Big Blue 1840-1940

A is for Aden and Z is for Zanzabar

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Sudan - Bud's Big Blue

1897 Sudan in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud'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

Sudan is home to the ancient Nubian Kingdom of Kush, at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile.

But the Suez Canal, built in 1869, meant that, in more recent times, the British and French became interested in the area, mainly to assure security of the enterprise.

And that most definitely affected Sudan.

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, on the southern border of Egypt, and tied by the Nile River and culture to Egypt, was a Condominium of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Egypt from 1899-1956. In reality, the British controlled the Sudan: not least because Egypt was occupied by British forces of various strengths from 1882-1936, and Egypt was a British Protectorate from 1914-1922.

Even after 1936, when the British forces withdrew from Egypt proper, with the exception of the Suez Canal Zone, they maintained their forces in Sudan.

Stamps were introduced in 1897 by overprinting Egyptian stamps of 1884-93.

Then Anglo Egyptian Sudan received their own iconic philatelic design beginning in 1898: the "Camel Post". The design was used as late as 1954.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Sudan 1897-1941, 180 major number descriptions. Of those, 77 are CV <$1-$1+, or 43%. Sudan's stamps are reasonably affordable for the WW classical era collector.

Aside from the first issue, which consists of overprinted Egyptian "Sphinx" stamps, the overriding design over multiple issues for Sudan is the "Camel Post": and handsome it is.

No doubt because Sudan was jointly administered by Great Britain and Egypt, the script is in both English and Arabic.

Besides the usual categories of regular, air post, and postage due, Sudan also offers official stamps ( overprinted and perforated), and army official stamps (overprinted and perforated) categories.

Big Blue '69, on two pages, has 61 spaces for the stamps of Sudan. Coverage is 33%.

The 40s editions have the same coverage, except a space is given for the 1903 Scott 28 5m on 5p (CV $10+).

The perforated stamps found with the Official and Army Official categories are not included.

The "S G" Official overprinted stamps of 1936+ are not given a space.

Only one stamp with CV $10+ is required for the spaces.

There is the usual (for BB) one space for watermark different stamps.

For more on the stamps themselves, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Sudan Blog Post & BB Checklist

Page 1

Page 2

Friday, January 9, 2026

Straits Settlements - Bud's Big Blue

1882-92 Straits Settlements in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

Jim's Observations

Straits Settlements (on or near the Malacca Strait, hence the name) was a group of British territories established in 1826 by the British East India Company.

Stamps of India were used in the Straits Settlements from 1854-1867 with octagonal postmark B/172 (Singapore), B/147 (Penang), and B109 (Malacca).

Initially, Penang was the administrative center, but quickly (1832) Singapore, with its advantageous location, became the leading settlement.

In 1867, Straits Settlements became a crown colony, and De la Rue produced new Victoria stamp designs.

Labuan joined the Straits Settlements in 1907

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Straits Settlements 1867-1948, 310 major number descriptions. Of those, 93 are CV <$1-$1+, or 30%. As a former British Colony composed of Singapore and parts of Malaysia, there is demand and interest, and consequently cost for these stamps.

Big Blue '69 has just two pages and 92 spaces for the stamps of Straits Settlements (Malacca, Penang, and Singapore). The '69 editors separated out "Malaya" and gave them their own section.

The 40s BB editions, as noted, had the Federated Malay States, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, Sungei Ujong, and Trengganu still included under the "Straits Settlements" section.

Subtracting the 46 stamps for the 1942-48 period (which BB doesn't cover) leaves 264 major numbers in the catalogue. Overall, then, coverage in BB is 35%.

To BB's credit (and the fact I altered the 1882-91 issue stamps to 1867-91 dates, there are no expensive stamps ($10 threshold).

There is the usual wmk 2 vs wmk 3; wmk 3 vs wmk 4 choices for stamp spaces to be made.

The '69 editors dropped the postage due category (eight spaces), which was in the 40s edition.

For more on the stamps themselves, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Straits Settlements Blog Post & BB Checklist

Page 1

Page 2

Supplements

Page 1

Page 2

Monday, January 5, 2026

Spanish Sahara - Bud's Big Blue

1924 Spanish Sahara in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

Jim's Observations

Spanish Sahara or Spanish Western Sahara, as it was formerly known, was established in 1924 from the colony of Rio de Oro and the territory of Saguiet el Hamra.

