British Offices in the Levant
by Gary F. Paiste
Continued...

       With the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 Edward VII succeded to the British crown. He ruled until 1913, when he was succeded by King George V. Overprinted stamps of both of these rulers were issued for the offices in the Levant.
       

The Post Offices

       There were five post offices open in the Empire that used British, or overprinted British stamps. None operated during the First World War since the British and Turkish governments were on opposite sides.
Constantinople: First opened 1 September 1857. Closed on 30 September 1914. Reopened 4 February 1919. Finally closed on 27 September 1923.
Stamboul: A sub-office in Constantinople, was opened on 1 April 1884. It was closed on 25 August 1896 because of rioting. It reopened on 10 February 1908 and finally closed on 30 September 1914.
Smyrna: First opened in 1872. Closed on 30 September 1914. Reopened on 1 March 1919 and finally closed in September 1922.
Beirut: Opened in 1873. Closed on 30 September 1914.
Salonica: Opened on 9 May 1900. Closed in October 1914. This office closed somewhat later than the other four because Salonica had been occupied by Greek troops in November 1912 incorporated into Greece in July 1913.

Overprinted King Edward VII stamps

       These five stamps were overprinted in Turkish currency and were first issued in 1902-05. There were many reprintings during Edward VII's reign.

       The 40 paras on 2½d stamp was first issued on 6 February 1902. The stamps were overprinted in sheets of 240. The overprints setting was built up from a horizontal row of 10. The total number issued was 2,078,160 stamps.
       Constant varieties are: (1) nick in the inside right of the "0", (2) dot in upper bay of the "S", (3) repair to the right middle of the "S".

       The 80 paras on 5d stamp was first issued on 5 June 1902. The first setting was an overprint 15.9-16 mm by 3.2 mm in 1 horizontal row of the original 1885 setting. The second setting has cliche No. 2 the same length as setting 1, but the other cliches are 15.6 mm in length. The total number issued was 118,320 stamps
       The small "0" in "80" variety occurs 4 times in the plate.

       The 4 piastres on 10 d stamp was first issued on 20 August 1907. The sheets of the basic stamps were arranged in 4 panes of 4 rows of 12 stamps, for a total size of 192 stamps. The overprinting was done ion the upper or lower half sheets of 96. The overprint setting was made up from a horizontal row of 6 repeated twice.
       The 1902 to 1909 printings were done by De La Rue. The 1911 to 1912 overprints were produced by Somerset House. The total number issued was 33,504 stamps.
       Stamp number 3 in the setting (3 and 9 in each row) shows a raised S.

       The12 piastres on 2sh6d stamp was first issued on 29 August 1903. The stamp was overprinted in sheets of 56 using a setting of 8 cliches in a horizontal row. The 1903 to 1910 printings were done by De La Rue. The 1912 to 1913 overprints were produced by Somerset House. The total number issued was 30,520 stamps.

       The 24 piastres on 5 sh stamp was first issued on 15 August 1905. The stamp was overprinted in sheets of 56 using a setting of 8 cliches in a horizontal row. The 1905 to 1907 overprints were done by De La Rue. The 1913 overprints were produced by Somerset House. The total number issued was 13,832 stamps.

       This 1 piastre on 2½d stamp was first issued on 19 April 1906. It was reprinted many times. The 1906-10 printings were by De La Rue and the 1911-12 printings were by Harrison.
       There were three types of overprint. Type 1 was 15.5 by 3 mm. Type 2 was 15.5 by 2.7 mm. Type 3 was 15.5 by 2.5 mm.
       The numbers issued were:
                     SG 13 - 3,026,640
                     SG 25 - 120.000
                     SG 26 - 180,000
                     SG 27 - 120,000
                     SG 28 - 480,000

       This 2 piastres on 5 d stamp was first issued on 11 November 1905. From 1905 to 1910 the stamps were printed and overprinted by De La Rue. In late 1910 one order was printed by De La Rue, but overprinted by Somerset House. During 1912 and 1913 the stamps were printed and overprinted by Somerset House. The total number issued was 219,360 stamps.

       This set of 10 stamps overprinted LEVANT was first issued on 15 August 1905. The ½d and 1d values were for printed paper and post card rates. The higher values were for parcel post use. All the values, except for the 2d stamp, were withdrawn on 28 December 1909, although philatelic usage can be found after that date.

       The ½d stamp was overprinted by both De La Rue and Harrison.

       This 1 piastre on 2d provisional stamp was issued in Beyrout on 23 July 1906. It was reportedly issued because of a shortage of 1 piastre stamps. The number issued was two sheets of 240, for a total of 480 stamps.
       There is little doubt that the issue was philatelically inspired by the "success" of the French offices provisional that was also issued in Beyrout in January 1905.

       These six stamps were issued on 16 November 1909, except for the 1pi30pa on 4d orange stamp, which was issued on 16 December 1909.
       . The numbers issued were:
                     30pa on 1½d - 201,120
                     1pi10pa on 3d - 82,320
                     1pi30pa on 4d (green) - 21,840
                     1pi30pa on 4d (orange) - 59,280
                     2pi20pa on 6d - 83,040
                     5pi on 1sh - 53,400

       The 1908 and 1908 printings of this stamp were produced by De La Rue on chalk surfaced paper. The 1911 and 1912 printings were done by Somerset House on ordinary paper. The De La Rue printing was 81,120 stamps and the Somerset printing was 120,000 stamps, for a total of 201,120.

       These three stamps were overprinted by De La Rue & Co. and issued on 24 January 1910. The numbers issued were:
                     1¼pi on 3d - 83,040
                     1¾p on 4d - 119,280
                     2½pi on 6d - 59,520

References