Ceskoslovensko stamps: how to identify Czechoslovak issues and what they are worth

What ČESKOSLOVENSKO on a stamp tells you

ČESKOSLOVENSKO, or CESKOSLOVENSKO without the accents, is the Czech and Slovak name for Czechoslovakia. The country declared independence in October 1918, and it ended on 1 January 1993 when it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.[1] A stamp with that word on it was issued somewhere in that window, and the design, perforation and cancellation narrow it down from there.

This guide covers the name variants, the classic issues worth a second look, what cancelled to order means for Czechoslovak stamps, and a dated table of dealer prices. No figure below is a value for your own stamp. It is a dealer's asking price on a stated day.

Name variants and dates: 1918 to 1939, 1945 to 1992, then two countries

The first Hradčany stamps of 1918 and 1919 read POŠTA ČESKO-SLOVENSKÁ in different layouts, with a hyphen, so a hyphenated name usually points to the earliest issues.[1][2] After 1945 the plain form ČESKOSLOVENSKO is the one you will see on most stamps, and it stayed in use through the Communist era.[4] In 1960 the state was renamed the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, but the stamp inscription did not turn into a long form.[4][7]

Stamps of Czechoslovakia stayed valid for postage for some months of 1993. Sources disagree on the exact end date, so use 1992 as the last issue date and do not rely on a 1993 cutoff.[1][4]

• 1918 to 1939: the First Republic. Hradčany, Masaryk, Chainbreaker and Dove designs, plus newspaper and airmail stamps.[1][2]
• 1939 to 1945: no stamps under the Czechoslovak name. Bohemia and Moravia issued over 100 stamps, and the Slovak Republic issued stamps inscribed SLOVENSKO.[1][4]
• 1945 to 1992: Czechoslovakia again. The last stamp came out on 18 December 1992, for Stamp Day.[1]
• From 1993: Czech Republic and Slovakia, each with its own stamps.[4]

Classic issues to look at first: Hradčany, Masaryk, Chainbreaker

Look for these before you look at anything else. They are the part of Czechoslovak philately where condition, perforation and genuineness change the price.

The Hradčany set shows Prague Castle with a sun behind it. Alphonse Mucha designed it, and the first stamps came out in October 1918.[1] All values were issued imperforate, and five were also issued perforated. A revised design in 1919 put POŠTA at the top and ČESKO-SLOVENSKÁ in a tablet above the denomination, and most values were also perforated in 1919 and 1920.[2] The issue comes in two sets with 53 different stamps in five design types, and plate flaws that specialists catalogue.[1]

The Masaryk portraits are the other pillar. Max Švabinský designed the 1920 high values of 125h, 500h and 1000h.[1] The 1923 engraved set of 50, 100, 200 and 300 haléřů carries a CSP monogram in the gum.[2] The Chainbreaker and Dove definitives of 1920 also exist as tête-bêche pairs, which came from a booklet plan that never went ahead.[1]

Varieties that change the price within a set

Within the Masaryk definitives, small engraving differences matter. The 50h of 1926 to 1927 exists in a short-mustache version, and the 2k of 1927 to 1931 with the long mustache is the one worth more. Compare them with a catalogue or a reference image before you rely on the difference.[2]

The 1925 koruna values exist with horizontal and vertical watermarks, and re-engraved versions with different perforations follow. This is why a single stamp can have several catalogue numbers.[2] The 5h newspaper stamp of 1920 is the opposite case: 3.6 billion were printed, so its ordinary copies are among the most common stamps you can find.[1]

The overprinted Austrian and Hungarian stamps of 1919 carry diagonal POŠTA ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ 1919 overprints in six types. Forgeries of the stamps and of the overprints exist, and even signed examples have been forged, so look for several known expert signatures rather than one.[2]

