1930 2c Jose Rizal, Green, Guam Guard Mail, Red Overprint, "GRAUD" Error

Scott #GM7a is a 2-centavo green Philippine Islands José Rizal stamp from the December 1930 Guam Guard Mail issue, overprinted in red with the misspelling "GUAM / GRAUD / MAIL" instead of the correct "GUAM / GUARD / MAIL." Of the 1,000 GM7 stamps that contained printing errors, exactly 500 bore this "GRAUD" misspelling, while the other 500 misspelled "MAIL" as "MIAL." That means only 500 examples of this specific error were ever produced, making it one of the scarcest items in the entire Guam Guard Mail series.

The error came about because the overprinting of the December 1930 stamps was done locally on Guam under improvised conditions, without the resources of a professional printing establishment. The entire Guam Guard Mail stamp program was run by the island's military government on a shoestring, with small print runs, hand-assembled type, and limited quality control. When the typeset for the red overprint was assembled, someone inadvertently transposed the letters in "GUARD," producing "GRAUD." The error was not caught before the stamps were issued, and once they were in circulation, there was no way to recall them.

The original stamp is a 2 centavos green stamp issued by the Philippine Islands (under U.S. administration).  It features a portrait of José Rizal (Filipino nationalist and martyr).

Guam became a U.S. possession in 1898 after the Spanish-American War.  Mail to and from Guam had long relied on infrequent transport via ships from the Philippines or Hawaii. In 1930, Governor Willis W. Bradley created the Guam Guard Mail to provide regular inter-island and U.S.-bound mail service.  The service only lasted a year because the U.S. Post Office Department took over in 1931.