This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Hong Kong.
The British post offices in China were a system of post offices set up by the United Kingdom in various treaty ports of China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Revenue stamps of Malta were first issued in 1899, when the islands were a British colony. From that year to 1912, all revenue issues were postage stamps overprinted accordingly, that was either done locally or by De La Rue in London. Postage stamps also became valid for fiscal use in 1913, so no new revenues were issued until 1926–30, when a series of key type stamps depicting King George V were issued. These exist unappropriated for use as general-duty revenues, or with additional inscriptions indicating a specific use; Applications, Contracts, Registers or Stocks & Shares. The only other revenues after this series were £1 stamps depicting George VI and Elizabeth II. Postage stamps remained valid for fiscal use until at least the 1980s.
Revenue stamps of the United Kingdom refer to the various revenue or fiscal stamps, whether adhesive, directly embossed or otherwise, which were issued by and used in the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from the late 17th century to the present day.
Australia issued revenue stamps from 1907 to 1994. There were various types for different taxes. In addition to Commonwealth issues, the states of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia as well as the territories Australian Capital Territory, North Australia and Northern Territory also had their own stamps.
South Africa issued revenue stamps from 1910 to 2009. Apart from national issues various provinces of the country issued revenues from around 1855 to c. 1970.
The Australian state of Queensland issued revenue stamps from 1866 to 1988. There were various types for different taxes.
The Australian territory of Northern Territory, known as North Australia between 1929 and 1935, issued revenue stamps from 1917 to 2006.
The Falkland Islands issued very few revenue stamps, and did so between 1952 and 1996. The only special revenue stamps were for Old Age Pensions and Social Security. For other fiscal purposes, dual-purpose & revenue stamps were used.
Nyasaland, now known as Malawi, first issued revenue stamps as British Central Africa in 1891 and continued to do so until the late 1980s.
Rhodesia, now divided between Zambia and Zimbabwe, first issued revenue stamps in 1890, and Zimbabwe continues to do so to this day.
British Weihaiwei or Wei-hai-wei, on the northeastern coast of China, was a leased territory of the United Kingdom from 1898 until 1930. The capital was Port Edward, which lay in what is now the centre of Huancui District in the city of Weihai in the province of Shandong. The leased territory covered 288 square miles (750 km2) and included the walled city of Weihaiwei, Port Edward just to the north, Weihaiwei Bay, Liu-kung Island and a mainland area of 72 miles (116 km) of coastline running to a depth of 10 miles (16 km) inland, an area roughly coterminous with the Huancui District of modern Weihai City. Together with Lüshunkou it controlled the entrance to the Bohai Sea and, thus, the seaward approaches to Beijing.
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.
Revenue stamps of the Isle of Man refer to the adhesive revenue or fiscal stamps which were issued by the British Crown dependency of the Isle of Man between 1889 and 1976. British key type revenue stamps with an appropriate inscription were issued on the island until 1966, when revenue stamps showing various scenes and symbols of the island began to be issued. The last set of stamps was issued in 1976. From around 1920 to the 1970s, hundreds of contribution stamps were issued for National Insurance and related schemes.
Revenue stamps of Oman were first issued in the 1930s and continue to do so to the present day. The first revenue stamps of c. 1930 consists of at least five stamps which depict palm trees and is inscribed State of Muscat and Oman in Arabic. Most examples of this issue are found in a private document archive, and very few are known in the hands of collectors.
Revenue stamps of Fiji were first issued in 1871 or 1872, when the Fiji islands were an independent kingdom. The first revenue stamps consisted of postage stamps overprinted with the letter D.
Revenue stamps of Hawaii were first issued in late 1876 by the Kingdom of Hawaii to pay taxes according to the Stamp Duty Act of 1876, although embossed revenue stamps had been introduced decades earlier in around 1845. The stamps issued in 1876–79 were used for over three decades, remaining in use during the Provisional Government, the Republic and after Hawaii became a U.S. Territory. Some changes were made along the years: from rouletted to perforated, and some new values, colours, designs and overprints were added. Some postage stamps were briefly valid for fiscal use in 1886–88 to pay for a tax on opium imports, and a stamp in a new design was issued for customs duties in 1897. A liquor stamp was issued in 1905.
Revenue stamps of the Leeward Islands were issued by the British Leeward Islands between 1882 and the 1930s. They were used on Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Montserrat and Saint Kitts and Nevis, all of which also issued their own revenue stamps before, during or after they used common issues for the Leeward Islands.
A postage and revenue stamp, sometimes also called a dual-purpose stamp or a compound stamp, is a stamp which is equally valid for use for postage or revenue purposes. They often but not always bore an inscription such as "Postage and Revenue". Dual-purpose stamps were common in the United Kingdom and the British Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries, and they are still used in some countries as of the early 21st century.
John Barefoot is a British philatelist, stamp dealer, and publisher, best known for his catalogues of revenue stamps which are known collectively as the "Barefoot catalogue".
