Zanzibar - Bud's Big Blue

1896-98 Zanzibar in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

Stone Town,(old part of Zanzibar Town), on the main island (Zanzibar Island) of the Zanzibar Archipelago (Spice Islands in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern African coast), was the 19th century home to the Zanzibar Sultanate, the spice trade (cloves), ivory trade, and, of a more sinister nature, the center of the Arabic slave trade. Every year, 40,000 slaves from East Africa were packed into Dhows for Zanzibar, where they were stripped, inspected, cleaned, sold, and transported to Persia, Arabia, the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. Some worked the clove and coconut plantations of Zanzibar and Pemba. The conditions were so harsh, a third of the male slaves died every year.

The British became involved for humanitarian reasons ( abolishing the slave trade by agreements with the Sultans (1822 - 1897)), and.naturally, for commerce.

Britain had recognized the sovereignty and the sultanate of Zanzibar in 1886.

But then Germany and the British Empire mutually played the East African lands like it was a monopoly board (Scramble for Africa), and, with the 1890 Heligoland-Zanzibar treaty, the British had clear access to Zanzibar.

Zanzibar became a British protectorate when Ali bin Said ascended to the Sultanate in 1890.

The population was estimated at 60,000 in 1891 (17,000 slaves).

Hamid bin Thuwani was the successor Sultan in 1893, and he established a close relationship with the British - too close in the eyes of many of his subjects.

Stamps (British India-Overprinted) were introduced November 14, 1895.

Overprinted stamps from British East Africa were issued on May 23, 1896.

The Sultan Hamid bin Thuwaini was honored (posthumously) with Zanzibar's own vignette issues of 1896 and 1898.

Sultan Hamid bin Thuwaini died unexpectly (poisoned?) on August 25, 1896, and his nephew (the suspect), the anti-British leaning Khadid bin Barghash, moved into the palace complex to assume the sultanate.

As Khalid had not obtained permission of the British consul to assume the sultanate, as required by the agreement (treaty) of 1886, the British issued an ultimatum for Khalid to leave the palace.

What followed was a bombardment and subsequent fire of the palace complex by the British on August 27, 1896, which lasted all of 40  minutes (shortest recorded war in history), and caused 500 to be killed or wounded (mostly as a result of the fire) among the sultan's forces, and men and women who inhabited the palace.

The British then installed Hamud bin Muhammed Al-Said as nominal head Sultan, with the British retaining the real power.

The vignette stamps of 1899-1901 show him.

Of interest, there was no further rebellion during the remaining years of the British protectorate, lasting until 1963.

n 1963, the protectorate was ended. There then existed a short one month constitutional monarchy, then the Zanzibar Revolution, and then the short lived three month People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. In April, 1964, the Republic joined with mainland Taganyika (United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar). The country was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania, of which Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous area.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Zanzibar 1895-1952, 238 major number descriptions. Of those, 84 are CV <$1-$1+, or 35%. Although a reasonable selection is available to the WW collector without much expense, the truth is, as a former British protectorate, interest is high, and expense is likewise for the earlier and higher denomination stamps.

To say nothing about the attraction of an exotic name and location. Zanzibar- the very name congers intrigue as the former center of the Arab slave trade and clove producer.

Stamps of India were used in Zanzibar from 1875-1895.

Stanley Gibbons lists some 108 catalogue numbers for known "Zanzibar" cancellations on various regular and official India stamps from 1865-1895.

The initial issues (1895-1896) were overprints of British India and British East Africa.

British East Africa took over responsibility of the postal service from India on November 10, 1895.

The Zanzibar stamp designs betray their British roots (De la Rue & Co.), and bear some similarities to those from the Federated Malay States, including the "Rosette" and "Multiple Rosettes" watermarks.

Big Blue '69, on two pages, has 66 stamp spaces. Subtracting for the 24 stamps post 1940-52 in the Scott 1840-1940 catalogue not covered in BB, yields an overall  coverage of 31%. Not too bad for a representative album for a popular British protectorate. Most of the issue spaces stop well short of completeness, but Zanzibar's higher denominations tend to be expensive ($hundreds). 

There are five spaces that require a CV $10-$30+ stamp, but none cross into the "most expensive" (CV $35+) category.

As typical, there is competition for a BB space from multiple watermarked varieties.

For more on the stamps and checklist, click on the link below.

