Irish Free State Stamp 1922

"A tiny window on the history of the establishment of our young State. "Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first postage stamps were issued in 1840. These stamps, and all subsequent British issues, were used in Ireland until the new Irish Government assumed power in 1922. Beginning on 17 February 1922, existing British stamps were overprinted with Irish text to provide some definitives until separate Irish issues became available. Following the overprints, a regular series of definitive stamps was produced by the new Department of Posts and Telegraphs, using domestic designs. These definitives were issued on 6 December 1922" Wikipedia. The Statement / Invoice here is issued to the person who lived in our former house back in the 1920's. The stamp is a British stamp with Edward V, overstamped with Rialtas Sealadach na hEireann - Provisional Government of Ireland. It's a revenue stamp issued to collect taxes on sales. In 1922, many British and pre-independence Irish revenues were overprinted in with the same overprints used on postage stamps. The overprint is written using old Irish alphabet and punctuation. The bill also gives an insight into pre-digital age paperwork and prices."