TURKEY 1876-1900

Return To Catalogue - Turkey overview

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 stamps of Turkey issued from 1863 to 1875, click here.

1876 Moon, inscription 'EMP:OTTOMAN'

Genuine Genuine

  5 pa black and yellow (1881)
  5 pa violet and grey (prepared, but not issued)
  5 pa black and grey (1886)
  5 pa green and yellow (1888)
  10 pa black and lilac
  10 pa black and green (1884)
  10 pa green (1884)
  10 pa green and grey (1890)
  20 pa violet and green
  20 pa black and red (1880)
  20 pa red (1884)
  20 pa red and grey
  20 pa black (official stamp, 1888)
  50 pa blue and yellow
  1 Pi black and blue (1880, error: inscription 'PIASTRES', with 'S')
  1 Pi black and blue (1880, inscription 'PIASTRE')
  1 Pi blue and grey (1884)
  1 Pi black (official stamp, 1888)
  2 Pi black and brown
  2 Pi olive and brown (1884)
  2 Pi orange and blue (1886)
  2 Pi lilac and blue (1888)
  2 Pi olive and yellow (1890)
  2 Pi black (official stamp, 1888)
  5 Pi red and blue
  5 Pi brown (1884)
  5 Pi green and blue (1886)
  5 Pi brown and grey (1888)
  5 Pi yellow and grey (1890)
  25 Pi lilac and red
  25 Pi black and grey (1884)
  25 Pi brown and grey (1886)
  25 Pi red and yellow (1888)

The Turkish value was written in the space above the 'OTT', Arabic numerals were given above 'EMP' and 'MAN', the value was also indicated in Latin numerals in the lower left corner. These stamps exist with various perforations (11 1/2 or 13 1/2), imperforate stamps also exist (rare):

Imperforate 1 Pi stamp. The Senf catalogue of 1938 states that these imperforate stamps and tete-beche stamps were produced for the stamp dealers Corpy and Glavany from Istanbul. Next to it a stamp with inverted background, also produced for Corpy & Glavany (could this be Alfred Antoine Glavany and his wife Angèle Corpi? Glavany issued the 'Catalogue des timbres-poste, cartes etc. de Turquie' in 1889; 48 pages).

The 1 Pi was first issued with text 'PIASTRES', when the error was discovered, the last 'S' of this word was erased to make 'PIASTRE'. Sometimes small parts of the 'S' can still be seen.

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5 pa black and yellow	c	*
5 pa violet and grey	RR	-
5 pa black and grey	c	c
5 pa green and yellow	c	c
10 pa black and lilac	c	*
10 pa black and green	*	*
10 pa green	c	c
10 pa green and grey	c	c
20 pa violet and green	***	***
20 pa black and red	c	*
20 pa red	c	c
20 pa red and grey	c	c
20 pa black	*	*	Official stamp
50 pa	*	**
1 Pi black and blue	***	*	'PIASTRE'
1 Pi black and blue	c	*	'PIASTRES'
1 Pi blue and grey	c	c
1 Pi black	*	*	Official stamp
2 Pi black and brown	c	*
2 Pi olive and brown	c	c
2 Pi orange and blue	c	c
2 Pi lilac and blue	c	c
2 Pi olive and yellow	*	c
2 Pi black	*	**	Official stamp
5 Pi red and blue	***	***
5 Pi brown	*	**
5 Pi green and blue	*	*
5 Pi brown and grey	*	**
5 Pi yellow and grey	***	***
25 Pi lilac and red	R	R
25 Pi black and grey	RR	RR
25 Pi brown and grey	R	R
25 Pi red and yellow	R	R

Newspaper stamp (1879), overprinted 'IMPRIMES'

  10 pa black and lilac

This overprint can be found on other stamps, but it is either forged or non-official (see examples above, the stamp dealers Corpi and Glavany seem to have been involved in this as well...).

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa	RR	RR

Newspaper stamps (1891), overprinted 'IMPRIME' in a rectangle

  10 pa green and grey
  20 pa red and grey
  1 Pi blue and grey
  2 Pi olive and grey
  5 Pi yellow and grey

These overprints also exist in blue or red (rare). Forged overprints exist!