Zanzibar Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Yemen - Bud's Big Blue

1930-31 Yemen in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

The Arab Kingdom of Yemen (aka Hashemite Mutawakkilite Kingdom, North Yemen) existed as a state between 1918-1962 in the northern part of what is now called Yemen. It declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire on October 30, 1918.

Prior to WW I, the Vilayet of Yemen and the Vilayet of the Hejaz were under the nominal control of the Ottoman Empire. As mentioned, the Vilayet of Yemen would became the independent Kingdom of Yemen in 1918, while the Vilayet of the Hejaz became part of Saudi Arabia.

The Aden colony and the Hadramaut were under British protection.

The capital was Sanan'a 1918-1948, and Ta'izz 1948-1962.

Essentially, after the Ottoman withdrawal in 1918, there was no formal postal system between 1918-1926.

Stamps for domestic postage were introduced in 1926.

International destinations were usually routed through the Aden British Protectorate.

The Kingdom joined the Universal Postal Union on January 1, 1930, and issued a seventeen stamp definitive issue for foreign and domestic postage.

The Kingdom was admitted into the United Nations on September 30, 1947.

On September 26, 1962, the Yemeni monarchy was abolished, and was succeeded by the Yemen Arab Republic (aka North Yemen, Yemen (Sana'a)).

(Kingdom of Yemen stamps continued to be issued between 1962-1970. They are not recognized and not in the Scott catalogue.)

The Yemen Arab Republic united with the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (aka South Yemen - formally the British Aden Protectorate up to 1967 and independence) on May 22, 1990 to form the Republic of Yemen.

This is a fairly superficial quick history summary. In reality, there were civil wars, revolutions, revolts etc which were and are complicated and involuted. For a more nuanced history, see Stamp World History Yemen post and country diagram.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Yemen 1926-1940, 40 major number descriptions. Of those, 31 are CV <$1-$1+, or 78%. Clearly, most of the modest Yemen output during the classical era is inexpensive. However, that does not mean the stamps are common in BB feeder albums - in my experience, they are not. One has to go out and specifically search for these issues on-line, or with dealers. But, yes, one can find them.

However, the first issue of 1926 - three typographic imperforates on laid or wove paper- are rather crude in appearance and expensive (CV $60). Also, here are forgeries  - especially on wove paper.

Big Blue '69, on one-half page (shared with Zululand - yes!, the last page in BB!), has nine spaces for the 1930-31 Yemen issue. Total coverage is 23%.

There are no expensive stamps. In fact, the entire group of spaces have a CV of <$1-$1.

But BB's coverage is borderline at best. The 1930-31 issue does not have spaces for four stamps of CV <$1-$1+, while two spaces have choices: leaving out two more stamps of CV <$1.

And the 1939 Issue (five stamps CV <$1-$1+), and the 1940 Issue (twelve stamps CV <$1-$1+), are given no coverage at all.

For more on the stamps and checklist, click on the link below.

Yemen Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Wurttemberg - Bud's Big Blue

1851-52 Wurttemberg in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

The Kingdom of Wurttemberg, located between Baden and Bavaria, and on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) to the south, existed between 1805 (after the Napoleonic Wars)  to 1918 in southern Germany. Prior to the Kingdom, it was the Duchy of Wurttemberg from 1495 to 1805.

Wurttemberg was a member of the German Confederation between 1815 and 1866. The Kingdom became a Federal State of the German Empire in 1870, persisted as such until the dissolution of the Empire in 1918.

The capital was Stuttgart, and the population was 2,100,000 in 1900.

Wurttemberg first issued stamps in 1851, having taken over the duties from the postal administration of Thurn and Taxis. 

The postal authority was relinquished on March 31, 1902. German Empire stamps were then used for regular issues exclusively in the territory.

But Official stamps (Two major branches: "Communal Authorities" and "State Authorities" ) continued to be issued by Wurttemberg until 1923.

One should note that only Bavaria and Wurttemberg continued issuing stamps when all the other German kingdoms became part of the North German Postal Union and of the German Empire in 1869, and ceased their own issues.

During the stamp issuing era, (1851-1923), the reigning kings included William I (1816-1864), Charles I (1864-1891), and William II (1891-1918).

Of note, no monarchs of Wurttemberg appeared on stamps- save one (William II on 1916 ten stamp Official issue) -  as they did with the German states of Bavaria, Hanover, Prussia, and Saxony.

