St Christopher - Bud's Big Blue

Saint Kitts (St Christopher)

Map by Gerben van Gelder

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

Saint Christopher, a dot of an island among many such dots that form the Leeward Islands, lies southeast of Puerto Rico in the volcanic eastern Caribbean. Columbus was the first European to visit the island (1493). Both the British and the French settled the island in the early 17^th century and the local Amerindian (Carib) population was massacred shortly thereafter. The French ceded control in 1713.  However, the capital still retains its French name – Basse-Terre, or lowland.

 Because of shifting colonial administrations, Saint Christopher’s stamps can be found under three Big Blue headings with overlapping dates – Saint Christopher 1870-90, Leeward Islands 1890-1956, Saint Kitt’s and Nevis 1903-52. This post deals only with the earliest period. Big Blue supplies five spaces for the 1870-90 stamps, all inexpensive. 

Bud’s collection

However, Scott’s catalog parses 29 major numbers (including postal fiscals) and 16 minor numbers, all with the image of Queen Victoria. Because feeder albums often come with more than five different examples, some of which might have high CVs, careful study of watermarks, perforations, and shades is advisable.

The island has been known as St. Kitts throughout its philatelic history, as shown by the 1871 cancel on Scott #3.

Scott #3 green 

 Census: five in BB spaces, four tip-ins

Jim's Observations

One of the five Presidencies of the British Leeward Islands Colony, St. Christopher issued their own stamps between 1870-1890. Then, Leeward Islands stamps were produced, and later (1903), St. Kitts-Nevis. St. Christopher was also known as St. Kitts.

For a general review of the stamp productions of the various islands, and the unhappy association of islands with each other, see my Leeward Islands blog post.

St Christopher Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Comments appreciated!