were allowed to  sell.

The explanation in the "Karamitsos": The post-office employees thought at first, that the non-overprinted large format stamps were not suitable for postal use
Karamitsos gives no source for this strange explanation.

I think, the stamps were allowed to sell  as postage stanps not before the 29th January 1901 in order to avoid using them as Revenues and postage stamps at the same time.
For the November 1900 postmark only one posssibility remains: A stamp dealer with good connections to the Xania Post office ...