William II abdicated on November 30, 1918 following WW I. The kingdom (monarchy) was replaced by the Free Peoples State of Wurttemberg (Democratic Republic). Wurttemberg was re-established as a member state of the Weimar Republic in 1922.

After WW II, the territory was occupied by the Americans (Wurttemberg-Baden) and the French (Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern). These two states were merged with Baden in 1952 to form the present day German State Baden-Wurttemberg.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Wurttemberg 1851-1923, 251 major number descriptions. Of those (67 regular and 184 Official), 166 are CV <$1-$1+ (66%).  The Officials, especially, are quite inexpensive. But the 19th century regular issues ( 11 only CV <$1-$1+ (16%)) tend to be much more expensive.

The coverage in the Scott catalogue is divided into three main categories: Regular; Official-Communal; Official-State.

Big Blue '69, on five pages, has 180 spaces for the stamps of Wurttemberg.

Coverage is a healthy 72%.

Seven spaces for the earlier regular issues require an expensive stamp (Threshold: $10+). In fact, four of those spaces require a CV $52+-$160 stamp (In the "Most Expensive $35+" category).

For more on the stamps, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Wurttemberg Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Western Ukraine - Bud's Big Blue

1919 Western Ukraine in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

Western Ukraine was a short lived nationalistic inspired Ukrainian (Old term: Ruthenian) independent state (1918-19) that tenuously existed after the WW I collapse of  Austria-Hungary, until the area eventually was incorporated into Poland in 1923 (League of Nations decision).

Stamps were issued (mainly overprinted/surcharged Austrian stamps) from November 20, 1918 through May, 1919.

The lands of  Eastern Galicia, (A province of Austria, but taken from Poland in 1772), were an ethnic mix of 60% Ukrainians (rural -peasants), 25% Poles (urban -leading social class), and 12% Jews (urban). The population of the area was approximately 5 million in 1910, and the largest city was Lviv, an important Polish dominated cultural capital of the region.

The West Ukrainian People's Republic declared independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire on November 1, 1918, and Lviv was declared the capital. This surprised the majority Polish residents of Lviv, who did not want to be part of a non Polish state.

I should say here that the West Ukrainian People's Republic was definitely Austrian in culture ( Legal, Social, Political), and was appalled by the disorderly uncouth socialist revolutionaries. Although there was an agreement to "unite" Western Ukraine with the rest of Ukraine in December 1, 1918, relations with the Kiev based socialist Ukrainian People's Republic were strained at best.

There was a popular Polish uprising in Lviv, and so the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-19 began between the Second Polish Republic and the West Ukrainian People's Republic.

By the end of November, 1918, Polish forces, (well equipped by the French in hopes they could stem the Bolsheviks), were in control of Lviv, as well as the railroad corridor linking Lviv with Poland.

The West Ukrainian government evacuated to the city of Ternopil, then to Stanyslaviv by December, 1918. (There are four major stamp issues released from Stanyslaviv from March 18- May, 1919.)

The West Ukrainian army managed to hold off the Poles for nine months, but by July, 1919, the Polish forces had taken over most of the territory.

There was a government-in exile- set up in Kamianets-Podilskyi, and then in Vienna.

Diplomatic maneuvers by the West Ukrainians eventually proved fruitless, and Poland absorbed the territory formally on March 14, 1923.

Casualties, mostly soldiers, would number 10,000 Poles and 15,000 Ukrainians.

The important eastern Galician oil fields essentially came under the control of the French, rather than Poland.

At the start of WW II, the area was annexed by the Soviet Union into Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Western Ukraine 1918-1919, 119 major number descriptions.

They all are surcharged on Austria stamps, unless otherwise noted.

They consist of the 1918 Lviv issue (5 stamps), the 1918 Kolomyia issue (4 stamps), the 1919 First Stanyslaviv issue (20 stamps), the 1919 Second Stanyslaviv issue (47 stamps - on Postage Due stamps of Bosnia, on Austrian Military semipostal and regular stamps, on Austrian stamps), the 1919 Third Stanyslaviv issue (19 stamps), 1918-19 Registration stamps- Kolomyia issue ( 2 stamps), and the the 1919 Romanian Occupation stamps of Pokutia (which includes Kolomyia) on Austrian stamps (13 stamps). In addition Scott mentions two Definitive issues (12 stamps and 5 stamps respectively) for May, 1919 that were not issued.

