page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Greece
section_title: Campaign issue and Souda Bay issue (1913)
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of Greece / Territorial expansion (1912–1923) / Campaign issue and Souda Bay issue (1913)
caption_attribution_description: English: Greece: Postage stamp of 1912 Campaign issue. Issued for use in occuppied territories after the First Balkan War, used as a regular definitive stamp after 1914.
context_page_description: Greece's first postal service was founded in 1828, at the time of Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire. This initial service continued mail delivery and, later, the issuing of postage stamps until 1970. It was then succeeded by the Hellenic Post S.A., which remains Greece's official postal provider. The first Greek stamps were issued in 1861; by then, the postal service had expanded to operate 97 branches.
  Until 1966, with the exception of a set issued in 1927, all Greek stamps were simply inscribed ΕΛΛΑΣ. From 1966 to 1982, the inscription was modified to include both the Greek and Latin versions: ΕΛΛΑΣ-HELLAS. Beginning in 1982, ΕΛΛΑΣ was replaced with ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ; this inscription is still being used on Greek stamps. It was also used on the 1927 set referred to earlier.
  In 1875, Greece was among the founding members of the General Postal Union.
  Greece's territory and population was greatly expanded by the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars; it acquired some additional territory during World War I. This led to the issuing of several sets of occupation stamps, which consisted of both existing stamp issues with overprints and newly printed issues.
context_section_description: A set of sixteen stamps was issued in April 1913, to replace the provisional ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΙΟΙΚΗΣΙΣ and ΛΗΜΝΟΣ overprints in territories under Greek military occupation. Two designs were used, depicting Constantine the Great's vision and the Eagle of Zeus; this set would become known as the "Campaign issue".  It consisted of the following values:  1 lepton, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50 lepta, 1 drachma and 2, 3, 5, 10 and 25 drachmae.  It was printed by Aspiotis Bros. using the lithographic process.  The stamps were printed on two types of paper, smooth and rough, with perforation 13½.  These stamps were occasionally also used in Greece proper.
  In 1916, certain values of the Campaign issue were overprinted with Ι. Κοινότης Αγ. Όρους (Holy Community of Mount Athos).  Intended for local use in the Mount Athos area, these overprinted stamps were never put into circulation; most of them were burned in the 1930s.  There were two types of overprint; horizontal (applied to the 1 lepton, 2, 3, and 15 lepta and 2 drachmae values) and vertical (applied to the 20 lepta).
  A 25 lepta commemorative stamp was issued on December 1, 1913 for use only by Cretan post offices. This stamp depicts the May 1, 1913 raising of the Greek flag on Souda Island, marking the annexation of Crete to the Kingdom of Greece.  It was printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. of London with perforation 14½. It remained in circulation for only one year.
caption: 2 lepta Campaign stamp
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