The Mysterious Karissimbi Provisionals

Picked these up recently so I thought I'd share.



This 5-stamp series of forgeries of the German East Africa yacht issues was discovered in the years after WWI, but the stamps' exact provenance is still a mystery.

The stamps are not believed to have been intended as true forgeries, as they are so different in design quality and size that they could not possibly have fooled users. Most theories place there origin within the British propaganda executive during the period from 1916-1918, though there are competing theories that they are of Italian origin post-WWI, or produced as provisional issues by German forces in DOA during 1917.

Cinderella expert Harry F. Rooke referred to the stamps as the "Karissimbi provisionals", though the reason for giving them this name is unknown. Karissimbi is a volcano that was in the western part of German East Africa.

They are known to exist unoverprinted, overprinted "G.E.A. BRITISH OCCUPATION" with new value, and overprinted with forged cancels. Imperforate copies are also known.

Very interesting. Nice.

Nice set of stamps, and not an easy set to assemble. They are well worth some research into their origin.

There is an article on these "stamps" in the December 2010 issue of the Vorläufer, available online at
http://germancoloniescollectorsgrou.../Vorl161.pdf

Postmaster GS strikes again! Thanks for sharing these. I always learn something from your posts.

ebukstad, thanks for posting this link. Very helpful indeed!

ebukstad thanks for the link, not only a very informative article about the stamps but it has piqued my curiosity and interest regarding the conflict in East Africa during WWI - something else to look into both philatelically and historically