After all the overprint discussion...what is a overprint?

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Posted By: whitehse

I asked this in the overprint thread but it seems to have been lost in all the discussions. I have to ask what might be a real dumb question.

These overprints are what? Are they not nothing more than someone taking a rubber stamp to them at some time and stamping the backs of these cards or are the overprints done at the time the cards were printed? What makes the cards more valuable with the overprints on them? (or should I say collectable) It seems to be contrary to everything I have ever seen in this hobby in that anything "added" to the card after the initial printing process will de-value the card. What am I missing here?

I apologize for the dumb questions but I have been reading about overprints for a long time on this board and nobody ever explained what they actually were and why they are collectable. If I am left to my own assumptions I usually get myself into alot of trouble!