Libya

1912-22 Scott 3 5c green "Victor Emmanuel III"

Stamps of Italy, Overprinted in black

Quick History
The Italo-Turkish War of 1911-12 between Italy and the Ottomans resulted in the capturing of the provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica. These provinces of the territory of Libya ( The name used by the Greeks for North Africa)  were turned into colonies by the Italians. From 1912 to 1927, the territory was also known as Italian North Africa. The territory was then governed as two colonies, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, from 1927 to 1934.

Libya, consisting of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica

In 1934 the Italians  adopted "Libya" as the official name.

The capital was Tripoli, and the population was 890,000 in 1938.

From 1924 to 1934, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica also issued their own (Italian printing office) stamps.

Then, between 1943-1951, Libya was under the occupation of the Allies.

In 1951, Libya became independent as the United Kingdom of Libya.

1924-40 Scott 55 50c black & olive green

"Ancient Galley leaving Tripoli"

Into the Deep Blue

The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized catalogue has, from 1912-1940, 96 regular, 60 semi-postal, 42 air post, 14 special delivery and air post special delivery, 3 semi-postal special delivery, 3 authorized delivery, 24 postage due, and 24 parcel post  major number category descriptions. Total = 266.

Of those, 88 are CV <$1-$1+, or 33%. While about 1/3 are reasonably priced, Libya continues the Italian colony habit of being overall rather expensive.

A closer look at the stamps and issues

100 Centisimi = 1 Lira

1915 Scott 1 15c brown 

Stamps of Italy, overprinted in black

Between 1912-22, 15 stamps of Italy were overprinted "Libia" in black. There are actually two types of overprints: Type I with thicker letters, and Type II with thinner letters. The Type II are minor numbers, and are have a higher CV. The examples I will show for this post are Type I.

CV for 9 stamps is <$1-$2+.

1921 Scott 22 5c black & green "Roman Legionary"

In 1921, an engraved set for Libya was produced with four designs. Very nice, I like it! CV is <$1-$3+ for 9 stamps. The stamps were perforated 14, and had the following watermark.....

Watermark 140-"Crown"

The perforations, and the watermark especially are important, as they will distinguish this set from the next one.

1924-40 Scott 53 25c dark blue & blue

"Diane of Ephesus"

The 1924-40 issue has the same designs and colors as the 1921 issue, except the stamps are unwatermarked, and have perforations 13 1/2 to 14. There are 14 stamps with the major numbers. In addition, there are 10 stamps ( 9 minor, 1 major number) with perforation 11.

1924-40 Scott 58 1 l dark brown & brown "Victory"

The higher denominations have this striking design. Remember to check for presence or absence of watermarks, and then check perforations. There can be a huge difference in CV- even hundreds of dollars!

1931 Scott 42 1.75 l orange 

"Libyan Sibyl"

Between 1924-31, there was another issue of six stamps with the Michelangelo's "Libyan Sibyl" design.

Michelangelo's "Sibyl", in the Sistine Chapel

 These stamps were unwatermarked, and had perforations 14 1/2 X 14 for the major numbers. CV is <$1-$1+ for 5 stamps. There is also a minor number set of four with perforation 11.

1938 Scott 71 5c brown 

"Roman Wolf and Lion of St. Mark"

For the 12th Sample Fair in Tripoli, a six stamp issue was released. CV is <$1-$1+.

1938 Scott 79 25c dark yellow green

"Augustus Caesar"

The fascist aggressive government of Italy under Mussolini is reflected in the stamp design selection here for Libya. A six stamp set was released in 1938 honoring the past glories of Imperial Rome. CV is <$1-$1+.

1939 Scott 87 1.25 l gray blue

"Desert City"

The 13th Sample Fair provided an opportunity for a five stamp release in 1939. I like the scene- sparse, open, and effective. CV is <$1.

1940 Scott 92 75c crimson

"Oxen and Plow"

The Triennial Overseas Exposition in Naples afforded a reason for this 1940 seven stamp issue. The design here is almost like a painting. CV is <$1-$1+.

