Postage stamps and postal history of Fiji
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This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Fiji .
Fiji is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 2,000 km northeast of New Zealand 's North Island . It was a former British colony.
Early mail and first stamps
Before the first postage stamps of Fiji, mail was carried by trading vessels to Sydney , Australia , and other ports, where it was placed in the mail. [1]
The first stamps of Fiji were issued on 1 November 1870 by the local newspaper, the Fiji Times . The British Consul objected to the service and tried to close it in 1871 and appointed an official Postmaster and the Fiji Times service was closed in 1872. [1]
Stamps were issued by the Kingdom of Fiji in 1871, showing a ‘CR’ monogram for ‘ Cakobau Rex ', the King of Fiji.
British colony
A British colony was established over Fiji in 1874. Previous issues of the Kingdom of Fiji were overprinted VR for "Victoria Regina", the royal cypher of Queen Victoria . Later issues had designs with a VR monogram.
Stamps with designs common to the British colonies were issued in 1903. The first pictorial set was issued in 1938.
Fiji achieved independence in 1970.
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A 1891 stamp of Fiji with ‘VR’ at the upper corners.
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A 1910 stamp of Fiji.
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A 1938 pictorial issue.
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A 1954 health stamp of Fiji.
See also
References
- 1 2 "Stamps by Country | World Stamp Auctions | Rare & Collectable" . Archived from the original on 2001-03-03 . Retrieved 19 January 2011 .
Further reading
- Phillips, Charles J. The Postage Stamps etc. of the Fiji Islands , Stanley Gibbons , 1908.
External links
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