Zanzibar issued revenue stamps from when it was a British protectorate in 1892, to after when it became part of Tanzania in 1993. [1]
Zanzibar issued revenue stamps from when it was a British protectorate in 1892, to after when it became part of Tanzania in 1993. [1]
Zanzibar's first revenues were Indian revenue or special adhesive stamps overprinted ZANZIBAR in capitals, and these were issued between May 1892 and August 1894. [2] Various provisional overprints, some manuscript and some printed, were produced at around 1904, and most of these are rare. In 1905, postage stamps portraying Sultan Seyyid Hamoud bin Mahommed bin Said were overprinted "Revenue", and sometime later, 1 rupee surcharges appeared on this issue. Between 1907 and 1908 various postage stamps with the monogram of the Sultan were issued overprinted "Revenue" locally or "REVENUE" by De La Rue in London. From 1908 postage stamps were valid for fiscal use, but in 1936 high values were issued inscribed for use as revenues only. In 1964, one of these was issued handstamped "JAMHURI 1964" in purple, after the Zanzibar Revolution. In 1966, postage stamps handstamped "REVENUE" were issued, and these were replaced by a new issue inscribed Pato in 1970.
In 1993, two Airport Charge stamps with face values 800/- and US$10 and two Seaport Charge stamps with face values of 300/- and US$5 were issued. The Airport Charge 800/- (and possibly the other value) also exist with a handstamped surcharge 1000/-.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British East Africa.
The British Central Africa Protectorate existed in the area of present-day Malawi between 1891 and 1907.
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.
Mauritius issued revenue stamps from 1 March 1869 to 1904. There were various types of fiscal stamps for different uses.
The Australian state of Western Australia issued revenue stamps from 1881 to 1973. There were various types for different taxes.
Trinidad and Tobago, formerly divided as two separate colonies, issued revenue stamps from 1879 to around 1991.
The island of Barbados first issued revenue stamps in 1916. There were various types of fiscal stamps for different taxes.
Basutoland, now known as Lesotho, first issued revenue stamps in 1900 and continues to do so.
Bechuanaland first issued revenue stamps as Stellaland in 1884. Note: this information is wrong. Bechuanaland was split into British Bechuanaland and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. British Bechuanaland was added to the Cape Colony and the Bechuanaland Protectorate was governed from Mafeking until the seat of government was moved to Gaberone.
The South African Republic (ZAR), later known as Transvaal issued revenue stamps from 1875 to around 1950. There were a number of different stamps for several taxes.
Kenya, formerly known as British East Africa issued revenue stamps since 1891. There were numerous types of revenue stamps for a variety of taxes and fees. Also valid for fiscal use in Kenya were postage stamps issued by the following entities:
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.
Sarawak issued revenue stamps from 1875 to 1942 when it was an independent kingdom as well as when it was under Japanese occupation.
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.
Malaysia first issued revenue stamps as the Straits Settlements in 1863, and continues to do so to this day. Over the years, a number of entities in modern Malaysia have issued revenue stamps.
Over the years various Malay States issued their own revenue stamps. Now most states use Malaysian revenue stamps, except for Singapore which is independent and no longer uses revenue stamps.
Uganda issued revenue stamps from around 1896 to the 1990s. There were numerous types of revenue stamps for a variety of taxes and fees.
Revenue stamps of Seychelles were first issued in 1893, when the islands were a dependency of the British Crown Colony of Mauritius. The first stamps were Mauritius Internal Revenue stamps depicting Queen Victoria overprinted for use in Seychelles, and Bill stamps were also similarly overprinted. Postage stamps depicting Victoria or Edward VII were overprinted for fiscal use at various points between 1894 and 1904, while surcharges on Bill stamps were made in around 1897–98.
Few revenue stamps of Nigeria and its predecessor states have been issued, since most of the time dual-purpose postage and revenue stamps were used for fiscal purposes. The first revenue-only stamps were consular stamps of the Niger Coast Protectorate and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, which were created by overprinting postage stamps in 1898 and 1902 respectively. The Northern Nigeria Protectorate did not issue any specific revenue stamps, but a £25 stamp of 1904 could not be used for postal purposes due to its extremely high face value.
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