1936 Scott C25 50c purple "Arab on Camel"

Overprinted on 1932 air mail stamp of Cyrenaica

1937 Scott C26 50c rose carmine , overprinted

"Airplane over Columns of the Basilica Leptis"

On 1931-32 air mail stamp of Tripolitania

Between 1923-34, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica had their own stamp issues. Here several of the air mail stamps are overprinted "Libia", which was the official name of the territory since 1934.

1939 air mail Scott C36 25c green "Arab and Camel"

Libya has a lot of air mail stamps (42), and here is a 1939 example. I like the  severe landscape on this design.

1940 air mail Scott C41 2 l + 75c indigo

"Plane over modern city"

Some of the air mail issues also included semi-postals as this 1940 production. Scott keeps the regular and semi-postals together in the catalogue  if they are primarily produced for a regular issue. 

By the way, I don't have any semi-postals to show ( 60 were issued), as they have a higher CV ($4+ on up), and a WW classical collector would have to specifically find these stamps, as they do not often show up in general collections.

Deep Blue

1939 regular issue in Deep Blue

Deep Blue (Steiner) has 20 pages for Libya, and naturally provides spaces for all the major Scott numbers. In addition, the perforated 11 minor number 1926-29 and 1924-37 issues (14 stamps) are given a space. Nice.

1938 Scott 82 1.25 l dull blue 

"Goddess Abundantia"

Big Blue
Big Blue '69, has 9 pages for Libya, and has 69 spaces for regular, 60 spaces for semi-postal, 3 spaces for semi-postal special delivery, 6 spaces for special delivery, 6 spaces for parcel post, 14 spaces for postage due, and 37 spaces for air post. Total = 195. Coverage is 73%!

Observations...
• BB continues to provide way more coverage for the Italian colonies than they do for most any other country. Was Scott paid off by Italian dealers? ;-)  Every semi-postal stamp issued by Libya is included in BB!

• Expensive stamps in abundance- 32 stamps are $10-$24 CV, and 11 more stamps are >$35! And the more expensive stamps are very expensive- $80,$80,$105,$105,$105,$125,$125!

• Be aware that the 1921-31 choices include wmk "Crown" vs unwatermarked major numbers. Also, minor numbers with perforation 11 are eligible.

* I'm no longer doing a formal comparison of spaces between the '69 BB edition and the 1940s BB editions ("Kinds of Blue"), as I did for earlier blog posts. But the large difference for Libya between the '43 edition and the '69 BB edition merits notice. Dilip Limaye, who has a '43 edition, notes:
"My 1943 has only 98 spaces (compared to 195 in the 1969) – it does not have a large number semi-postals and air post and has none of the semi postal special delivery."

Checklist

1912-17 (Actually 1912-22)
1,2,3,4,5,6,8,(9),

1921-31*
20 or 47, 21 or 48, 22 or 49, 50, 23 or 51,
24 or 52, 25 or 53, 26 or 54, 27 or 55, 28 or 56, 57,
29 or 58, 59, (30),

1921 (actually 1922)
33,34,35,36,
39,40,41,42,43,44,

Next Page

1934
64B,64C,64E,
64A,64D,64F,64G,

1936
65,66,

1937
67,68,69,70,

1938
71,72,73,74,
75,76,

Next Page

1938
77,78,79,80,81,82,

1939
80,84,
85,86,87,

1940
88,89,91,92,
90,94,93,

Next Page

Semi-postal

1915-16
B1,B2,B3,B4,

1927
B5,B6,B7,B8,
B9,B10,

1928
B14,B15,B16,
B11,B12,B13,

1929
B17,B18,B19,
B20,B21,B22,

Next Page

1930
B23,B24,B25,
B26,B27,B28,B29,

1931
B30,B31, B37, B32,B33,
B34,B35,B36,

1932
B38,B39,B40,B41,B42,B43,B47,
B44,B45,B46,


Next Page

(semi- postal)

