Will the African stamp market replicate the Chinese stamp boom?
We could be at the start of something big.
African economies are becoming increasingly liberal. Creating a growing number of moneyed buyers with a keen interest in their country's history.
Just like in China 20 years ago…
The creation of thousands of new Chinese millionaires saw the value of rare Chinese stamps enjoy an average annual growth rate of 44% in the 5 years to 2011.
In that period, the worst performing stamp on the Stanley Gibbons China Rarities Index rose 54% in value. The best, 789%.
African postal history is also rich, complex and engaging.
Even without a possible explosion in prices, African postal history is rich, complex and engaging.
As a specialist collecting area I doubt anywhere has this depth of interest: colonisation, liberation, changing borders and boundaries, the rise and fall of empires, states and kingdoms.
Start your journey into African stamps with 3 extraordinary stamps that can be yours immediately. At prices that could look tiny in just 5 years from now.
NYASALAND 1897-1900 £10 black and yellow, SG52
£10 was a lot of money in 1897 and this stamp was valuable and unusual the moment it was issued.
It was cancelled - crisply - in Zomba, which was successively the capital city of British Central Africa, Nyasaland Protectorate, and Malawi, where you will currently find it.
British Central Africa might have been a template for the colonising process: missionary and explorer David Livingstone identified the area as ripe for Christian missions and money making around 1860.
A private company followed in his footsteps.
The African Lakes Corporation celebrated its Scottish origins by naming its first settlement, Blantyre.
Soon there was a British consulate.
The Lakes corporation used rivalry with Portuguese settlers to try to bounce the British state into putting their political and military muscle behind their speculative venture.
They got it in the end when Portuguese expansion plans were stymied by the 1890 British Ultimatum to Portugal.
The subsequent 1891 treaty set the boundaries of British Central Africa.
That protectorate was renamed Nyasaland in 1907.
This stamp shows the British Central Africa coat of arms on an exceptionally well-preserved yellow background.
The Stanley Gibbons catalogue lists this stamp at £3,250.
As you can see, I'm offering this rare, unusual and visually appealing stamp in extraordinary condition for a bargain price here. Get in touch right away if you'd like to own it.
Zanzibar 1926-30 12c black/green Postage Due error, SGD7/a
There's little point singing the aesthetic praises of this supremely functional design.
On rarity though this dowdy pair deliver.
You may well have skipped over the misplaced full stop in the middle of "cent.s" on the top stamp.
It's this error that makes this stamp exceptional.
There are only 6 "cent.s" error stamps and this se-tenant (adjoined as printed) combination is unique both in bearing the error and in being the only multiple of its value.
The cancellation with a "JA 7 31" circular date stamp barely touches the bottom stamp.
This is a notably high-quality survival of a rare, important stamp.
Zanzibar became a protectorate of the British Empire in 1890 and remained in this semi-colonised state until 1963.
The archipelago's postal history takes in French and German post offices and an Independent Sultanate. British stamps were initially issued from India and over-printed. It is a rewarding territory for collectors.
A Robert A Siegel sale of Zanzibar postage due stamps in 2021 realised excellent prices for this rare category.
A single 12-cent stamp with this error raised $10,000.
At this price, I think this is extraordinary value, and I urge you to move quickly if you want it.
Buy now risk-free for only £2,500
Niger Company Territories 1897 cover from Akassa to Freetown, SG54b
This cover is a fine example, with impeccable provenance, of a rare combination of cover, franking and stamp.
The British Empire was to a surprising degree a private venture. This fluid arrangement was exploited by both the state and ambitious businesses.
That's beautifully illustrated in this cover, posted from Akassa (now in southern Nigeria) to Sierra Leone and resplendent with philatelic and historical details.
The Niger Company Territories (NCT), who franked this mail, owned their lands as private property until they were sold to the crown for £865,000 in 1900.
The company is an ancestor organisation of Unilever, whose brands you certainly have somewhere in your kitchen cupboard.
The stamp is from the Niger Coast Protectorate, a state entity which was merged with the NCT to become the Sothern Nigeria Protectorate.
The letter was on its way from J Bubendorf to the Compagnie française de l'Afrique occidentale, another entity that still exists as the French CFAO company.
This is an unusual stamp, only produced for a short period in a rare and attractive combination.
It carries bone fides from the reference volume, “The Postal Services of the British Nigeria Region prior to 1914, including the British Consular Post Office in Fernando Po.” published by the Royal Philatelic Society in 1992.
And like everything we sell, it comes with guarantees that make your purchase risk free.
Amazingly, it can be yours for under £1,000. If you are the first to contact me.
Click here now and own this wonderful cover for just £950
You can own these 3 splendid African philatelic rarities at no risk now.
Just reply to this mail, email info@paulfrasercollectibles.com, or call +44 (0) 117 933 9500 now.
And when I say no risk, I mean no risk.
If, within 28 days you change your mind, you get your money back - no questions asked.
Our stamps are all authenticated by our experts. Their judgement is also backed with a lifetime money-back guarantee of authenticity, meaning you can buy with complete peace of mind.
Delivery is free too.
All you need to do to enjoy the thrill of owning these extraordinary stamps is to be first.
Until next time,
Owen, Paul Fraser Collectibles
P.S. You could own one of history's most famous stamps. Click through below to take a look at the legendary Mauritius 1848 2d:
