Big Blue 1840-1940: September 2023

Map credit: Gerben van Gelder, Stamp World History

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

I’ll comment on the stamps of Zambezia (1894-1920) and its two districts – Quelimane and Tete – in a single post. Scans for all three are shown below. They’re straight forward Portuguese colonial stamps, but not well understood philatelically. At the turn of the 20^th century, social turmoil in the Mozambique part of Portugal’s empire makes anything said about its philately highly conjectural.

If you like research and are willing to risk not coming up with much, then the stamps of Zambezia, Quelimane and Tete might be the topic on which to build an internationally acclaimed reputation. Be forewarned, however, that existing literature is scant and often contradictory, analytical history almost nonexistent, and official documents scarce and inaccessible. A familiarity with the Portuguese language will help, though.

If you or anyone you know are interested in such a venture, here’s what I’d like to know about these stamps:

· Why and when exactly was Zambezia split into two districts, Quelimane and Tete? Current philatelic literature posits three dates: 1902, 1907, and 1913. Or was it never really a split?

· Was military action involved when the split occurred, perhaps in Tete?

Scott Tete #s 38 (brown on pink), 39, (orange on salmon) and 40 (green on blue)

· If the earlier date is more accurate, why were Zambezia stamps continued in use and Quelimane and Tete stamps not issued until 1913-14? And why were overprinted Zambezia stamps issued in 1915?

Scott Zambezia #s 86 (light green), 75 (yellow green, local overprint) and 87 (carmine)

Why was the Zambezia Company not a charter company that had control over postal services, such as was the case with the Nyasa Company and Mozambique Company?

· In what ways did the prazo system of land tenure in Zambezia affect postal service? Through prazo, large feudal estates were controlled by Portuguese traders and soldiers in the Zambesi River basin. Prazo-holders’ loyalty to the Portuguese crown was minimal and they operated independently sometimes supported by their own armies.

· Apart from the overprint “Republica” on the Vasco da Gama series, how did the coup d’état in Portugal (5 October 1910) affect colonial postal services?

Scott Quelimane #s 23 and 7, bister brown

· Why were the Vasco da Gama stamps recycled for use 20 years after they were first issued? Do the recycled stamps differ from the originals in ways other than the overprints? Was there a huge oversupply?

Scott Tete #10, red

Why are Quelimane and Tete stamps usually found in mint condition while Zambezia’s are commonly in used condition? Were the former issued mainly for sales to collectors and not so much for local use?

· Why are Quelimane and Tete stamps exact duplicates, except for the key plates and overprints of the districts’ names? Inhambane has similar issues.

· Why are covers from this area scarce and expensive? What can be learned from covers that do exist?

· To what extent were stamps of the various Mozambique districts used interchangeably, say, Inhambane stamps cancelled at a Tete post office?

· How scarce were stamps in Tete and Quelimane? Some covers exist that have only a small fraction of a stamp on them.

Ambitious researchers need not start from scratch. Three sources provide something of a head start: 1- Gerben van Gelder’s Stamps World History site has discussions about the stamps of all Mozambique districts. See for instance: https://stampworldhistory.com/country-profiles-2/africa/quelimane/. 2- See also relevant articles in the UK-based Portuguese Philatelic Society Bulletin. 3- Writing in Portuguese, Luís Brito Frazão focuses on general Portuguese philately and has a book titled Contribuição para a história postal do Baixo Zambeze (2008) Contribution to the Postal History of the Lower Zambezi.

Frazão’s book cover showing Scott Quelimane #27, olive brown. Currently out of print.

A final caution: Portuguese officials sometimes grossly overstate the quality of life in the African colonies. Franco Nogueira, Portuguese Foreign Minister (1961-69), boasted: “We alone, before anyone else, brought to Africa the notion of human rights and racial equality. We alone practiced the principle of multi-racialism, which all now consider to be the most perfect and daring expression of human brotherhood and sociological progress…. Our African provinces are more developed, more progressive in every respect than any recently independent territory in Africa south of the Sahara, without exception.”(1) Nogueira uttered these falsehoods during the Mozambiquan war for independence (1964-75) that cost one million lives, displace five million citizens, and created nearly two million international refugees.

Ordinary life in Tete, much as I saw it on my last visit. (2)

Census: Quelimane, 20 in BB spaces, 15 on supplement page. Tete, 21 in BB spaces, 19 on supplement page. Zambezia, 37 in BB spaces, 41 on supplement page.

(1) Cited by Gerald J. Bender, Angola Under the Portuguese: The Myth and the Reality, (1978) p xxi.

(2) Photo credit: Cgreenhaf. Accessed via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tete,_Mozambique.jpg. In public domain.

Jim's Observations

I haven't visited the area as Bud has, but my contribution is linked below...

