GERMAN COLONIES
SUDWEST AFRIKA
STAMPS
1888 / 1892

Forerunners are stamps of the German Empire that were in circulation in foreign countries and the colonies without any special identification (i.e. not overprinted "Southwest Africa"), until issue of their own stamps. 'Proper' forerunners were officially delivered to post offices and were sold from postal counters, stamps that were not used or not officially issued are non-proper forerunners. All forerunners and interim stamps can only be recognised by the cancellation and as such there is no such thing as an unused forerunner.

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MICHEL VO43c
OTYIMBINGUE FORERUNNER (VO)

From 16th Jul 1888 to Mar 1892, the German office in Otyimbingue used German Empire stamps. Michel Nr 37 (internal service: number in oval). Michel Nr 39 to 44 (number and/or imperial eagle in oval, so-called "Pfennig".