FRENCH CONGO

Return To Catalogue - French Congo, miscellaneous - Middle Congo

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French colonies stamps used in Congo, example:

1891 Stamps of the french colonies, overprinted 'CONGO FRANCAIS' and value

  '5 c' on 1 c black
     (exists overprinted in red)
  '5 c' on 15 c blue
  '5 c' on 20 c red on green
  '5 c' on 25 c black
  '10 c' on 25 c black
  '10 c' on 40 c red
  '15 c' on 25 c black

The stamps '5 c' on 25 c black, '10 c' on 25 c black and '15 c' on 25 c black exist with overprint vertically, example:

The 5 c on 1 c stamps were initially overprinted in red (100 stamps); but the red impression was not satisfactory. The remaining stamps (2900) were overprinted in black instead.

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

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

(5 c on 1 c double overprint)

Forgeries:

Forged overprint (and forged cancel?) on a genuine stamp

The forger Fournier also made forgeries of these stamps:

A page with forged Fournier overprints.

1891 Bogus issue

In 1891 some bogus stamps appeared on the market (see for example The Philatelic Record, 1891 pages 254 and 285 for images). They have a banana leaf, a palm tree, the French flag and a local person as design. The text reads 'POSTES' on top and 'CONGO FRANCAIS' at the bottom, more or less similar to the Diego Suarez stamps of 1890. According to 'Les Timbres de Phantasie' by Georges Chapier (page 22); these forgeries were made by a certain Batifort of Marseille who printed 550 sets of these bogus stamps.

Bogus stamps, vaguely resembling the issues of Diego Suarez, all cancelled with "LIBREVILLE 26 AOUT 91 CONGO"

1892 Postage due stamps of the French Colonies overprinted: 'Congo francais timbres poste 10 c'

  5 c (red) on 5 c black
  5 c (red) on 20 c black
  5 c on (red) 30 c black
  10 c on 1 F brown

The overprint is done from top to bottom, but also exists from bottom to top.

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

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

1893 French colonies type, inscription 'CONGO FRANCAIS' in red or blue

  1 c black
  2 c brown on yellowish
  4 c brown
  5 c green
  10 c black
  10 c red
  15 c blue
  15 c grey
  20 c red on green
  25 c black
  25 c blue
  30 c brown
  40 c orange
  50 c red
  50 c brown on blue
  75 c lilac
  1 F green

Overprinted 'Valeur' and value (1900)

Two of the 6 uncancelled stamps (images obtained from a Siegel auction).

  'Valeur 5' on 20 c red on green
  'Valeur 15' on 30 c brown

These stamps have perforation 14 x 13 1/2. For stamps in the same Tablet design, but for other French colonies, click here.

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

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

For the specialist: the 15 c blue has a underprint of horizontal and vertical lines.

(The 50 c brown on blue with double countryname variety)

I have seen a postcard ('CARTE POSTALE') in the same design in the value 10 c black (country name in blue).

Forgeries:

Fournier has made forgeries of these stamps, note that the perforation in the corners is not like in the genuine stamps:

(Fournier forgeries, reduced sizes)

Fournier forgeries

Furthermore the hand next to the last 'E' of 'REPUBLIQUE' doesn't show any fingers in the forgeries. For more information on these forgeries click here. Fournier also forged the "Valeur 15" overprint.

This looks like a forged "Valeur 15" overprint on a genuine stamp to me.

1900 Leopard, woman and palm trees, inscription 'republique francaise Congo Francais'

Leopard  

  1 c brown and grey
  2 c brown and yellow
  4 c red and blue
  5 c green and olive
  10 c red
  15 c violet and yellow

Woman

  20 c green and orange
  25 c blue
  30 c red and yellow
  40 c brown and green
  50 c violet and lilac
  75 c red and yellow
 
Palm trees

  1 F grey and olive
  2 F red and brown
  5 F orange and black

Surcharged (1903)

(reduced view)

  '5c' on 30 c red and yellow
  '0,10' on 2 F red and brown

These stamps have a watermark 'Plant', this watermark is slightly different for the 3 types of these stamps, on the values 1 c to 15 c it is a 'thistle tree', on the values 20 c to 75 c it is a 'rose tree' on the values 1 F to 5 F it is an 'olive tree'.

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

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

For similar stamps, but with inscription 'Moyen Congo' see under: Middle Congo.

In 1906 French Congo was divided in two parts: Middle Congo and Gabon.

For Parcel stamps and fiscal stamps of French Congo, click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer