Tuvalu's first definitive stamps were released on January 1, 1976, and consisted of the last Gilbert and Ellice Islands definitive set, first issued in 1971, overprinted with Tuvalu and a rectangular bar obliterating the name of the former colony. All 15 denominations of the original set were overprinted. However, there were up to three different printings of some of the GEIC stamps, but NOT all of these were used for Tuvalu overprints. It must be pointed out that the same stamps were also used for overprinting by the Gilbert Islands Colony.

Also...

Varieties of the Tuvalu Overprints
50c Constant variety story
$1 Constant variety story

Images:
1c / 2c / 3c / 4c / 5c / 6c / 8c / 10c / 15c / 20c / 25c / 35c / 50c / $1 / $2

These Gilbert and Ellice printings can be defined as follows:
The values in red were used for Tuvalu overprints.

	1st printing: Block CA watermark. Issued 1971-5-31 Yellowish tinted gum (upright on vertical stamps, sideways on horizontal stamps) 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 6c, 8c, 10c, 15c, 20c, 25c, 35c, 50c, $1 and $2 (All 15 values)
	2nd Printing: Block CA watermark. Issued 1972-73 Greenish tinted gum (upright on horizontal stamps, sideways on vertical stamp) 2c, 5c, 6c, 15c, and 20c only
	3rd Printing: Spiral CA watermark. Issued 1976-01-01 Light greenish tinted gum (sideways on horizontal stamps, inverted on vertical stamps) 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 6c, 8c, 10c, 15c, 20c, 25c, 35c, 50c, $1 and $2 (All 15 values)

The Third Printing was never placed on sale in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. In order to produce the overprints for the two new separate colonies, sheets of stamps consisting of the First and Second printings, were withdrawn from post offices throughout the islands. It appears that there was not sufficient stock, or perhaps wastage during the overprinting process, and this led to the third printing. Consequently, this printing on the CA spiral watermarked paper only exists with overprints for either Tuvalu or the Gilbert Islands.

The following table lists the known usage of all printings.
 

• (*) The 5c value v1 with the sideways inverted CA block watermark is an error from the first G&EIC printing (normally sideways).
• (*) The 10c value v1 with the inverted CA block watermark is an error from the first G&EIC printing (normally upright).
• The 35c value was overprinted in silver, all other values in blue.
• The 2c watermark CA Block upright is very rare. It is known overprinted Specimen, and is more common this way than without the overprint.
• The quantities shown are the amounts sold to collectors and used by the Post Office and Philatelic Bureau. Separate totals for individual watermark varieties are unknown.
• The last column, Spec, refers to SPECIMEN overprints, which are applied in gold ink. Those with a checkmark indicate that I have seen them or I have them in my collection. Information from other collectors is requested.