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Great Britain overprinted for use abroad |
Introduction page List of countries Classification of specimen types |
IN PROGRESS
Postal stationery of Great Britain was overprinted for use in a wide variety of postal territories abroad, namely:
Bahrain, Bechuanaland Protectorate*, British Bechuanaland*, British Levant, British Occupation of Italian Colonies (East Africa Forces and Somalia only), British Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia, Cyprus, Gold Coast*, Kuwait, Morocco Agencies (after 1907), Niger Coast Protectorate*, Qatar and Zululand*.
However, only a minority of these postal stationery items were sent to the UPU for distribution to members protected by a specimen marking; the others were sent in normal unused condition. The territories for which postal stationery was protected prior to distribution are marked with an asterisk (*) in the above list.
As discussed on the page for Great Britain, from 1892 onwards all British postal stationery sent to the UPU was in normal unused condition. Where control of the issue of GB postal stationery overprinted for use abroad lay with the Inland Revenue or the General Post Office the same procedures were followed. However, for postal territories under Colonial Office control, postal stationery was protected before sending to the UPU for distribution.
Explanations as to why there is no UPU specimen postal stationery for various territories follow.
Only in 1880, before specimen overprinting was introduced, was GB postal stationery overprinted for use in Cyprus.
The first postal stationery overprinted for use in the British Levant was issued in 1893.
Distribution of postal stationery for the British Occupation of Italian Colonies and Morocco Agencies (from 1907 onwards) was controlled by the General Post Office.
GB overprinted postal stationery for Bahrain, British Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar is limited to air letters issued between 1952 and 1959, by which time all specimen overprinting had ceased.
Samuel, Marcus and Huggins, Alan. Specimen Stamps and Stationery of Great Britain. G. B. Philatelic Publications, Saffron Walden, Essex, 1980.
Last updated 28 May 2009
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