An African oddity

The scramble for Africa in the late 19th century saw many countries become distant pockets of the British Empire, and the region and period provide much interest to philatelists, as many pioneering colonial postal services were introduced across the continent at this time. The nature of these early services, amid the undeveloped African culture and without the tools of industry used back in Europe, means that many varieties of stamps were produced, often with primitive designs.

An example of an intriguing early African issue is the provisional one penny stamp produced in British Central Africa in 1898. The Mosely Collection