Post-war sets, CTO copies and how to tell them apart

Most of what turns up in family albums is from 1945 to 1992, and a lot of it looks used but never went through the post. Cancelled to order, or CTO, means a postal authority cancelled stamps in bulk without carrying mail, usually to sell them to dealers below face value.[5] Several Eastern Bloc postal administrations did this on a large scale during the Cold War, and the cheap used packets you find in shops are full of them.[5] Dealers do list Czechoslovak stamps as CTO and hinged, for example Scott 1346.[6]

For the full explanation of how CTO works, see our CTO stamps guide. The short version for Czechoslovak stamps: a neat corner cancel, original gum on the back and the same date on every stamp of a set are all CTO signs. Treat a CTO as its own category, not as used and not as mint.[5]

• Cancel placed in a neat arc on the same corner of every stamp in the set.
• Gum still present under a cancel. A genuinely used stamp soaked off an envelope has normally lost it.[5]
• Cancel dated before or on the issue date of the whole set.
• A used set that is complete with perfect high values. Mail rarely carried them.

Perforation, paper and gum checks

Measure perforation before you assume an issue. Hradčany stamps appear imperforate and perforated, with perforations of 11½ and 13¾ or compound gauges, and the perforated version is not the same stamp as the imperforate one.[2] Beware of stamps cut from imperforate sheets and given false perforations to pass as a scarcer perforated stamp.[2] The perforation measuring guide shows how to read a gauge.

Watermarks help on the 1925 koruna values, where the watermark direction changes the catalogue entry.[2] Check each stamp against light and write down what you see before you look it up. The condition grading guide explains why gum, hinge marks and centering matter for mint stamps.

What dealers asked for Czechoslovak stamps

Asking prices for classic Czechoslovak stamps run from a few pounds for 1920s unmounted mint stamps to £95 for a signed Hradčany variety. In the same list, a lot of 50 or more mixed Hradčany stamps was asked at £75 and a lot of 22 imperforate ones at £175.[3]

Catalogue values and what dealers ask do not match. A 30h mauve Hradčany with a partial double impression and a signature on the back was asked at £95 against a catalogue value of £325 in the same listing. The table shows dealer asks on one date, not sales and not a market value.

Slovak State, Bohemia and Moravia, and other lookalikes

Do not price stamps from 1939 to 1945 with the First Republic figures. Bohemia and Moravia was a German protectorate that issued over 100 stamps, and the Slovak Republic issued its own stamps inscribed SLOVENSKO.[1][4] A stamp marked SLOVENSKO is not a Czechoslovak stamp, even though the countries share a history, and Slovak State issues have their own catalogue listings.

Some overlaps trip up sorting. A 30h airmail value inscribed CESKO-SLOVENSKO was later issued by Bohemia and Moravia, so look at the exact inscription before you assign a country.[2] Czechoslovak stamps were also overprinted S O 1920 for use in the disputed area around Cieszyn, and the Czechoslovak Army issued stamps in Siberia in 1919 and 1920.[1] These are small sets that belong in their own part of an album, and their values do not follow the common definitives.

What to do with an inherited batch of Czechoslovak stamps

Sort before you look anything up. The point is to keep a few older stamps from being buried under hundreds of ordinary post-war ones.

• Split by inscription. Put SLOVENSKO and the Bohemia and Moravia issues in separate piles from ČESKOSLOVENSKO.
• Separate stamps with gum under a neat cancel from those that were soaked off envelopes. The first group is probably CTO.
• Pull out anything from 1918 to 1926 with a castle, a portrait of Masaryk or a chain-breaking woman, and keep those apart.
• Measure perforations on the early pulls. Imperforate and perforated stamps of the same design are different items.
• Do not clean, trim or hinge anything while you sort.

When to ask a specialist

Ask a specialist when you hold a signed or expertised Hradčany stamp, a 1919 overprint on an Austrian or Hungarian stamp, or a whole album. The overprints in particular are hard to check without an expert, because six types exist and even the signatures have been forged.[2]

For a first sense of what a whole collection might be worth, see the stamp collection value guide. For other countries that issued a lot of cancelled stamps, see the overrun countries guide. The foreign stamps guide helps with scripts and country names, and the old stamps price list has dated price examples from other countries.

Frequently asked questions