Portuguese Congo

1915 Scott 137 50r blue

Provisional Issue of 1902 overprinted

Quick History
The Portuguese Congo (now the Enclave of Cabinda and the northernmost province of Angola) was a strip of  land on the west coast of Africa separated by 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Angola and the Congo River.

Present day Angola and the Cabinda Province ( formerly Portuguese Congo)

Cabinda (the settlement) originally served as a harbor and port for Portuguese slave trade.

Portugal proclaimed sovereignty over the territory in 1885, and it was given the status as a protectorate of the Portuguese crown.

Stamps were first issued in 1894.

1922 Map with Angola, Belgian Congo (Congo Free State), French Congo,

and Enclave of Cabinda (Portuguese Congo)

At one time the Portuguese Congo territory had the Congo River as the boundary with Angola, but the 1885 Conference of Berlin gave the northern bank to the Congo Free State.

Although cut off physically from Angola, administratively, the protectorate was joined to that colony by the 1920s.

Stamp production for Portuguese Congo continued until 1918, when the stamps of Angola were then used.

Although the enclave is still part of Angola today, because of the reality of being physically separated from Angola proper, as well as the distinct history, the Enclave of Cabinda has had a number of recent separatist movements.

1911 Scott 73 500r black & red/blue

Issue of 1898-1903 Overprinted

Into the Deep Blue
The 2011 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Portuguese Congo 1894-1918, 137 major descriptive numbers. Of those, 84 are CV <$1-$1+, or 61%. Raising the bar to CV $3+, yields 33 more stamps for a total of 85%. Clearly, a representative collection should not be too difficult to acquire, cost wise, for the classical era collector. Of interest, unused is a bit more expensive than used for issues, except for the "Ceres" stamps, where used is more expensive.

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

1898 Scott 16 15r brown "King Carlos"

A 12 stamp "King Carlos" set was issued in 1894, and has the portrait visage of the stamp shown below. CV ranges from <$1-$3+ for eight stamps.

The next 23 stamp issue, shown above, was another "King Carlos" portrait, and released between 1898-1903. CV is <$1-$2+ for 15 stamps.

Note the obvious "CTO" - like cancellation. Considering the obscurity of the protectorate, and, no doubt, the low literate population of inhabitants, a "real" postally used cancellation for this issue would be less common.

Both "King Carlos" stamp sets should be quite familiar in appearance, as they are also found for most other Portuguese colonies.

1902 Scott 44 130r on 100r brown/yellow "King Carlos"

Surcharged in Black, On Issue of 1894

A surcharged 12 stamp issue on the 1894 set was produced in 1902. CV is $2+-$4+ for the group..

1902 Scott 50 25r sea green 

Overprinted in Black

Also,  four stamps of the 1898 issue were overprinted as shown in 1902. Most other colonies have the same overprint issue. The sameness to stamp issues for many Portuguese colonies makes them, perhaps, less exciting to collect for some WW classical era enthusiasts. 

1911 Scott 58 25r on 200r red violet/pinkish

Angola stamps of 1898-1903 overprinted or surcharged

But this issue is unique! In 1911, a six stamp issue (including a 2 1/2r gray with either a thick bar or thin bar) was produced by surcharging and overprinting Angola stamps of 1898-1903. Interesting! CV is <$1-$2.

1911 Scott 62 10r light green

Issue of 1898-1903 overprinted

The "usual" 1911 "Republica" overprinted issue found for Portuguese colonies is also found here on 15 stamps. CV is a very modest <$1-$2+.

1913 Scott 77 1c on 2a red violet

Vasco da Gama Issue Surcharged

On stamps of Macao

The 1913 "common issue" Vasco da Gama set is also found here. The stamps were overprinted and surcharged on the stamps of Macao (8 stamps), Portuguese Africa (8 stamps), and Timor (8 stamps).

1913 Scott 84 1/2c on 5r red

Vasco da Gama Issue surcharged

On stamps of Portuguese Africa

The CV ranges from $1+-$2+ for surcharged Macao, <$1-$1+ for surcharged Portuguese Africa, and $1+-$2+ for surcharged Timor. "Used" stamps have the same valuation as "Unused" stamps in the Scott catalogue. I suspect "real" postally used stamps from these sets are not common, though.

