Dahomey

I was putting the Dahomey collection into my album today, and thought I would share a few of their classic issue designs. BTW, Scott lists 143 stamp descriptions for Dahomey for 1899-1940, and I have 42 total at the moment.



"Man climbing Oil Palm"
This is the most common design for Dahomey-54 stamps! Although Dahomey is one of the administered colonies of French West Africa,it appears this design is not shared by any other colony. As one can tell, it is bi-colored, and the stamp comes in an amazing combination of colors as only a French designed stamp can.



1901 1c black

What would be a French colony without a "Navigation and Commerce" stamp? Benin, the French colony prior to Dahomey, also had these designs.




1906-07 10c carmine (blue)
"General Louis Faidherbe"

This design is shared by other French West African colonies-Ivory Coast, Mauritania, and Senegal.

Faidherbe was responsible for expansion of French colonialism in West Africa. A renaissance man with many interests, he published a book on the Berber language.




1937 30c dark green

Not unique to Dahomey, but a common design type for the Paris International Exposition, this demonstrates the peerless French engraving designs of the era. Magnificent!

You're off to a good start. Yvert lists about exactly 143 issues through 1940, as well.

I didn't initially like the oil palm design, but it has been growing on me.

Thanks Cjd. Yes, it is my first post to include stamp images. :-)

And a first-class job of it, too. Nice scans.

Dahomey at 5 o,clock.....

Interesting map Rodney! I've never seen Upper Volta called "Voltaic Republic" before.

Bingo!
I cut this from an old school atlas IIRC some years ago,
as I was posting it today, I noticed that as well,
and was reflecting on battery cells, not upper volta.


What a chequered history........
http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Burkina_Faso.html

That date line, dates my old school atlas to 1958

Did you notice just above the voltaic republic,
that fabled and mysterious town of Timbukto :)

The mapmakers weren't snoozing, as "Ghana" would have read "Gold Coast" only the year before.

And to the right of Ghana is the Togoic Republic.

I just found one of my few Dahomey stamps. It must be one of the few stamps that shows a wrecked car.



The inscription reads:

"Evacuation of the fort and the end of Portuguese occupation at Ouidah"
"Burning of the fort by the previous occupants"

Discombobulated.

Which is Scott #42 ?
Would the corollary be, that the other is a "colour changeling"?

SG has this stamp as black & violet. I don't see this value in any of the later colour change sets so I guess that you're right and the blue one is a colour changeling.

I expect a red ink was used in the mix for the violet shade and it has faded leaving the blue shade.

The Portuguese fort at Ouidah (see BeeSee's 8/27/11 post) used stamps of St. Thomas & Prince Islands. Some years ago, Portu-Info, the quarterly journal of the International Society for Portuguese Philately, had an article on the history of the fort. ST & P stamps cancelled at the fort seem to be very hard to find. I've looked, but have yet to find one.

Thanks Guys.
No ST&P Pmks here.
With more gaps, than an old picket fence........

Would look handsome if completed.

Bumped Thread, last post 4 Years ago.

A few more added to the "Man climbing palm"
(48 value/colour combinations)
1913 Steiner Page 4.

1913 Steiner Page 5.

1913 Steiner Page 6.

Postage Dues.
1906 Steiner Page 16.

1941 Steiner Page 17.

1963 Steiner Page 81.