Dominica 1949 Mi 112-115 stamps (75th anniversary of the UPU)

This is a survey of the postage stamps and

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

, an

island nation An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

in the Caribbean Sea. Claimed by France in the 17th century, it was later awarded to Great Britain, becoming independent in 1978. Until December 31, 1939, Dominica was one of the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...

; it was then transferred to the Windward Islands.

Early mails

The GPO in London established a branch at Roseau in 1845, using a handstruck mark reading "Paid at Dominica". Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986, p.170. Between 1858 and April 1860, British stamps were used in Dominica, and these are identifiable through a coded postal obliterator reading ''A07''. Later, colonial officials took charge of the posts and used their own handstruck postal markings.

First stamps

1884 2half red-brown Dominica unused Yv20 SG15

On 4 May 1874, Dominica issued its first stamps, with a set consisting of 1d, 6d, and 1 shilling values. The design was a profile of Queen Victoria in an oval frame with "DOMINICA POSTAGE" in the band of the frame. The same design continued in use, with additional values and changes of color and watermark, through a 1/- magenta in 1890. Provisional issues included a half-penny surcharge on

bisect Bisect, or similar, may refer to: Mathematics * Bisection, in geometry, dividing something into two equal parts * Bisection method, a root-finding algorithm * Equidistant set Other uses * Bisect (philately), the use of postage stamp halves * Bis ...

s in 1882–1883, and surcharges in 1886. The general issue of stamps for the Leeward Islands superseded Dominican stamps on 31 October 1890, but concurrent Dominican issues resumed in 1903, and continued through 31 December 1939. Dominica adopted the

British West Indies dollar The British West Indies dollar (BWI$) was the currency of British Guiana and the Eastern Caribbean territories of the British West Indies from 1949 to 1965, when it was largely replaced by the East Caribbean dollar, and was one of the currencies us ...

in 1949, and the first issue denominated in the new currency was the Universal Postal Union 75th anniversary commemorative in October of that year. This was followed up in 1951 with a new series of 15 pictorials that included a full-face portrait of George VI. The pictorial set was reissued in 1954 with a profile portrait of Elizabeth II, along with four additional designs.

Early mails

First stamps

See also

References

Further reading