And most stamps are expensive to quite expensive ($tens to $hundreds to $thousands), save for the Third Stanyslaviv issue, where 17 of the 19 stamps in the set are CV <$1-$2+.

And Scott has a note: "Forgeries of almost all Western Ukraine stamps are plentiful". !!!!!!

Clearly, Western Ukraine is for the (well-off) specialist. And even then, apparently most of the issues were produced because of demand from Vienna stamp dealers than true need. The WW collector should tread lightly, and save for the Third Stanyslaviv issue (which is ubiquitous and inexpensive), probably move on. 

Big Blue '69, on two-thirds of a page, (shared with South Russia for the '69 edition; shared with White Russia for the 40s editions) has 19 spaces for the entire 1919 Third Stanyslaviv issue. 

Coverage by Big Blue is 16%, but entirely reasonable, as the other issues are usually expensive and/or fraught with forgeries.

The two highest denominations of the Third Stanyslaviv issue are CV $10+

For more on the history and stamps, click on the link below.

Western Ukraine Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Western Australia - Bud's Big Blue

1865-85 Western Australia in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

Western Australia, which was initially claimed for the British Crown on January 21, 1827, was colonized by settlers with land grants, namely the "free settlement" Swan River Colony, near the present day capital of Perth, in 1829.

The first ship (HMS Challenger) to arrive at the Swan River in 1829 was captained by Charles Fremantle.

Swan River Colony grew slowly to 1,500 (~15,000 Aboriginals, but not counted) by 1832, in part because the land was sandy, and considered poor for agriculture. By 1850, the population was 5,800.

Although the land area of Western Australia was and is huge (fully one third of Australia), settlements occurred primarily along the southwest coast.

The colonial towns were Fremantle (a port), Guildford (loading agricultural produce to be shipped down the Swan River), and Perth (administrative and military center).

In 1849, Perth became a penal colony, and over 9000 convicts were sent there in the next 16 years. They were responsible for much of the building construction.

Penal transportation to Western Australia ceased by 1868.

Stamps (the iconic Swan design) were introduced on August 1, 1854. 

Although Queen Victoria declared the rustic frontier town of Perth a city in 1856, nothing could take away from the fact that the settlements were remote indeed (not only from the world, but also from the rest of Australia).

A telegraph line from Adelaide was completed in 1877, and the weekly Western Mail newspaper began publishing in 1885.

A gold boom occurred between 1885-1895 (Kimberly, Murchison, Kalgoorie regions), and Western Australia achieved responsible government in 1890.

Perth grew to 27,500 by 1901, while the colony numbered 184,100.

Western Australia federated with the other Australian British colonies in 1901, although WA stamps were used through 1912.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Western Australia 1854-1912, 101 major number descriptions (and 11 "postal-fiscals" which I am not counting). Of those, 40 are CV $1+-$8+, or 40%. Clearly, Western Australia is somewhat expensive for WW collectors. The earlier 1854-1861 issues can be CV hundreds-thousands.

But the "Swan" design motif is so iconic, that many WW collectors do not mind spending more for a representative collection; I know I don't.

As a WW collector, one has to pay attention to details for Western Australia: namely perforations (many varieties), printing (lithography, engraving, typography), watermarking (unwmk and seven wmks), and design (similarities between designs).

And one would also want to have a Stanley Gibbons catalogue handy. (I have the Commonwealth & British Empire 1840-1970 catalogue, which I highly recommend for WW collectors.)

Big Blue '69, on one page, has 27 spaces for the stamps of Western Australia. Coverage is 27%.

Big Blue's coverage begins with 1865, and there are often multiple stamps that are eligible for a space.

Because BB begins with 1865, the 1854-1861 stamps (29 major numbers - "Swan" wmk) are not represented.  But, truth be told, these early stamps are expensive.

There are only four stamps over CV $10+, one (1888 Scott 61 4p red brown) of which reaches the "most expensive" category @ $37+.

The checklist, because of the telescoped stamp spaces, is somewhat complicated. Some spaces have multiple choices (up to seven!), while other spaces exclude possibly eligible stamps because of BB's date specifications.

For more on the stamps, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Western Australia Blog Post & BB Checklist

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