Quelimane Post & BB Checklist

Tete Post & BB Checklist

Zambezia Post & BB Checklist

Quelimane

Page 1

Supplements

Page 1

Tete

Page 1

Supplements

Page 1

Zambezia

Page 1

Supplements

Page 1

Comments appreciated!

St. Vincent Sept 1 1881 Scott 31 1/2p on half of 6p yellow green

1880 Scott 28 6p yellow green Bisected and Surcharged in Red

Into the Deep Blue

This post is going to be a bit of "show & tell" showing some of my recently acquired St. Vincent's collection.

But more so, it will outline how I tend to collect these days.

Currently, I have a 61% filled Deep Blue (51,000+) and a 90% filled Big Blue (31,000+).

Recall that I put my stamps into Deep Blue - Steiner pages that provide a space for all the major Scott numbers. The Steiner pages, for 1840-1940 WW (-1952 Commonwealth), provide 83,000+ spaces in total.

If I just picked up random WW lots or collections, I would probably already have 99% of the stamps. Not a good approach.

I have two strategies.

1) The obvious strategy of creating want lists for a certain country, and finding stamps with dealers, auctions, or the internet ( APS site not uncommonly, some e-bay). One will usually pay more CV wise, but one gets the stamp one desires.

2) The second strategy is buying relatively complete or specialized country collections. Yes, there will be overlap with stamps one already has, but often the new collection yields a significant number of new stamps, or there are quality additions, and even surprises!

This approach works especially well the last several years as there is a glut of country collections available ( See Is the Stamp Hobby for WW collectors changing?). Often the CV for a nice country collection is in the 16%-20% range from dealers.

Ok, what I will show now is several pages from my "before" St. Vincent collection in Deep Blue; then a stock page from the recently acquired St. Vincent collection; then showing again the several pages of St. Vincent with the new stamps in place after using the stock page. What interesting stamps will we find?

The "before" St. Vincent in Deep Blue

St Vincent Deep Blue 1880-81 Before

Note: The upper section of this page is already filled with stamps from the new collection.

St Vincent Deep Blue 1883-97 Before

St Vincent Deep Blue 1885-98 Before

New collection St Vincent Stock Page

The "after" St. Vincent in Deep Blue

St Vincent Deep Blue 1880-81 After

Sept 1 1881 Scott 31 1/2p on half of 6p yellow green

Bisected and surcharged in red

The big addition (and a surprise!) is this bisected Scott 31 - CV $190.

St Vincent Deep Blue 1883-97 After

You will note I tend to put duplicates on the same page (if possible). It is helpful to spot a minor number color shade, or show off an interesting cancel.

1883-84 Perf 12 Scott 35, 36, 39

The new stock page yielded three stamps that were Perf 12 - 1884 1/2p green (CV $40), 1883 4p ultramarine (CV $55), 1883 1sh orange vermilion (CV $65). The perfs were checked and the wmks were checked. The collector that put together the stock page was quite accurate - but not perfect. For instance, one of his "perf 12" 1sh orange vermilion stamps turned out to be perf 14. Always recheck!

1883 Scott 40 2/12p on 1p lake

Second example (new) - a SG 40w - Wmk inverted - 10x CV $1.75 = $17.50

Another surprise! An advantage of double checking wmks is finding unusual examples - here an inverted one. This variety is only listed in SG, not in Scott.

1883 Scott 42 1p drab (new); 1885 Scott 43 1p rose red;

1886 Scott 44 1p pink (new); 1897 Scott 45 2 1/2p bright blue (new)

The Perf 14 Crown wmk 2 spaces here yielded three new stamps: 1p drab (CV $60 unused), 1p pink (CV $190), & 2 1/2p bright blue (CV $2.10).

Admittedly, the "1p pink" is a tentative (and a bit hopeful) color identification- would need to be certified. There are three colors listed in Scott: 1885 rose red, 1886 pink, 1889 carmine red.

1883 Scott 46 4p ultramarine (new); 1886 Scott 48 4p lake brown;

1893 Scott 49 4p yellow

The 4p ultramarine (CV $85) is new. The 4p yellow is not, but I might have a new color variation. (see below)

Scott 49a 4p olive yellow?

Is this the much less common "olive yellow" color (CV $350), or merely some oxidizing (sulfuretting)?

1897 Scott 50 5p gray brown (new); 1888 Scott 51 6p violet (new)

The 5p gray brown (CV $8.75 unused) is new. Also new (if the color is correct) is the 6p violet (CV $225). Compare with the more common color below.

1891 Scott 52 6p red violet (new- two examples); 1888 Scott 54 5sh carmine lake;

Scott 53a 1sh red orange (new); Scott 53 1sh orange vermilion (two examples - one sulfuretted)

I have the 6p red violet (CV $3/$25), which is new. (Compare with the 6p violet above.) Also, it appears I have minor number 1sh red orange (CV $13, but fiscal).