Nigerian Stamps and Postal History

I have been looking at the viewership statistics for the one post that I did on the 1962-63 commemoratives with some dismay. It seems that most of you are not that interested in the post-independence issues. Maybe I'm mistaken. It is indeed a pity if I am, as the post-independence period has so much to offer, as I hope the next few posts will show. Indeed, Nigeria is one of the few countries, now in the whole world, where the number of basic issued stamps is still under 1000 basic catalogue numbers. My country, Canada, which has a very reasonable new issue policy has issued over 2,400 stamps. Nigeria, in contrast had, up to 2008 still issued fewer than 900 stamps. In addition, it is one of the few countries whose stamps illustrate subject matter that is relevant to the country and its people. On January 1, 1961, just 3 months after the country declared its independence, a new definitive set appeared to replace the previous pictorial issue. Gone are the images of Queen Elizabeth I...

The next major definitive issue that appeared after the death of King George VI was issued on September 1, 1953 and featured industry scenes from contemprary Nigeria, but in the form of stylized artists drawings. It is the last definitive issue to appear before independence in 1960. Either the Tudor crown, or the Queen's portrait appears off to one corner of the design. This is a very beautiful set, and serves as one of the better examples of Waterlow and Sons' work. Of all the major printers - De La Rue, Waterlow, and Bradbury Wilkinson, Waterlow's designs have tended to be my least favourite; perhaps because their frames are usually very simple. On this set though, the designs have been integrated into the frames seamlessly, which is very pleasing to the eye. Also, nearly all values are bi-coloured, which makes the colours pop nicely. In common with other definitive issues that preceded this one, there are some points of interest for the specialist. There are shade vari...

On May December 11, 1936 King Edward VIII abdicated the throne and was succeeded by his brother, King George VI. The coronation was held on May 12, 1937. To mark the occasion all member countries and territories in the commonwealth issued stamps, most of which were in a common design type. The common design featured the King and Queen beside the Orb and Royal Sceptres. The issue was the work of two printers: De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson. Each common design issue consisted of three denominations, which were generally used to pay local surface mail, surface empire rate and the foreign surface rates. Each territory or country used its own colour combination, and these combinations repeat several times in the set. Nigeria's stamps were printed by Bradbury Wilkinson. 1d Carmine 1.5d deep brown 3d Bright ultramarine The King George VI Definitive issue appeared on May 1, 1938. My wife learned that she was married to an imperialist anglo when I told her th...