Postage stamps of Tripolitania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region of western Libya, centered on the coastal city of Tripoli. Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Tripolitania was captured by Italy in 1911 during the Italo-Turkish War. Italy officially granted autonomy after the war, but gradually occupied the region. Originally administered as part of a single colony, Tripolitania was a separate colony from 26 June 1927 to 3 December 1934, when it was merged into "Libya". During World War II, Libya was occupied by the Allies and until 1947 Tripolitania (and the region of Cyrenaica) were administered by Great Britain. Italy formally renounced its claim upon the territory in the same year.
[edit] Postage Stamps
Beginning with the "Propagation of the Faith" issue in October 1923, Italy issued both its regular and commemorative postage stamps overprinted "Tripolitania" in various typefaces. The first stamps inscribed for the colony were the semi-postal "Colonial Institute issue" in 1926, followed by several sets of airmail stamps, from 1931 to 1933. October 1934 saw the only regular Tripolitanian stamps issued, a set of six (along with six more airmail) promoting the 2nd Colonial Arts Exhibition.
Most Tripolitanian stamps are today available to collectors for about two to five US$, with genuinely used stamps (fake cancels are common) being valued at about twice as much as unused stamps. Most valuable are the Graf Zeppelin set of 1933 in used condition, which will run about US$400 for the set of six.
[edit] Sources
- Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
- Encyclopaedia of Postal History
- Stuart Rossiter & John Flower: The Stamp Atlas
