1903 Tahiti in Bud's Big Blue
Bud's Big BlueBud's Observations
(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)
Jim's Observations
The French Polynesian island of Tahiti, 28 miles (45 km) across, with volcanic Mont Orohena rising 7,370 ft (1,332 m) above the green lush vegetation and the black sand beaches, is located in the central Southern Pacific Ocean within the Society Islands archipelago. Far from the hustle and bustle of ordinary base human civilization, 2,700 miles from Hawaii, 4,900 miles from Chile, 3,500 miles from Australia, Tahiti had evoked for many during the 19th century the romantic noble primitive myth set within an island paradise.
Tahiti has been under French influence since 1842, and when the Kingdom of Tahiti, through Pomare V, ceded Tahiti to France in 1880, the island and the island dependencies became a French colony.
Stamps were introduced for Tahiti in 1882 by surcharging stamps of the French Colonies.
In 1903, French Oceania (French Polynesia) was formed from several groups of South Pacific Polynesian islands. The islands included the Marquesas, the Tuamotu Archipelago and Gambier, and the Austral and Bass groupings. The most important group was the Society islands; and above all Tahiti.
In 1946, French Polynesia and Tahiti became an overseas territory, and French citizenship was granted to all inhabitants.
The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Tahiti 1882-1915, 65 major descriptive numbers. Of those, three are CV $10+, or 5%. The rest range from $40+-$40,000+. Clearly, Tahiti's stamps are expensive, and the general WW collector will need to be content with a few representative specimens. In addition, Scott has a note about surcharges and overprint counterfeits existing for all the Tahitian stamps. Caveat Emptor.
The very early 1882-84 issues (23 bolded numbers) consist of stamps of the French Colonies crudely surcharged in black. They are CV $ hundreds- $ thousands.
The very early 1882-84 issues (23 bolded numbers) consist of stamps of the French Colonies crudely surcharged in black. They are CV $ hundreds- $ thousands.
Other categories include the 1915 semipostals (2 stamps), and the 1893 postage due (59 bolded numbers). The postage dues must overall be the most expensive postage dues in the philatelic world as they are CV $ hundreds- $ thousands. !
Big Blue '69 has three spaces on one line for the stamps of Tahiti. The country coverage is located after "Trinidad and Tobago", and on the same page as "Turks Islands" and the beginning of "Turks and Caicos Islands".
The 40s editions have the same three space coverage. It is located just before "Tripolitania".
Big Blue provides spaces for the 1903 issue, which are stamps of French Polynesia surcharged in black or carmine. They are also the least expensive for Tahiti, but still are CV $10+.
For more on the stamp issues themselves, click on the link below.
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