ANGOLA 1870-1893

Return To Catalogue - Angola 1894 onwards and miscalleneous - Portugal

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Angola was a portuguese colony at the southwest coast of Africa (the portuguese made their settlements in the 15th and 16th century). It became independant in 1975. Angola got his name from Ngola (which means king, after the kingdom of Ndongo).

1870 Crown

  5 r black
  10 r yellow
  10 r green
  20 r brown
  20 r red
  25 r red
  25 r violet
  40 r blue
  40 r yellow
  50 r green
  50 r blue
  100 r lilac
  200 r orange
  300 r brown

These stamps have perforation 12 1/2 or 13 1/2. Stamps in similar designs were issued for most Portuguese colonies (country name different for each country), click here for more information on this issue.

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

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

A misprint 40 r red exists (colour of the 20 r) when it was accidently inserted in the 20 r plate, some of these misprints still exist (all cancelled with a blue bar). If anybody posesses a picture of this misprint, please contact me!

Reprints of the above stamps exist (on different paper).

I've seen three commemorative stamps made in 1950 with the Crown design, the bottom tablet with '5 REIS' is different. A label with '1a EXPOSICAO FILATELICA DE ANGOLA' is attached at the bottom. I've seen the values 50 c (with a picture of a 5 REIS green stamp), 1 AGS (with a picture of a 5 REIS red stamp) and 4 AGS (with the above 5 REIS black stamp).

Cancels:

Example:

Forgeries:

The genuine stamps have the following characteristics (thanks to Bill Claghorn and 'The Spud Papers'):

The crown is well done and the pearls can be easily counted.
There are 9, 10, 5, 10, 9 pearls
The inner frame line at the sides is thinner.
The thick line above the value tablet extends all the way to the
outer right vertical frame.

Spiro forgeries:

Some forgeries have the typical Spiro cancel never used in Angola, (an easy way to recognize them), examples of Spiro forgeries:

(Inner line above value label not continuous, 'G' has a tail)

The inner line above the value label is not continued to the right outer frame line in the Spiro forgeries. The pearls in the crown are difficult to count. The 'G' of 'ANGOLA' seems to have a tail in these forgeries. Besides the shown values, I have also seen 50 r green and 100 r lilac. More information on Spiro forgeries of Angola can be found at: http://www.tabacaria.org/Selos/Coroa/angSpiro.htm.

Fournier forgeries:

Fournier also made forgeries of these stamps, the 9 values intially issued in 1870 were offered by him for 2 Swiss Francs in his 1914 pricelist. The other 5 values were offered for 1 Swiss Franc. A misprint, 40 r red was also offered by him for 2 Swiss Francs.

(I think this is a Fournier forgery)

(Some forged cancels applied to Fournier forgeries, taken from a Fournier album)

(Fournier forgery with 'CORREIO DE LOANDA 15/10 1881' cancel)

More information concerning Fournier forgeries of Angola can be found at: http://www.tabacaria.org/Selos/Coroa/angFournier.htm.

Fournier forgeries.

They can be recognized by the following characteristics; with thanks to Bill Claghorn for the images; (Forgeries idenfication site of Bill Claghorn.):

(Genuine left, forgery right)

1) The ornaments in the upper right corner are not perfect as in the genuine stamps.

(Genuine left, forgery right)

2) The large circle with 'CABO VERDE' is slightly to big for the frame. In the genuine stamps this frame doesn't touch or just touches the line below 'CORREOS'.

(Genuine left, forgery right)

3) The cross on top of the crown has a white dot in the center. In the Fournier forgeries there is no dot at all in the center, but it has the colour of the stamp.

(Genuine left, forgery right)

4) I have also noticed that the ornament in the left upper corner is almost touching the frame in the Fournier forgeries. In the genuine stamps it is further away from the frame.

5) The cancels always seem to be the same (one or two per country, with the date always fixed). On Angola: 'CORREIO ... JASSANG... 23 NOV 75' or 'CORREIO DE LOANDA 15/10 1881'

Forgery made by an unknown forger:

In the above forgery, the ornaments in the upper right and lower left corner are inverted. A picture of a 5 reis forgery (called 'Swastika forgery there) can be found at: http://www.tabacaria.org/Selos/Coroa2/angswastik.htm.

'A inclinado' forgery

This forgery has the last 'A' of 'ANGOLA' inclined to the left. Sorry, no picture available yet. More information (including picture) can be found at: http://www.tabacaria.org/Selos/Coroa/angtiltedA.htm.

1886 King Louis I, head embossed

  5 r black
  10 r green
  20 r red
  25 r lilac
  40 r brown
  50 r blue
  100 r brown
  200 r violet
  300 r orange

These stamps have perforation 12 1/2 (the values 5 r and 10 r also exist with perforation 13 1/2). Stamps in similar designs were issued for most Portuguese colonies (country name different for each country), click here for more information on this issue.

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

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

Surcharged with fancy letters (1902)

  '65 Reis' on 40 r brown
  '65 Reis' on 300 r orange
  '115 Reis' on 10 r green
  '115 Reis' on 200 r violet
  '130 Reis' on 50 r blue
  '130 Reis' on 100 r brown
  '400 Reis' (red) on 5 r black
  '400 Reis' on 20 r red
  '400 Reis' on 25 r lilac

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

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

Surcharged with fancy letters and overprinted 'REPUBLICA' in red (1914)

(Left, with small local; and right with broad 'REPUBLICA' overprint)

  '115 Reis' on 10 r green
  '115 Reis' on 200 r violet
  '130 Reis' on 50 r blue
  '130 Reis' on 100 r brown

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

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

1893 Newspaper stamp, inscription Angola Portugal 2 1/2 Reis

  2 1/2 r brown

This stamp has perforation 12 1/2 or 13 1/2. Newspaper stamps in this design were issued for most Portuguese colonies (country name different for each country), click here for more information.

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

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

Surcharged 'CORREIOS DE ANGOLA 25 REIS' (blue) in a circle (1894)

  25 r on 2 1/2 r brown

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

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

Surcharged 400 Reis in fancy letters

(click here for stamps of other colonies with similar surcharge)

  '400 Reis' on 2 1/2 r brown

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

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

Surcharged 400 Reis in fancy letters and 'REPUBLICA' (red)

  '400 Reis' on 2 1/2 r brown

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

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

Surcharged 400 Reis in fancy letters overprinted 'Republica'
and value in cents and bars

(click here for stamps of other colonies with similar surcharge)

  '40 c.' on 400 r on 2 1/2 r brown

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

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

The 25 r on 2 1/2 r was forged by Fournier.

(Forged overprint by Fournier, reduced size, taken from a Fournier album)

Angola 1894 onwards and miscalleneous

Stamps - Briefmarken - Timbres-Poste - Postzegels - Francobolli - Estampillas

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