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa	***	**
20 pa	***	***
1 Pi	***	***
2 Pi	R	R	With blue overprint: forgery
5 Pi	RR	RR	With blue overprint: forgery

Some of these stamps were overprinted in 1917 (most of them are rare):

(Overprint of a 'beetle' like text on a 2 Pi official stamp, could be a forged overprint)

  5 pa black and yellow (red overprint)
  5 pa black (red overprint)
  10 pa black and green (red overprint)
  10 pa green 
  50 pa blue and yellow
  1 Pi black (red overprint, official stamp)
  2 Pi black and brown (red overprint)
  2 Pi olive and brown 
  2 Pi orange and blue 
  2 Pi black (red overprint, official stamp)
  5 Pi brown 
  5 Pi green and blue (red overprint)
  5 Pi brown and grey 
  25 Pi lilac and red
  25 Pi brown and grey

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5 pa black and yellow	R	R
5 pa black	*	*	Exists with inverted overprint: ***
10 pa black and green	R	R
10 pa green	R	R
50 pa	R	R
1 Pi	R	R	On official stamp
2 Pi black and brown	R	R
2 Pi olive and brown	R	R
2 Pi orange and blue	**	**
2 Pi black	R	R	On official stamp
5 Pi brown	R	R
5 Pi green and blue	R	R
5 Pi brown and grey	R	R
25 Pi lilac and red	RR	RR
25 Pi brown and grey	RR	RR

Bogus and 'highly suspicious' overprints:

(I have seen many bisected stamps with exactly the same cancel '14 DECEMBRE 1886')

Some bisected stamps exist surcharged with a new value. The following values exist:
'2' (red) on 5 Pi green and blue,
'10' (blue) on 20 pa red,
'10 Paras' in fancy letters on 20 pa red,
'20 Paras' (in fancy letters) on 1 Pi blue and grey,
'1 Piastre' (in fancy letters) on 2 Pi olive and yellow,
'1 Piastre' (in fancy letters) on 2 Pi orange and blue,
'2 Piastres' (in fancy letters) on 5 Pi green and blue.
These overprints are of private origin, specially prepared for stamp collectors. Many of them exist with forged cancels. Forgeries exist of these bisected stamps, I don't know if the shown two stamps are 'original'.

(Bisected stamp with '1P' overprint)

Furthermore some bisected stamps exist with a 'P1' or '1P' overprint (together with arabic overprints). These overprints also have a private origin and were made for stamp collectors only.

Overprint in red for Monastir(?): '1911' and further surcharged 1 Pi on 20 pa, 1 Pi on 1 Pi and 1 Pi on 2 Pi. Are these stamps bogus issues? I've also seen this overprint in black and red on other values (always 1 PIASTRE).

Postcards etc:

(A postcard 'Carte Postale' in the same design, 20 pa red, reduced size)

I have also seen a similar postcard in the value 10 pa black on red (background of the 'stamp' red, text black).

Mystery stamp: 1 Pi blue and yellow (the colour of the 50 pa), image obtained thanks to Ahmed Zaki.

Cancels, stamp used in Musul (Irak):

Forgeries exist, examples:

The ':' behind 'EMP' is too far from this word in the above forgeries. The ornament below 'OTTOMAN' points to the 'A' of this word instead of the 'M' in the genuine stamps. They always(?) have the same cancel and ellipse with straight lines.

I know that the Spiro brothers made forgeries of at least the values 50 pa blue and yellow and 25 Pi lilac (probably the image above). I've seen whole sheets of 25 stamps of these forgeries. In the genuine 50 pa the 's' of 'paras' is slanting to the right.

Other forgery

Forgeries of the 25 Pi often with a CONSTANTINOPLE GALATA?? cancel.

Forgeries of the 25 Pi values, made by the same forger.

Badly done 50 pa forgery.

Badly done 2 Pi stamp; most probably a forgery.

In The Philatelic Journal of America; October 1894, No 118, Vol XII, page 148; a deceptive forgery is described. A full description can be found there; the 'S' of 'PIASTRES' is not slanting forwards, the inscriptions are different in many details.

Forgeries as described in the Philatelic Journal of America. The Serrane Guide says that these forgeries are of Turkish origin.

Photograph of the forgery and the genuine stamp taken from the Philatelic Journal of America.

Sperati forgeries of the 25 Pi stamp.

Forged overprints made by the forger Fournier. Images obtained from 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'

Eastern Rumelia stamp

1881 Stamps issued for Eastern Rumelia with inscription 'ROUMELIE ORIENTALE' with a similar design as the stamps of Turkey of 1876 (see picture above for an example).

