BELGIAN CONGO 1909 - 1920 and miscellaneous

Return To Catalogue - Belgian Congo 1886-1893 - Belgian Congo 1894-1908 - Ruanda-Urundi

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
contact me if you want to purchase them: evert@klaseboer.com.

For previous issues of Belgian Congo, click here.

1909 As previous issues, but with inscription 'CONGO BELGE'

  5 c green and black (harbor)
  10 c red and black (Stanley falls)
  15 c yellow and black (palm trees)
  50 c olive and black (bridge)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Inscription 'CONGO BELGE BELGISCH CONGO' (1910)

  5 c green and black (harbor)
  5 c green and black (harbor,
    'cinq' added in top of design
  10 c red and black (Stanley falls)
  10 c red and black (Stanley falls),
    'dix' added in top of design
  15 c yellow and black (palm trees)
  15 c green and black (palm trees)
  25 c blue and black (Inkissi falls)
  25 c blue and black (Inkissi falls),
    'vingt-cinq' added in top of design
  40 c green and black (canoes)
  40 c red and black (canoes)
  50 c olive and black (bridge)
  50 c brown and black (bridge)
  1 F red and black (elephant hunting)
  1 F olive and black (elephant hunting)
  3 F red and black (village)
  5 F red and black (native people)
  5 F orange and black (native people)
  10 F green and black (steamship)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged (1921-1922)

  5 c on 40 c green and black (red overprint)
  5 c on 50 c brown and black 
  10 c on 5 c green and black (3 types, red overprint)
  10 c on 1 F olive and black (red overprint)
  15 c on 50 c olive and black  (red overprint)
  25 c on 15 c yellow and black (red overprint)
  25 c on 40 c red and black (red overprint, other type with black overprint)
  25 c on 5 F orange and black
  30 c on 10 c red and black (2 types)
  50 c on 25 c blue and black (2 types, red overprint)

Doubly surcharged (1922-1923)
  25 c on 30 c on 10 c red and black (2 types)

With overprint '1921'

  1 F red and black
  3 F red and black
  5 F red and black
  10 F green and black (red overprint)

Red Cross issue (1918), with red cross and surcharged

Reduced size

  5 c + 10 c green and black (harbor)
  10 c + 15 c red and black (Stanley falls)
  15 c + 20 c  green and black (palm trees)
  25 c + 25 c blue and black (Inkissi falls)
  40 c + 40 c red and black (canoes)
  50 c + 50 c brown and black (bridge)
  1 Fr + 1 Fr olive and black (elephant hunting)
  5 Fr + 5 Fr orange and black (native people)
  10 Fr + 10 Fr green and black (steamship)

Imperforate red cross stamps are remainders. These issue overprinted 'A.O.' was used in Ruanda-Urundi.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

I have seen postal stationery in this design:
'Etat Independant du Congo Carte Postale', 15 c orange (palm tree, no black center)
'Congo Belge Belgisch Congo Carte Postale Postkaart ', 10 c red (palm tree, no black center)
Other values might exist.

Forgeries:

The unsurcharged stamps:
1) Chemically changed 5 c green and black into 5 c blue and black are known to exist (however, the shade will never be the same as a genuine 5 c blue and black). The 10 c red and black also exists with chemically changed colour (into 10 c brown and black).
2) Stamps with cut off perforation exist pretending to be an imperforate stamp
3) Forged 10 c blue and black and 10 F green and black with inversed centre exist, by shaving two halfs of normal stamps and than pasting them back together again.
4) Be careful with removed pen-cancels (pretending to be unused stamps)
5) Bogus overprints '15' or '30' (intended to be used on postcards only) on 5 c green and black or 10 c red and black.

Source: http://users.skynet.be/chst/falsification.htm

(What is this? bogus overprint '15 c' in red on 50 c olive and black)

Forgeries of the 'CONGO BELGE' overprint also exist.

Some primitive forgeries of the 1894 'ETAT INDEPENDANT DU CONGO' stamps:

1923 Native persons, crafts etc.

  5 c orange (Ubangi warrior)
  10 c green (Baluba girl)
  15 c brown (Babuende girl)
  20 c olive (Ubangi man)
  20 c green (weaving, 1925?)
  25 c brown (making mands, 'Vannerie Mandewerk')
  30 c red (wood carving, 'Bois Houtwerk')
  30 c olive (1925?)
  35 c green (1927)
  40 c violet (1925?)
  45 c violet (cattle 'Elevage Veefokkerij', 1927)
  50 c blue (hunting with bow and arrow, 'Jacht Chasse')
  50 c brown (1925?)
  60 c red (cattle 'Elevage Veefokkerij')
  75 c orange (weaving, 'Weven Tisser')
  75 c blue
  75 c red 
  1 F brown ('Orner Sieren')
  1 F blue (1925?)
  1 F red (1927)
  1.25 F blue (1927)
  1.50 F blue (1927)
  1.75 F blue (1927)
  3 F brown (rubber winning, 'Caouchoue')
  5 F grey (palm oil, 'Huile de palme Palmolie')
  10 F black (elephant head, 'Ivoor Ivoire')

Surcharged 
  '40 c' (red) on 35 c green (1930?)
  '50 c' (red) on 45 c violet (1930?)
  1.75 F on 1.50 F blue (1927)
  '2' (red) on 1.75 F blue (1930?)
  '3F25' (red) on 3 F brown (1932)
  

1928 Head of Stanley

  5 c black 
  10 c violet
  20 c red
  35 c green
  40 c brown 
  60 c brown
  1 F red
  1.60 F blue
  1.75 F blue
  2 F brown
  2.75 F violet
  3.50 F red
  5 F black
  10 F violet
  20 F lilac

Surcharged (1930-1931)
  '40 c' (red) on 35 c green
  '1F25' (blue) on 1 F red
  '2 F' (red) on 1.60 F blue
  '2 F' (red) on 1.75 F blue
  '3F25' on 2.75 F violet
  '3F25' on 3.50 F red 

1930 Healthcare

  10 c + 5 c red (nurse)
  20 c + 10 c brown (nurse)
  35 c + 15 c green (doctor with tent)
  60 c + 30 c lilac (house)
  1 F + 50 c red 
  1.75 F + 75 c blue
  3.50 F + 1.50 F red (baby care)
  5 F + 2.50 F brown (operation room)
  10 F + 5 F black (school)

Taxe 'overprints'

The stamps with 'overprint' 'TAXES' are actually cancels, example:

Bogus issue

The following stamps of Belgium with overprints '4 ----- C. CONGO 4 ------ C.', 'Congo 2 c 2 c' and 'Congo 3 c 3 c' are probably bogus issues:

I know of some bogus(?) labels issued in 1884 with inscription 'ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE SERVICE POSTAL DU CONGO Inland' or 'ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE SERVICE POSTAL DU HAUT CONGO Inland.' in a large rectangle (information obtained thanks to Baudoin Collard). I have never seen these labels personally.

Airmail

1920 Various designs

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  50 c red and black
  1 F violet and black
  2 F blue and black
  5 F green and black

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

1930 Inscription 'SERVICE POSTAL AERIEN' and 'LUCHTPOSTDIENST'

  15 F brown and black (aeroplane above native village)
  30 F lilac and black (aeroplane above people carrying goods)

Railway Stamps

I've seen several stamps with the image of a train, 'CHEMIN DE FER' on top and 'BCK' at the bottom. They were issued for the 'Compagnie du chemin de fer de Bas-Congo au Katanga'. This company was founded in 1906.

Websites

A nice site on the forgeries of this country can be found on : http://users.skynet.be/chst/falsification.htm (in french).

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer