In 1921, Germany issued 4 "Germania" stamps with overprinted face values ranging from 1.60 to 10 Reichsmark. The stamps were withdrawn from sale on January 20, 1922. The public was not allowed to use the stamps for franking as of 22/1/1922. Stamps already purchased could be exchanged until January 31, 1922.

The postal authorities decreed that the stamps could be used for office work (ie. parcel registration card). Reason for the withdrawal was the danger of forgery of the overprint. It seems though that the postal authorities did not well comply with their own directive. While surcharged letters exist as of January 21, 1922, there is a lot of covers which have been delivered unobjected.

Germania overprinted stamps

Package card with overprinted Germania stamps which still were allowed to be used internally by the postal services

Letter with Germania overprint in mixed franking from January 16, 1921. The stamps however were issued in August 1921. Therefore the cancellation stamp had a wrong setting. The real date was the January 16, 1922. Hence the letter was sent before the stamps were withdrawn.