Longji Provisional Bisect

Here's another show-and-tell one from the collection. The German Kamerun Longji Provisional Bisect of 19 May 1911.

In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, German had a colony in Kamerun (modern Cameroon), in West Africa. One of its major ports and most heavily trafficked post offices was in Longji.


Longji, Kamerun

In May 1911, the German mail steamer Badeni was in Longji.


Badenia

As she prepared to depart, the postal clerk in Longji prepared a large batch of mail for transit. However, he quickly ran out of 10 Pf stamps, the correct rate for regular letters.


Longji post office

To fill the void, the postal clerk decided to bisect 20 Pf stamps fur use as provisional 10 Pf stamps. This was in direct contravention of numerous directives from German postal authorities, but he did it anyway. The result -- the Longji provisional bisect of 19 May 1911.


Michel 10 H

In order to show that this usage was official, the postal clerk added the official seal of the Longji post office next to the regular cancel.


Michel 10 H -- close-up

A total of 100-200 of these bisects were created, and they were only used for one batch of mail on one day. Because of this, they are one of the rarer pieces of German colonial philately.

Excellent! Thanks once again, PostmasterGS.

As a matter of interest, did Berlin give ex post facto approval for the bisects, or did they remain unofficial?

They would go ahead and deliver the mail, then send out reminders to the colonies that bisecting (and the even rarer handstamp revaluing) was not an approved method for solving a stamp shortage. The postal clerks had a habit of ignoring the guidance, however. Bisects exist for German Southwest Africa, Cameroon (x2), Carolines (x2), and Marshalls (x3). The relevant literature is unclear on whether all were unauthorized, but most were.

Nice information - thanks for sharing