Samoa 1877-80 "EXPRESS" 9d orange-brown, state IV, position 8 on sheet, SG20.
A fine used example with very light but discernible strike of APIA circular date stamp, which appears to be in violet ink rather than the usual black. Some minor creasing and small perforation faults but an interesting used example with the pale shade.
The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £400+.
The first postal service in Samoa was organised by C.L. Griffiths, who had published the Fiji Times Express and needed a postal service for Samoa to distribute his new newspaper "Samoa Times".
The lithographic Express stamps were printed in Sydney, Australia by S.T. Leigh & Co., and the stamps were issued October 1, 1877 in time for the October 6th first printing and edition of the newspaper.
The Samoa Express service was discontinued late in 1881.
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