On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death of the co-founder of Czechoslovakia Milan Štefánik (1880-1919), Slovakia was to issue a set of four stamps with identical cliché on May 4, 1939. The circumstances of the stamp issue are unclear. Superficially, the stamps are considered to have been unissued. But there are also assumptions that the stamps were at the counter on the first day and were then withdrawn. In favour of the latter, there are a few commercial letters from the first day of issue.

There are also stamps cancelled-to-order with first day postmarks. However, the stamps are available in larger numbers both in mint and cancelled-to-order condition. Obviously, whether re-issued or withdrawn, they were not destroyed but found their way into the public. The reasons given for withdrawal or non-issue are on the one hand “technical" issues, on the other hand that the French uniform on the stamps was not acceptable to the Nazis.

Štefánik stamps

Štefánik stamp cancelled-to-order (May 4, 1939)