Angola- a closer look at the stamp issues

1898 Scott 52 100r dark blue/blue 

"King Carlos"

Into the Deep Blue
The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized album has, for Angola 1870-1938, 341 major descriptive numbers. Of those, 189 are CV <$1-$1+, or 55%. Angola appears to be a bit more expensive (especially the earlier stamps) than many Portuguese colonies, but still quite reasonable.

A closer look at the stamps and issues
1000 Reis = 1 Milreis
100 Centavos = 1 Escudo (1913)
100 Centavos = 1 Angolar (1932)

1893-94 Scott 29 25r green "King Carlos"

The 1870-77 "Portuguese Crown" issue and the 1886 "King Luiz" issue preceded the "King Carlos" issue, pictured above. They are moderately expensive, and I don't have any at the moment, so I will say no more about them here.

The 1893-94 eleven stamp "King Carlos" issue can be found with chalky or enamel paper, and different perforations. Consequently, Scott has many minor numbers for these stamps.

1898 Scott 40 10r yellow green "King Carlos"

The "King Carlos" vignette seen for virtually all of the Portuguese colonies is found here as a 1897-1905 22 stamp set. This postmark has an April 21, 1901 date with an "Angola" cancel.

1902 Scott 83 15r brown

Stamps of 1898, Overprinted

A 1902 four stamp release with the "Provisorio" overprint is illustrated here.

1911 Scott 89 5r orange yellow

Stamps of 1898-1903 Overprinted

With the change in government in Portugal, a 15 stamp set was released in 1911 overprinted.

1912 Scott 105 10r gray green "King Manuel II"

Overprinted in carmine or green

A 10 stamp set with the "Manuel II" visage was also overprinted in 1912. Of interest, this Angola issue is only found overprinted.

1914-26 "Ceres" Issue

Scott 130 5c blue- two colors

A very large 40 stamps "Ceres" was released between 1914-26. If one wishes to parse the issue further, it comes in chalky and ordinary paper, and two perforations. And the 5c "blue" clearly comes in different colors- bright blue, and deep blue. In fact, earlier Scott catalogues gave the "deep blue" color the Scott 129 number. But that number is dropped in the current catalogue- I wonder why?

1914 Scott 161 20r gray violet

Overprinted Type "c"

A 10 stamp issue was released in 1914 with this script overprint-  which is different than the 1911 overprinted issue. Re-check your Angola overprints for different types. ;-)

1919 Scott 219 1/2c on 75r bister brown

In 1919, a group of six stamps were surcharged as shown. CV is $1-$2, so one will find these in collections.

1932 Scott 256 85c rose "Ceres"

Another large 21 stamp issue with a remodeled "Ceres" was produced between 1932-46. For the two Ceres issues (1914-26, 1932-46), 47 stamps are CV <$1-$1+.

1938 Scott 290 10a blue violet

Vasco da Gama Issue

An 18 stamp Vasco da Gama issue for Angola, a common design type used for many Portuguese colonies, was released in 1938.

1938 Scott 293 1.75a deep blue

"Marble Column and Portuguese Arms and Cross"

For the visit of the President of Portugal, a three stamp set was issued in 1938.

Postage Due 1904 Scott J1 5r yellow green

Portuguese colony postage dues are quite generic, as one can tell. The earlier 10 stamp 1904 set is valued in Reis, while the identical (in appearance) 1921 10 stamp set is valued in Centavos.

Deep Blue

1914-26 Ceres Issue in Deep Blue

Deep Blue (Steiner) has 21 pages for Angola, and includes a space for all the major Scott numbers. The many minor numbers found in Scott for the earlier issues (1870-94) due to different paper and perforations do not have designated spaces. One will need some quadrilled pages if one wishes to parse these earlier issues.

1938 Scott C2 20c  purple

Common Design type

Out of the Blue

The different overprint scripts for Angola creates a bit more interest for this Portuguese colony.

Note: These additional stamp issue images and discussion have been incorporated into the original Angola blog post.

Update note: The 1914-26 "Ceres" issue presented here is based on the 2011 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue. But the 2014  catalogue revises the listings into 1914 "chalky paper" Perf 15 X 14; 1915-22 "ordinary paper" 15 X 14; 1921-26 "ordinary paper" 12 X 11 1/2; and 1921-25 'glazed paper" 12 X 11 1/2 major number catagories. It also gives a minor number to the 5c pale blue.

Note about the "closer look at the stamp issues" updates: I will resume these updates (probably!) after I finish with the primary task- the remaining ~ 100 country posts to finish the Big Blue checklist.