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Albania

June, 1913

Central Albania

Europe 32, 32a

Alb1
  Albania #1 xxx

Perforated 12, 13½ and compound, no watermark, overprint on 1908 stamps of Turkey.

Description # printed Scott # SG# Mi# Y&T#
2½ piaster violet brown
 1,137 1 1   11

The issue quantity is approximate.

The Treaty of London in 1913 recognised Albania's independence from Turkish rule following the first Balkan War (October 1912 to May 1913). Austrian and Italian Post Offices continued to operate thereafter but gradually closed.

There is an interesting piece by Floyd Walker in the FICC Journal that summarises Albania's postal history and changes of administration (1998, v7n1p7 [1]). It begins,

“Albania is a rough, mountainous chunk of land tucked between Yugoslavia and Greece on the Adriatic Sea, across from the heel of the Italian boot.”

Changes of Administration

alb
image
AlbKorce
image
II. Prince William of Wied
III. Provisional Govt. of Essad Pasha
IV. Autonomous Province of Korçë
V. Provisional Govt
1914 Sc41 SG33 1915 Sc? SG46 1916 Sc54 SG67 1919 Sc84 SG83

albSc120
albSc171
AlbZog
AlbIt
VI. Regency
VII. Republic
VIII. Kingdom, King Zog
IX. Italian Occupation
1920 Sc120 SG114 1925 Sc171 SG164a 1928 Sc218 SG239 1939 Sc299 SG337

AlbGer
AlbInd
Alb446
Alb1991
X. German Occupation
XI. Independent State
XII. People's Republic
XIII. Republic
1943 Sc343 SG389 1945 Sc345 SG409 1946 Sc373 SG446 1991 Sc2381 SG2495

Scott [2] notes that, "Germany occupied Albania from September 1943 until late 1944 when it became an independent state. The People's Republic began in January 1946". Gibbons [3] lists many more changes:

Category Description Date Notes
I Provisional Govt 1913-14 Sc1, SG1, above
II Prince William of Wied 1914 handstamped in black or violet
III Provisional Govt. of Essad Pasha (Central Albania) 1914-16 not found in Scott
IV Autonomous Province of Korçë (Koritza) 1916-18 French currency. Scott and Gibbons disagree on the dates and sequence of issues.
V Provisional Govt Dec 1918 -
Feb 1920		  
VI Regency Feb 1920 -
Jan 1925		  
VII Republic 21 Jan 1925 - 1 Sep 1928  
VIII Kingdom, King Zog 1 Sep 1928 - 7 Apr 1939  
IX Italian Occupation 7 Apr 1939 - Sep 1943  
X German Occupation Sep 1943 - 29 Nov 1944  
XI Independent State 22 Oct 1944 - 11 Jan 1946  
XII People's Republic 11 Jan 1946 - 29 Apr 1991  
XIII Republic 29 Apr 1991  

AlbGreOcc
Albanian Occupation of Greece
1940
Greece Sc-N202
Albania, Greek Occupation SG1

Gibbons also includes a Greek Occupation issue when "Italian troops invaded Greece from Albania". Greece regained some of the territory in 1941 but then Germany invaded the area, which Gibbons lists under Epirus. Scott lists them under Greece.

Central Albania
1915 Sc1-11

Central Albania

The February 2021 edition of the FICC Journal, vol. 29 no.1, reported,

The 2021 edition of Scott’s Classic Specialized Catalogue has added a new country, Central Albania, at the end of the Albania listings. According to Scott, Central Albania only existed from the end of 1914 until the spring of 1916. Stamps were in use during 1915-1916. Scott lists 4 groups of stamps: #1-11 with overprints on existing stamps of Albania, #12-18 with overprints on the unissued stamps of 1913, #19-23 on fiscal stamps imprinted “ALBANIE CENTRALE” at the top, and #J1-5 as postage due stamps on Albania Sc#47-52 overprinted with a large “T”. FICC Journal, vol. 29 no.1

Sources: FICC Journal [1], ScC, ScS [2], SGP3 [3].

Images from David Olson, ebay, Delcampe.

FI ref: 443, 453a Page credit: JA/NB

Page created 19 Feb 2014 Page updated 31 Jan 2021