"Provisional  50s de peso   (10 plus 40c)  1898     .

"I have these stamps  on original documents so  that the  existence of  these rare Provisionals cannot be denied.     I have seen only three of  variety  "a"  and one  of  the  variety "b".  " 

The writer   found  in Dr. Perry's  collection  two  specimens of variety "a" but there was no specimen of variety "b".    And  the  writer has  not seen variety "b". 

A handstamped  surcharge  in blue, U.S.   INTERNAL REVENUE,  waS applied to  the   25-centimo denomination of   the   Spanish-Philippine   issue of  1898-99,   probably  in February or  March  of   1399.     All  used  specimens  which the writer has seen were cancelled in March and April,  1899,    According to Dr.  Perry,  both  inverted and  double varieties of  this surcharge exist.    The writer  has seen the inverted variety.

Concerning   these provisional   Issues of  1898-99,  Dr.   Perry wrote as follows:     "I am unable   to  give  the  number   issued of any of  the provisionals   because no accurate record was kept of  the number of sheets of  the different denominations  surcharges.    Howsver,  the peso values of   the  sello  stamps  above one peso are the  rarest of  the regular provisionals,  because there was little use for  them and  the number  issued was consequently small".  Dr.   Perry also  states that "these stamps were used as  late as June, 1899.” 

In January,  1899,  according  to Dr. Perry,  the first issue of SELLO stamps   to be printed after   the American Occupation of Manila was placed in use. These stamps were imperforate and were lithographed.    These stamps were the same  size,  47.5mm  x 28mm, as the  Spanish-Philippine issue of 1898-99,  and  the general arrangement of  the  design and labels was very similar.    At the left of the stamp a shield of a stars and stripes was substituted for the  Spanish Coat of Arms.    At the right was an eagle with outspread wings on a background of stars.    The date of   issue,   1899,  appears on  the stropes of   the  shield.    This  issue consisted of the same ten denominations which composed the Spanish-Philippines issue of  1898-99. All of the  perforate varieties, except the 5 pesos,  are readily distinguished from the imperforate by the shade of   the   ink used.

Dr. Perry states  "The 40c de peso value,   perforated,  is given in  the records of  the  Internal Revenue Office as issued in December 1899, but as a careful search of   the documents upon which   this value was used has not rewarded me with a  specimen and I have been unable to find anyone who has seen a copy, I have formed the conclusion that it does not  exist and  that the  stamps  printed in December  were of   the  1900   type.” 

An  issue of  SELLO stamps  of  the  sane  type  as  the  issue of  1899, but with the date 1900,  on the  shield, appeared  in 1900.    As indicated above.  Dr.  Perry believed that the   first printing  of  the 40 centimos of   this  issue may have been released In December   1899.    The  issue of 1901-02 was of   the  same  type as  the  issue of 1899,  except  that there    was no date on  the  shield.    The  issue of  1901-02 did not include the 10-pesos and 20 pesos denominations because there were still ample supplies of   these denominations as of   the two  previous   issues.    Dr. Perry listed two or more printings of all denominations of the issues of 1900 and 1901-02,  except   the 5-pesos of  1900 and  the   3-pesos of  1901-02. Some,  but not all,  of these printings may be distinguished by color or  shade. 

A part of  the  first printing of  the  issue of  1901-02  issued early in January,   1901,  was embossed "U S" in letters  3mm high.   The following denominations were  thus embossed:   25c carmine rose, 40c blue,   1p violet, 2p violet brown,   5p slate.    The  following  explanation of  the  embossed letters "U S" was found among unpublished notes of  the  late Mr. Newton Comfort:     "In 1902, the  letters “U S” were  embossed by the Philippine Government on one series of  revenue stamps.    There had been a considerable number of   thefts of  revenue stamps.    The embossing of the  letters  “U S”  was done secretly by the Director of   the  Bureau of  Internal    Revenue for  the purposes of discovering  the authorship of   the thefts.    The embossing was resorted  to only once and only such denominations were embossed as were in the hands of  a certain employees.    The embossed letters  do not  perforate   the  paper  and can  scarcely be seen unless one examines  the  back of the  stamp very closely",     (From Notes on Philippine Stamps by the late Newton Comfort).