1914 Scott 110 20c yellow green "Ceres"

A 16 stamp set of the "Ceres" motif was released in 1914. By contrast, Angola has 40 "Ceres" stamps in the catalogue.

Update: DJCMH contributed a comment that needs to be added here (Thanks DJCMH!). The Afinsa specialized catalogue for the Portuguese colonies states that the "short named" Portuguese colonies ( Congo, Guinea, India, Macao, Tete, Timor) have stars placed on either side of the colony name for the Ceres issue. But the star can be oriented up (type 1), down (type 2), 45 degrees to the right (type 3), or 45 degrees to the left (type 4). And each star (the left one and the right one) can have their own orientation! Who knew? (I didn't ;-) For instance, the 20c yellow green shown above is Type II-II. !

I will need to re-check my Ceres issues for these short named Portuguese colonies with the stars on either side of their Ceres issues, and re-check my feeder albums also. !!

As DJCMH points out, this is a good argument for the WW classical era collector to pick up specialty catalogues for reference.

1914-18 Scott 126 50r on 65r dull blue, Red Local overprint

Issue of 1905 Surcharged

Between 1914-18, ten stamps that had a "local" overprint of "Republica" were issued. One of the overprints was placed on a previously surcharged 1905 issue, and that is shown here.

1915 Scott 135 115r on 2 1/2r brown

Provisional Issues of 1902 Overprinted

The surcharged and "Provisorio"  issues of 1902 were also overprinted "Republica" in 1915 on nine stamps, but these overprints are from Lisbon. Shown above is an example on a newspaper stamp, but another example is shown heading the "Out of the Blue" section.

As mentioned, "Portuguese Congo" was subsequently absorbed into Angola, and Angola stamps were then used for the former protectorate.

Deep Blue

1914 Ceres Issue in Deep Blue

Deep Blue (Steiner) has 10 pages for Portuguese Congo, and includes spaces for all the major Scott numbers.

1913 Scott 88 7 1/2c on 75r violet Brown

Vasco da Gama Issue surcharged

On stamps of Portuguese Africa

Big Blue

On one page (except for one line for "Portuguese Africa"), Big Blue '69 has 35 spaces for Portuguese Congo. Coverage is 26%. 

The page is located just before the "Portugal" section.

It appears the 40s editions have the same coverage. That page is located after the "Portugal" section.

Observations....

* No "Expensive" (CV $10+) stamps in BB.

*There is no coverage for...

- The 1902 surcharged issue (The CV is $1+-$3+ for 12 stamps)

- The 1913 Vasco da Gama issue (CV <$1-$1+ for 20 stamps)

- The 1914-18 "Local" overprinted issue (CV <$1-$1+ for 7 stamps)

- The 1915 "Provisional issue of 1902 Overprinted" lacks spaces for six stamps with CV <$1.

Checklist

1894

1,2,(5),

1898

13,14,15,18,

1902

49,50,(51),

1903

17,20,22,(23),

1911

60,61,62,63,64,65,66,

1914 (-1920*) Ceres

99 or 115*,100,101,102,103 or 116*,104,105,106,

107,108,

1915

136,137,138,

Newspaper Stamp

1894

P1,

Comments

A) Expensive stamps ($10 threshold): None

B) (    ) around a number indicates a blank space choice.
C) *1914 (-1920) Ceres - The Ceres issue was parsed by Scott in 2015? into chalky (1914 Scott 99-114) and ordinary (1920 Scott 115-116) paper. I added the ordinary paper 1920 Scott 115* 1/2c olive brown and 1920 Scott 116* 2c carmine as choices, as they are now in my 2017 catalogue.

1915 Scott 130 130r on 75r rose

Provisional Issue of 1902 overprinted

Out of the Blue

I suspect I would never have known about the Enclave of Cabinda if they had not issued stamps. And the 1911 surcharged Angolan stamps for the Portuguese Congo are interesting and inexpensive.

As for the rest of the generic Portuguese colony issues for the Portuguese Congo.......Meh!

Note: Maps appear to be in the public domain.

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