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 17th 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.
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.
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.
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