Postage stamps and postal history of Iraq
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This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Iraq. It includes special uses under the Ottoman Empire as well as occupation issues.
Early postal arrangements
The earliest postal service known in the area of present-day Iraq was operated by
Ottoman postal service
The Ottoman Empire had post offices at Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, and Kirkuk by 1863.[1] India operated post offices in Baghdad and Basra from 1868 to 1914. Prior to 1923, the French operated a post office in Baghdad.[2]
World War I
During World War I, British and Indian troops fought their way from Basra to Mosul; they used stamps of India overprinted "I.E.F." on their military mail.[3] The British overprinted a variety of Ottoman stamps during their occupation, a grouping now conventionally called the issues of "Mesopotamia".[4][5]
British mandate
The postal service of Iraq proper began with the British mandate granted by the League of Nations in 1920.
The first stamps of Iraq were a
Independence
Independence in 1932 brought a new currency (fils and dinar), and the existing Faisal stamps were surcharged accordingly, and issued on 1 April 1932.[7] These were followed soon after (9 May) by stamps of the previous design denominated in the new currency. The accession of King Ghazi necessitated new stamps, which appeared in 1934; they were of the same design as the Faisal stamps, but with a profile of Ghazi in the vignette.
Due to Ghazi's unexpected death and the infancy of his son, in 1941 a new series was issued featuring local scenery. Along with additional values and color changes issued the next year, the series totals 23 stamps. 1942 also saw the first stamps depicting
First commemorative stamps
Iraq's first
Republic
General
Post-Saddam era
The
Fantasies and bogus issues
Beginning in 1963 a number of Iraqi stamps appeared overprinted "AT TAWAL", supposedly for "Al Tawal" the so-called neutral zones between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. These were a student hoax that continued until 1970.[8]
See also
References and sources
- References
- ISBN 978-0-900631-84-9.
- ^ Post Office, Great Britain (1875). Post Office Guide.
- ^ Indian stamps overprinted "I.E.F." were used throughout the Turkish occupied Middle East, including Palestine. "A Short Introduction To The Philately Of Palestine: Indian Field Post in Palestine and the Occupied Enemy Territories". Archived from the original on 2 January 2006.
- ISBN 978-0-900631-88-7.
- ^ "Iraq | Stamps and postal history | StampWorldHistory". Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.[title missing]
- ^ "V. British Mandate Issue, 1923-1925". Rezonville. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Khalastchy, Freddy (13 March 2008). "The Stamps of Iraq 1917-1958". Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL). Archived from the original on 14 April 2009.
- ^ "Immagini relative ai miei messaggi per il Forum filatelia e francobolli". Forum filatelia e francobolli (in Italian). Centro Italiano Filatelia Resistenza (CIFR). p. 93. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.
- Sources
- Pearson, Patrick and ISBN 1-872465-19-6.
- Armitage, Douglas & Robert Johnson. Iraq Postal History 1920s to 1940s. Rossiter Trust, May 2009.
- Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues.
- Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities
- ISBN 0-356-10862-7