Everything about Oil Rivers Protectorate totally explained
The
Niger Coast Protectorate was a
British protectorate in the
Oil Rivers area of present-day
Nigeria, originally established as the
Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1891 and confirmed at the
Berlin Conference the following year, renamed on
12 May 1893, and merged with the chartered territories of the
Royal Niger Company on
1 January 1900 to form the colony of
Southern Nigeria.
Postage stamps and postal history
The main
post office was established at
Old Calabar in November 1891; sub-offices existed at
Benin,
Bonny,
Brass,
Opobo, and
Warri. Initially the
postage stamps of Britain were used; in July 1892 they were
overprinted with "BRITISH / PROTECTORATE / OIL / RIVERS". A pressing need for
halfpenny values in mid-1893 resulted in a variety of surcharges on 2d and 2 1/2d stamps. While most simply read "HALF / PENNY", with a horizontal bar to obliterate the old value, some were overprinted "1/2 d" twice, with the intent that they be
bisected diagonally to produce two 1/2d stamps.
The name change occurred just as new stamps were being prepared, and so the first issue of the Niger Coast Protectorate, featuring a 3/4 portrait of
Queen Victoria, was inscribed "OIL RIVERS" but obliterated and overprinted "NIGER COAST". Available in November 1893, they were superseded the following May by stamps in a new design and the correct inscription. These stamps continued for the remainder of the protectorate's existence, with a change over to use the "Crown & CA"
watermark from 1897 on (the paper had previously been unwatermarked).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Oil Rivers Protectorate'.
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