Missing E's-Eastern Silesia

1920 Eastern Silesia plebiscite stamps from Czechoslovakia

S O = Silesie Orientale

Quick History
Eastern Silesia , originally Austrian Silesia, was  desired by both Czechoslovakia and Poland after WWI, as the border between the two nations was not yet firmly set. The Capital was Troppau (Opava), and the population was 680,000 in 1920.

But Czechoslovakia occupied the territory in January, 1919 after negotiations fell through with Poland. Nevertheless, a  plebiscite was planned.  Both nations issued overprinted plebiscite stamps, and they were in use from February to September, 1920. However, a plebiscite was never actually held. Rather, an agreement between the two nations occurred on July 28, 1920, and the territory was divided.

1920 Scott 17 300h green overprint in red

Big Blue Picture
Eastern Silesia's plebiscite issues were dropped in the '69 edition, and did not return in the '97 edition. The '47 and '41 editions, on one page, had 28 stamp spaces, all for Czechoslovakian overprinted stamps. The categories included are regular, newspaper, special delivery, and postage due varieties. As alluded, there were no Polish plebiscite issues represented. The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue has 51 Czechoslovakian, and 10 Polish major stamp descriptions. Overall coverage by "47 & '41 Big Blue was 46%.

Although 46% coverage is clearly better than none ('69 and '97 editions), there are 7 regular (<$1-$2+) and 4 postage due (<$1) stamps from Czechoslovakia that could additionally be picked up. Since none of the Polish stamps are in Big Blue, all 10 stamps (<$1) would be a nice addition.

Additionals.... (<$1-$2+)
Czechoslovakia
1920 (Czech stamps 1918-20 overprinted "SO 1920" in black,blue,violet, or red)
10,15,16,18,24,29,30,

Postage Due (Czech postage due stamps overprinted "SO 1920" in blue and red)
J7,J8,J9,J10,

Poland
1920 ( Polish stamps of 1919, overprinted "S.O. 1920")
41,42,43,44,45,
46,47,48,49,50,

1920 Scott 46 1k deep green overprinted from Poland

Big Blue Checklist ('47 & '41)
1920 (Czech stamps 1918-20 overprinted "SO 1920" in black,blue,violet, or red)
1 or 22, 2, 3*($20+) or 23, 4($10+) or 25, 26, (<$1 eN)
5, 6 or 27,7,28, 8,(<$1)
9,11,12,13,14($1+), (<$1 eN)
Note: Scott 1-21 Imperf; Scott 22-30 Perf.
*Note 3 or 23 are 5h blue green in Scott; "yellow green" in BB
eN= except noted

Newspaper (Czech newspaper stamps overprinted "SO 1920")
1920 Imperf
P1,P2,P3,P4,P5, (<$1)

Special Delivery
1920  Imperf (Czech special delivery stamps overprinted  "SO 1920" in blue)
E1,E2,(<$1)

Postage Due Imperf (Czech postage due stamps overprinted "SO 1920" in blue and red)
1920 
J1,J2,J3,J4, (<$1)
Two blank spaces: suggest J5,J6,(<$1)

1920 120h gray black with red overprint

Kinds of Blue
The '97 and '69 editions do not have these plebiscite stamps in the album.
The '47 and '41 editions are identical in coverage. The page is found after the Dutch Indies section.

1920 25f olive green from Poland

Big Blue Bottom Line
Nice different colored overprints for a plebiscite that was never held. Clearly, reserving space for the Czechoslovakian and Polish issues is recommended.

Note: Map appears to be in the public domain.

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