First Issues - 1861 to 1864

page 6.7

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Hong Kong

[8th December 1862] 1865 SG8a Sc8	[1891] Commemorative 1935 SG133 Sc147 Silver Jubilee	Charity 1988 SG583 Sc-B1 Community Chest of Hong Kong	Post Due 1923 SG-D1 Sc-J1

The first issue shown differs from the #1 only in the watermark. There was an expensive 1891 Jubilee commemorative overprint on the rose variant of the #1 stamp: I would settle for one of the frequent forgeries, which both Scott and Gibbons warn of. The next commemorative to be issued was the 1935 silver jubilee for George V as shown.

1997 SG900 Sc793 Chinese administration

Control of Hong Kong reverted to China in 1997. The first issue under Chinese administration was released in a miniature sheet, shown on the reverse of the first page.

Further details in the China Display.

Turkey

This is probably the most complex entry to date as there are Sultanate, revolutionary and Republic issues, together with a long list of occupation and Office Abroad stamps and a couple of philatelic firsts.

13th January 1863 SG1 Sc1	Commemorative 1908 SG256 Sc146 Granting of the Constitution	Charity 1915 SG553b Sc-B1 War orphans

Four sultans ruled Turkey between 1861 to 1918 The first issue, commemorative and charity stamps are shown, but first post due is out of budget (also issued in 1863, the design is the same as the #1). There is a clearer image of the #1 in the centenary miniature sheet, again shown on the reverse of the page one.

Provisional Government	Nationalist Government (Turkey in Asia)	Turkish Republic
1920 SG-A1 Sc1	1923 SG973b Sc1	1923 SG974 Sc605

In 1919 Mustapha Kemal (later Kemal Ataturk) led a rebellion against Allied plans to give territory to France, Greece and Italy and established a provisional government in Ankara (Scott lists this separately as Turkey in Asia), which started with overprints. This led to the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, with Nationalist overprints being used throughout Turkey before new issues became available. Thereafter a full range of stamps was issued, including the first commemorative featuring Kemal Ataturk. →

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