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GERMAN COLONIES
SOMOA
STAMPS
1886

Samoa became a German Protectorate from 1st March (Upolu) and 8th June 1900 (Sawaii) with the German post Office starting from 21st Sep 1886.

The South Sea Islands of Samoa are approximately 3,500Km east of Australia. A German Post Steam Ship Agency was established on 21st Sep 1886 in Apia to protect German business interests in the South Seas. On the 2nd Dec 1899 the German-American Samoa Treaty was signed in Washington giving the western area, including the two main islands of Upolu and Sawaii, as well as two smaller islands to Germany. The eastern part of the islands including Tutulia and some smaller islands came under American control. England waived all interest in the islands.

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Forerunners (V) are stamps of the German Empire that were in circulation in foreign countries and the colonies without any special identification (i.e. not overprinted "China"), until issue of their own stamps. Proper Forerunners (V) 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 (V) (e.g. Michel V44 and V43). All Forerunners (V) 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 V44
FORERUNNER

The German Post Office in Apia used regular German Empire issue stamp V44, so-called ("Pfenning").

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MiV44
50Pf
green
(variations)


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VARIATIONS

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MiV44a
medium grey green
(1886-88)
MiV44b
dark olive
(1887-91)
MiV44d
dark grey green
(1889-91)


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PLATE FLAWS

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MiV44 PF III
tip of ornament not filled in centre right
MiV44 PF IV
tip of ornament not filled in centre top
MiV44 PF V
open tip centre top
MiV44 PF VII
white scratch through 'NNIG' of 'PFENNIG'


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STAMPS FROM MY COLLECTION

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This page was last updated
21-Jul-2020 02:10