The first postage stamps used in French Polynesia were the general stamps of the French Colonies from 1862.[2]
In 1882 a shortage of 25c stamps necessitated a surcharge on less-used values. Some of the surcharges also included the name "TAHITI". This happened again in 1884 with 5c and 10c values.
Stamps inscribed "Établissements de l’Oceanie" (French Settlements in Oceania) became available in 1892 with the Navigation and Commerce issue.[3][4]
In 1893, two kinds of overprint were applied to the remaining stocks of regular and postage due French Colonies stamps; one type was a slanted overprint reading "TAHITI" and the other was a horizontal "1893 / TAHITI". For some values of stamps, very few were left to be overprinted, and genuine overprints are quite rare, the rarest being the horizontal overprint on the 25c yellow at around US$20,000.
In 1903, due to a shortage of 10c stamps, stamps of French Oceania were overprinted "TAHITI" and surcharged with new face values. Stamps of French Oceania also received a red cross and "TAHITI" overprint in 1915 for use as semi-postal stamps.
Stamps since 1958 have been inscribed "French Polynesia".
A 20c French Colonies stamp overprinted for use in Tahiti, 1893
A 1924 stamp of French Oceania
A 1937 letter from Tahiti to New Zealand bearing stamps of French Oceania and a New Zealand postage due stamp
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Indochina.
During its time as a French colony, Obock issued its own postage stamps. At first the inhabitants used the general stamps of the French Colonies, but in 1892 they were overprinted with "OBOCK", as were stamped post cards. Later in the year some of these were also surcharged with values from 1 centime to 5 francs. By the end of the year, a supply of the omnibus Navigation and Commerce issues became available, inscribed OBOCK in red or blue.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British East Africa.
The French Congo was a French colony established in the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic. It began in 1880 as a protectorate, and its borders with Cabinda, Cameroons, and the Congo Free State were established by treaties over the next decade. French Congo was temporarily divided between Gabon and Middle Congo in 1906, before being reunited as French Equatorial Africa in 1910 in an attempt to copy the relative success of French West Africa.
North Borneo, located in the northern part of the island of Borneo, was a British protectorate from 1888 and a British Crown colony after 1946.
The Straits Settlements of the Malayan Peninsula have a postal history distinct from the other Malayan areas.
The French post offices in Egypt were a system of post offices maintained by France in Egypt during the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. They were primarily intended to facilitate commercial and trading interests that needed to communicate between France and points east.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Niger Coast Protectorate.
Gabon is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, and Cameroon to the north, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. Its size is almost 270,000 km² with an estimated population of 1,500,000. The capital and largest city is Libreville.
Elobey, Annobón, and Corisco was a colonial administration of Spanish Africa located in the Gulf of Guinea. The colony consisted of the small islands of Elobey Grande, Elobey Chico, Annobón, and Corisco. The capital was Santa Isabel. The islands are presently part of Equatorial Guinea.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Macau.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Vanuatu, formerly known as the New Hebrides, an island group in the South Pacific. Between 1906 and 1980, the islands were an Anglo-French Condominium.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Cuba.
This is a survey of postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies and part of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany, as well as those of the individual countries and territories concerned.
Belize started as the colony of British Honduras, formally established in the 17th century but disputed through the 18th century.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Fezzan and Ghadames, both now part of Libya.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Nyassa Company.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Réunion.
Nyasaland, now known as Malawi, first issued revenue stamps as British Central Africa in 1891 and continued to do so until the late 1980s.
Hong Kong issued revenue stamps from 1867 to the 1990s, both when it was a British colony as well as when it was under Japanese occupation.
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A 20c French Colonies stamp overprinted for use in Tahiti, 1893
A 1924 stamp of French Oceania
A 1937 letter from Tahiti to New Zealand bearing stamps of French Oceania and a New Zealand postage due stamp
A 1976 stamp of French Polynesia