With the Berlin Conference of 1884, and the European Powers setting up spheres of influence in Africa, Spain declared an African Coast protectorate from Cape Blanc to Cape Bojador, and informed the other powers on January 14, 1885. (The Sahrawi had nothing to say about it. ) The colony was called Rio de Oro. But the "Rio" was a wadi, there was no gold, and the landscape mainly consisted of coastal fog and desolate sandy escarpments.

(See the Rio de Oro blog post for more history- both real and philatelic.)

The borders of the Spanish claims were not well defined until France and Spain, through treaties, established limits in the early 20th century.

But in 1924, Spanish Sahara was created, and the "Tuareg and Camel" stamp issue was released.

Besides Rio de Oro and Saguiet el Hamra, the lands also included La Aguera, the Cape Juby strip and Ifni.

Spanish Morocco was administered separately.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Spanish Sahara 1924-1931, 47 major descriptive numbers in the regular and semi-postal categories. Of those, 29 are CV <$1-$1+, or 62%. From the point of view of CV, the WW classical era collector should be able to put together a representative collection without much cost. The problem for U.S. based collectors, as I've mentioned before, is Spanish colony stamps are not that prevalent in general collections. One may need to hunt for them.

Big Blue '69, on two pages has 43 spaces for the stamps of 1924-1931 Spanish Sahara. Coverage is a remarkable 91%. !!

The coverage significantly increased, compared to the 40s editions, (Then labeled "Spanish Western Sahara"), where there were only 25 spaces on one page.

The flip side to the generous coverage in the '69 ( and subsequent editions) is there are some expensive stamp spaces to fill.

Specifically...

"Tuareg and Camel" Issue

1929 Scott 11 4p chocolate ($30+)

1929 Scott 12 10p claret ($105) !!

I suspect these stamps may be a couple of the more difficult ones to find for those collectors who are attempting to complete a Big Blue. To wit, a stamp buddy, who has less than 360 spaces to fill in BB, is looking for these stamps. !

For more on the stamps themselves, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Spanish Sahara Blog Post & BB Checklist

Page 1

Page 2

Thursday, January 1, 2026

Spanish Morocco - Bud's Big Blue

1903-18 Spanish Morocco in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

Jim's Observations

Spanish Morocco, on the northwest coast of Africa and consisting of local Berber populations, was a Spanish protectorate from 1912-1956. But Spain has had influence in the coastal area for centuries, and was one of the nations (along with France, Great Britain, and Germany) that had opened up "offices" in Morocco for mail handling beginning in (for Spain) 1903.

But with the 1912 Treaty of Fez between France and Spain, a northern strip of territory on the Mediterranean (Spanish Morocco), and a southern strip next to Spanish Sahara (Cape Juby) was delegated to Spanish protection. The rest of "Morocco", the largest section, was a French Protectorate (French Morocco).

The reason for "giving" Spain protectorate rights over the Moorish coast wasn't entirely altruistic; in fact, a bit machiavellian. Great Britain wanted a weaker power "in charge" across from Gibraltar and the strait.

Tangier was given the status as an "International City" with the 1912 treaty. (Of interest, during WW II, Spain occupied Tangier from 1940-45.)

Overprinted stamps of Spain were introduced in 1914, and Spanish Morocco received their own issues beginning in 1928.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Spanish Morocco 1903-1940, 251 major number descriptions. Of those, 205 are CV <$1-$1+, or a remarkable 82%. Clearly, Spanish Morocco is affordable indeed for the WW classical era collector.

Included in the listings are 25 stamps for the international city of Tangier. These consist of the overprinted 1929 Seville-Barcelona stamps of Spain, and the overprinted 1926 semi-postal stamps of Spain.

Big Blue '69, on six pages, has 134 spaces for the stamps of Spanish Morocco. Coverage is 54%.

The 40s editions coverage is under Spain- "Offices in Morocco".

Big Blue has no spaces needing a stamp with CV $10+.

It appears that when the '69 editors rearranged the 1933-35 section and the 1937 section, they introduced space errors -giving 151, 160, and 162 a second space.

The error is not corrected in my 1992 edition.

The '69 editors no doubt intended, under "1937", that 169, 172, 173 be given a space, (correct in the 1940s editions), but the '69 album has a second "151" image cut, and a description for "160" and "162". To correct for the error, put 169, 172, and 173 in these spaces.

For more on the stamps themselves, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Spanish Morocco Blog Post & BB Checklist

Page 1