Early mail sent to and from the Caroline Islands was occasional and dependent on visiting ships.
Early mail sent to and from the Caroline Islands was occasional and dependent on visiting ships.
The Spanish authorities issued no postage stamps or postmarks for the islands. Germany rapidly set up a postal system once awarded the islands; having received the Carolines on 1 June 1899 as part of the German-Spanish Treaty (1899), on 12 October German stamps overprinted "Karolinen" were issued. [1] At first, the overprint was angled at 48 degrees, then a few months later the angle of the text was changed to 56 degrees. Few examples of these, at either angle, survive today, especially in cancelled condition.
By 1900, Yap and Ponape were stops on a regular mail run between German New Guinea and Hong Kong. Initially, the service was operated by the Reich Mail Steamer Lines, with the help of government subsidies, then in 1902 the Jaluit Company took over.
These stamps are the subject of a fictional discussion between Erwin Rommel and one of the other characters in the movie Raid on Rommel
In January 1901, Germany issued its Yacht stamps with a common design for all of Germany's colonies, featuring the Kaiser's yacht Hohenzollern. The issues for the Carolines featured the inscription "KAROLINEN", all with mark and pfennig denominations. Many unused copies of the low values still exist today, left over after the Japanese occupation, but as one might expect from the short period of German rule and the very small numbers of letter-writers living in the Carolines, genuinely used stamps are uncommon, typically priced 5-20 times higher than unused.
In 1905 the stock of 5pf stamps was destroyed in a typhoon, and 10pf stamps were bisected. Another shortage in 1910 resulted in bisects of 20pf stamps, and 3pf stamps surcharged to 5pf.
Japan occupied the islands in October 1914, after which Japanese stamps were used until the end of World War II. Germany printed Yacht stamps for the Carolines as late as 1919, on paper with lozenge watermarks, but none were ever used on mail.
The islands became part of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific in 1944 and used U.S. stamps until 1983.
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or ticket after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail. Well-recognized varieties include commemorative overprints which are produced for their public appeal and command significant interest in the field of philately.
This is an overview of the postage stamps and postal history of Australia.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the German territory of the Saar. As a border region contested between France and Germany, the Saar has a somewhat complicated philatelic history.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of German East Africa.
On 1 January 1868, Portugal issued postage stamps for the islands of Madeira, consisting of the current stamps of Portugal overprinted "MADEIRA". Subsequent stamps were also overprinted, through 1881.
Each "article" in this category is in fact a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries themselves are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
The Yacht issue was a series of postage stamps, bearing the image of German Kaiser's yacht, SMY Hohenzollern II, that were used in all of Germany's overseas colonies. Millions of stamps were produced and they were the principal means of postage for all German imperial overseas possessions in the years 1900–1915. German colonies at that time were German Samoa, Kiautschou Bay, Togoland, Kamerun, German New Guinea, German South-West Africa, and German East Africa.
The postal history of Morocco is complex due to the country's political development in the 20th century. Mail was sent via post offices operated by the Sherifian post created by the Sultan, and by the European powers. After Morocco was partitioned into protectorates of France and of Spain in 1912, both European administrations established postal services in their respective zones.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Cuba.
Linn's World Stamp Almanac defines a provisional stamp as "a postage stamp issued for temporary use to meet postal demands until new or regular stocks of stamps can be obtained."
The postage stamps of New Guinea, part of present-day Papua New Guinea, were issued up to 1942.
The postage stamps and postal history of Guam is an overview of the postage stamps and postal history of the United States territory of Guam. Its postal service is linked to those of the Philippines during the Spanish Empire and, since 1898, to the United States of America. A peculiarity is that, for a short period in the 1930s, Guam had a local post service.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany and philatelically related areas. The main modern providers of service were the Reichspost (1871–1945), the Deutsche Post under Allied control (1945–1949), the Deutsche Post of the GDR (1949–1990), the Deutsche Bundespost (1949–1995), along with the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin (1949–1990), and are now the Deutsche Post AG.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Korea. Before a strict isolationist country, Korea began to open up in the second half of the 19th century.
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.
Postage stamps and postal history of Singapore surveys postal history from Singapore and the postage stamps issued by that country and its various historical territories until the present day. Postal service in Singapore began with the delivery of stampless letters whose cost was borne by the receiving person, later encompassed pre-paid letters carried by private mail carriers and provisional post offices, and culminated in a system of universal prepayment that required all letters to bear nationally issued adhesive postage stamps. Singapore is an island country off maritime Southeast Asia, located between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Togo.
The postal history of Puerto Rico began around 1518, at least for official mail, when Spain adopted general postal regulations; although the first documentation of Spanish postal regulations specific to the Caribbean was 1794. The first postage stamps were issued 167 years ago for Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1856. Postage stamps just for Puerto Rico followed, and later postal cards and telegraph stamps were issued. United States postal administration began in 1899 and the last stamps specifically for Puerto Rico were issued in 1900. They were superseded by U.S. stamps, which are still used today on the island as it remains a territory serviced by the United States Postal Service (USPS).
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Samoa.
