 |
|
|
|
| 1911, October 1-5
To provide stamps diring a shortage at the Dire Daoua Post Office. By J. Guillet, Postmaster, in black with rubber handstamp and pen and ink, on 1895 issue. SC: 94-100. SG: 154-160. MI: 46(I-VII). YV: 93-99. |
 |
ORIGINAL
19mm bottom line; roundish period (stop); E of top line approximately over E of bottom line; Bottom stroke of P aims to left of B. Cancel: DD3, blue or black, year date 11 inverted. |
| 141 | ¼g on ¼g Green |
600
|
| 142 | ½g on ½g Red |
600
|
| 143 | 1g on 1g Blue |
600
|
| 144 | 2g on 2g Brown
a. Inverted |
600
1 |
| 145 | 4g on 4g Claret |
600
|
| 146 | 8g on 8g Mauve on Lion design
a. On 8g Menelik II design (postage due) |
600
1 |
| 147 | 16g on 16g Black |
600
|
| Notes:
1. The pen written 4 of ¼ and 4 are often inverted. 2. A few sets without penwritten values are reported. 3. Complete sets on philatelic covers to Dire Daoua, Djibouti, and Harar are more common than used sets off cover. Commercial covers are very rare and command a premium. 4. The story is told that a serious shortage of stamps occurred at Dire Daoua at the end of September, 1911 due to washouts of some train bridges from a heavy rainy season. The postmaster, J. Guillet, had an important batch of foreign mail to post and "unearthed" a small supply of the 1895 issue. Overprinting was necessary due to U.P.U. regulations. To prevent local stamp collectors from buying the stamps the clerks affixed the stamps directily to the letters and cancelled them. As a result, mint stamps are rare. |
 |
FORGERY
18mm bottom line; squarish period (stop); E of top line to right of E of bottom line; bottom stroke of P aims to center of B. Cancel: DD3-F1, blue or black, year date 11 inverted. |
Page below prepared by Ulf Lindahl
Revised: August 1, 2002