1892 Large stamps arms in the middle in a circle

10 pa green 20 pa red 1 Pi blue

  10 pa green
  20 pa red
  20 pa black (postage due stamp)
  20 pa black on red (postage due stamp)
  1 Pi blue
  1 Pi black (postage due stamp)
  2 Pi brown
  2 Pi black (postage due stamp)
  5 Pi lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa	c	c
20 pa red	c	c
20 pa black	**	*
20 pa black on red	c	c
1 Pi blue	*	c
1 Pi black	**	*
2 Pi brown	*	c
2 Pi black	**	**
5 Pi	***	*

Surcharged (1897)

  '5 Cinq Paras' (red) on 10 pa green

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5 pa on 10 pa	c	c	A misprint 'Cniq' exists: ***

Overprinted with turkish text (Newspaper, 1894)

  '5 Cinq Paras' (black) on 10 pa green
  10 pa green
  20 pa red
  1 Pi blue
  2 Pi brown
  5 Pi lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa	*	c
20 pa	*	c
1 Pi	*	c
2 Pi	**	*
5 Pi	***	***
5 pa on 10 pa	c	c	Misprint 'Cniq': ***

Overprinted with a crescent and 6-pointed star (1915)

  10 pa green (red overprint)
  2 Pi brown
  5 Pi lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa	c	c
2 Pi	*	c
5 Pi	*	*

Surcharged and overprinted with black crescent and 6-pointed star (1915)

  '5 Cinq Paras' (red) on 10 pa green

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5 pa on 10 pa	c	c

Overprinted with arabic text in two lines (national celebration 1916)

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  10 pa green

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa	**	**

Overprinted with turkish text (newspaper stamp), crescent and 6-pointed star (1915)

  10 pa green (red overprint)
  2 Pi brown

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa	*	*
2 Pi	**	**

Overprinted with 5-pointed star, crescent and date 
(date between crescent and star, 1916) with surcharge

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  10 pa on 20 pa lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa on 20 pa	c	c

Overprinted with 5-pointed star, crescent and date 
(date between crescent and star, 1916) on newspaper stamp, with surcharge

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  10 pa on 20 pa lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
10 pa on 20 pa	*	*

Overprinted with 5-pointed star, crescent and date (date in crescent, 1916)

  5 pa on 10 pa green (red overprint)
  10 pa green (red overprint)
  20 pa lilac
  1 Pi blue (red overprint)
  2 Pi brown 
  5 Pi lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5 pa on 10 pa	*	*
10 pa	*	*
20 pa	*	c
1 Pi	R	R
2 Pi	***	**
5 Pi	R	R

Overprinted with 5-pointed star, crescent and date (date in crescent, 1916)
On newspaper stamps (with Turkish text)

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  5 pa on 10 pa green (red overprint)
  10 pa green (red overprint)
  20 pa lilac 
  5 Pi lilac

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
5 pa on 10 pa	*	*
10 pa	*	*
20 pa	**	**
5 Pi	R	R

With beetle like overprint (1917)

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  20 pa lilac (red overprint)
  20 pa black (red overprint, postage due stamp)
  1 Pi black (red overprint, postage due stamp)
  2 Pi brown (red overprint)
  2 Pi black (red overprint, postage due stamp)

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
20 pa lilac	**	**
20 pa black	**	**
1 Pi	**	**
2 Pi brown	***	***
2 Pi black	**	**

With beetle like overprint, on newspaper stamps (with Turkish overprint, 1917)

(Sorry, no picture available yet)

  20 pa lilac (red overprint)
  2 Pi brown (red overprint)

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
20 pa	**	**
2 Pi	*	*

('IMPRIME' overprint)

These stamps exists with the overprint 'IMPRIME' and turkish text in a rectangle, however, most of them are forgeries.

Postal stationery: I have seen a postcard 'Carte Postale' in the value 20 pa lilac in the same design as the above stamps (without any overprint).

Forged overprints made by the forger Fournier. Images obtained from 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'

For issues of 1901 click here.

TURKEY 1876-1900

1876 Moon, inscription 'EMP:OTTOMAN'

1881 Stamps issued for Eastern Rumelia with inscription 'ROUMELIE ORIENTALE' with a similar design as the stamps of Turkey of 1876 (see picture above for an example).

1892 Large stamps arms in the middle in a circle

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer