British Offices in the Levant
by Gary F. Paiste

       A British postal service in the Ottoman Empire was instituted as early as 1832 by virtue of a commercial treaty concluded between the two countries in that year. But the service appears to have been confined to the correspondence of the Embassy.

The Early Period

       Shortly after the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 a branch of the British Army Post Office was established in Constantinople as a sorting and forwarding station for the vast numbers of letters passing to and from the various units of the British forces in the Crimea, as well as those of the Turkish contingent. Sub-offices were in operation in the Crimea and Scutari. This was the first office outside the United Kingdom to make use of British postage stamps, which were issued there about November 1854. Mail which originated, or passed through Constantinople, were cancelled with the "Crown in Stars" or the "O*O" cancels.

       In September 1857 the British Post Office in Constantinople was opened for public service. Additional offices were opened in Smyrna in 1872 and in Beirut in 1873. A sub-office was opened in Stamboul in 1884. In 1900 an office was opened in Salonica. Most values of the contemporary postage stamps of Great Britain can be found cancelled in the Levant. The most common cancels found are shown below.

Constantinople
(Four Types)

Stamboul

Smyrna

Beirut

       This folded letter is typical of the period. It was posted in Smyrna on 28 July 1876 with a 2½d stamp of 1875 (Plate 3). It has a London receiving cancel on the reverse dated 4 August 1876.

Overprinted British Stamps

       The Turkish piastre was devalued in 1884, making it possible to buy British stamps in Turkey and ship them to England for a speculative profit. To stop this practice it was decided to overprint stamps in Turkish currency. The overprinted stamps were first issued in August 1885. However, unoverprinted stamps continued to be accepted and used during the entire period that the British offices were open in the Empire.

       The three stamps above were first issued in Constantinople on 1 August 1885.

       The stamp was surcharged in sheets of 120. The overprint was built up from an overprint setting of 1 horizontal row of 10. The number overprinted was 4,000 panes for 480,000 stamps.

This small mourning cover with the 40 paras on 2½d stamp was posted in Smyrna on 28 January 1887.

       This stamp was surcharged in panes of 60. The basic sheet of 120 was broken into four panes prior to the overprinting. The overprint was built up from a setting of 1 horizontal row of 6. The number overprinted was 2000 panes of 60 for 120,000 stamps.

This registered cover to England was posted in Constantinople on 27 March 1889. The 80 paras stamp paid both the postage and registration fee.

       There are two distinct printings of this stamp.
The first was printed on blued paper. The basic stamp was a sheet of 112 stamps (8 horiz. by 14 vert.) in two vertically ranged panes. Only the lower half (corner letters HA to HH and NA to NH) of the sheet was overprinted 12 piastres. The overprint was built up from 1 horizontal row of 8. The number overprinted was 100 panes of 56 stamps for a total of 5,600 stamps.
       The second (Sc #3, SG #3a) was printing on white paper and was issued in April 1888. Both the top and lower halves of the sheet were used for this stamp. The same overprint plate used for the first printing was reused here. There were 552 panes overprinted for a total of 30,912 stamps.The stamp can be found in Lilac and Deep Lilac.
       The overprint positions can be identified, mainly by small variations in the "1", but it is not necessary for positioning because of the corner letters.

This block of six 12 piastres stamps was cancelled on 27 August 1903, just two days before the 12 piastres Edward VII stamp was issued.

       This stamp was issued in June 1887. It was overprinted in panes of 120 using the same 40 paras clichés as for the 1885 issue. However, the clichés were rearranged into a vertical row of 10. The 10 clichés can be plated and many overprinted varieties have been identified due to the length of use of the overprint plate. There were numerous printings between 1887 and 1900. The total printed was 5,199,000 stamps.
       The stamp is known with a double overprint (Sc #4a, SG #4a) and with the overprint displaced to the left.
       The stamp color varies from pale purple to deep purple. The paper varies from pale to deep blue and greenish blue.

This registered cover to Boston was posted in Constantinople on 21 October 1899. The rate was 40 paras for postage and 40 paras for registration

       This stamp was issued in July 1890. It was overprinted in panes of 60 using the same 80 paras clichés as for the 1885 issue. The overprint was built up from a setting of 1 horizontal row of 6. All six can be identified. An important variety, resulting from plate damage in 1895, is the small "0" in "80" (Sc #5a, SG #5a). It occures once in each pane. The total printing was 387,180 stamps.
       The stamp has also been found with the overprint inverted.
       The color is dull purple with blue or bright blue value tablet.

This registered cover to Philadelphia was posted in Smyrna on 13 February 1896.

       Due to a shortage of 40 paras stamps the postmaster decided to hand overprint copies of the ½d vermilion stamp of 1880 as a provisional issue. Six thousand copies were overprinted 40 paras with a copper handstamp. These stamps were used for only five days, from 25 February through 1 March 1893, until new supplies of the 40 paras stamps arrived from London. The stamps were not supposed to be sold directly to the public, but were to be placed on the envelopes by the postal clerk before cancelling. However, this rule was not always followed.
       The 40 paras on ½d provisional has been extensively forged. The forgeries fall into two catagories. The first group consists of totally counterfit overprints, with or without cancels, on genuine ½d stamps. These forgeries are not too difficult to identify.
       The second group is very dangerious. Immediately after the provisionals went off sale a postal employee used the original handstamp and original cancelling devices to produce thousands of "reprints" (ie., forgeries). Fortunately, during the production of the original overprints the "S" in "PARAS" suffered progressive damage. The forgeries produced by the postal employee can be identified because they always show the fully damaged "S". Also, the "reconstituted" cancels do not quite match the originals for the five dates the provisional were on sale.

       This 4 piastres on 10d stamp was issued on 10 October 1896. The overprint setting was a horizontal row of five repeated four times. The first three overprintings were on panes of 20 stamps and the last three overprintings were on plates of 80 stamps (four panes). The number printed was 45,780 stamps.
       A large "4" (SG #6b) is found in two positions of each pane.
       The stamp may be found in deep purple & scarlet, or deep purple & bright scarlet.

References