1933
B48,B49,B51,B52,B54,
B50,B53,

1935
B55,B56,B57,B58,B59,B60,

Semi-Postal Special Delivery
1927
EB1,EB2,

1931
EB3,

Next Page

Special Delivery

1915
E1,E2,

1921
E3,E4,

1923
E5,E6,

Parcel Post
1915-29
Q1,Q2,Q3,
Q4,Q16,(Q18),

Postage Due
1915
J1,J2,J3,J4,J5,J6,J7,

1934
J12,J13,J14,J15,J16,J17,J18,

Next Page

Air Post

1929
C1,C2,

1931
C3,

1932
C4,C5,C6,C7,

1933
C8,C9,C10,C11,
C12,C13,

1934-35
C14,C15,C16,C17,
C18,

Next Page

(air post)
1934-35
C19,C23,
C20,C21,C22,C24,

1937
C28,C29,

1938
C32,C33,C34,C35,

1939
C36,C37,C38,

1940
C39,C40,C41,C42,

End

Comments
A) Expensive stamps ($10 threshold):
1921 (Scott 30) 5 l black & dark blue ($20+)
1934 Scott 64G 1.25 l blue ($50)
1937 Scott 69 50c copper red ($10+)
1937 Scott 70 1.25 l sapphire ($10+)
1915-16 Scott B2 15 + 5c slate ($10+)
1915-16 Scott B4 20c on 15c + 5c slate ($10+)
1927 Scott B10 1.25 l + 30c blue & black ($20+)
1929 Scott B17 30c + 20c maroon & black ($10)
1929 Scott B18 50c + 20c green & black ($10)
1929 Scott B19 1.25 l + 20c scarlet & black ($10)
1929 Scott B20 1.75 l + 20c blue & black ($10)
1929 Scott B21 2.35 l + 50c yellow brown & black ($10)
1929 Scott B22 5 l + 1 l purple & black ($125) !
1930 Scott B27 2.55 l + 45c deep green ($10+)
1930 Scott B28 5 l + 1 l deep orange ($10+)
1930 Scott B29 10 l + 2 l dark violet ($10+)
1931 Scott B37 10 l + 2 l brown ($42+)
1931 Scott B36 5 l + 1 l dull violet ($10+)
1932 Scott B47 10 l + 2 l brown violet ($105) !
1932 Scott B46 5 l + 1 l deep blue ($20+)
1933 Scott B48 10c deep violet ($30+)
1933 Scott B49 25c deep green ($10+)
1933 Scott B51 50c purple ($10+)
1933 Scott B52 1.25 l dark blue ($40)
1933 Scott B54 10 l + 2.50 l carmine ($80)
1933 Scott B50 30c orange brown ($10+)
1933 Scott B53 5 l + 1 l olive brown ($80)
1927 Scott EB1 1.25 l + 30c purple ($10)
1927 Scott EB2 2.50 l + 1 l yellow & black ($10)
1915 Scott E1 25c rose red ($20+)
1923 Scott E6 2 l dark blue & red ($10+)
1929 Scott C1 50c rose red ($10)
1929 Scott C2 80c brown violet & brown ($30+)
1932 Scott C4 50c dark blue ($10)
1932 Scott C5 1 l orange brown ($10)
1932 Scott C6 2 l + 1 l dark gray ($20+)
1932 Scott C7 5 l + 2 l carmine ($105)
1933 Scott C11 2 l + 50c purple ($10+)
1933 Scott C12 5 l + 1 l orange brown ($20+)
1933 Scott C13 10 l + 2.50 l gray black ($20+)
1934-35 Scott C16 5 l + 1 l deep green ($105)
1934-35 Scott C17 10 l + 2 l dull violet ($105)
1934-35 Scott C18 25 l + 3 l orange brown ($125)
B) (  ) around a number indicates a blank space choice.
C) *1921-31- choices include wmk "Crown" vs unwatermarked major numbers. Also, minor numbers with perforation 11 are eligible.

1940 air post Scott C40 1l brown violet

"Plane over Oasis"

Out of the Blue
If one enjoys Libyan stamps (I do!), or if one is attempting to fill all the spaces in Big Blue- well, it is going to cost you. ;-)

Note: Map, Michelangelo's "Sibyl" pic appear to be in the public domain.

Links
Libya - Bud's Big Blue

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