Ethiopia

Tuesday, January 29, 1895.

Perforated 14 x 13½, no watermark, typograped.

January 29, 1895. Only valid locally and in Djibouti.
Description	# printed	# issued	Scott #
¼ guerche green	320,700	135,000?	1
½ guerche red	307,500	135,000?	2
1 guerche blue	300,000	135,000?	3
2 guerche dark brown	309,000	135,000?	4
4 guerche lilac brown	211,500	135,000?	5
8 guerche violet	220,650	135,000?	6
16 guerche black	219,000	135,000?	7

November 1, 1908. Valid for international mail. Surcharged with same value as stamp, but in piastre.
Description	# printed	# issued	Scott #
¼ guerche green	?	?	80
½ guerche red	?	?	81
1 guerche blue	?	?	82
2 guerche dark brown	?	?	83
4 guerche lilac brown	?	?	84
8 guerche violet	?	?	85
16 guerche black	?	?	86

All issue quantities are approximate.

The January 29 date is the earliest known use date. Until November 1, 1908, when Ethiopia joined the U.P.U., stamps of Obock, Somali Coast and Somaliland had to be used for mail to other countries.

Although the issue numbers above only add up to 1,888,350, it has been stated that of the "total of 2,816,860 stamps printed", only 135,000 sets, or 945,000 stamps, were brought to Ethiopia. The rest was sold to collectors via stamp dealers in Paris.

You should visit Doig's Ethiopia Stamp Catalogue if you want more information.

This page was last modified on Monday, 03-Nov-2003 15:44:44 PST