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Togo
June 1897
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Africa | 5 |  |
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German Protectorate |
French Occupation |
British Protectorate |
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| [1897] Sc1 SG-G1 | 1914 Sc151 | 1914 Sc33 SG-H12 | xxx |
| Description | Date | Scott | SG | Mi † | Y&T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German Protectorate, German overprints | ||||||
| 3 pfennigs dark brown | 1899 | 1 | G1 | 1a | 1 | |
| 3pf yellow brown | mid 1898 | 1a | G1a | 1b | ||
| 3pf reddish brown | mid 1898 | 1b | G1B | 1c | ||
| 3pf pale gray-brown | Sep 1897 | 1c | 1d | |||
| 5pf green | 1897 | 2 | G2 | 2 | ||
| 10pf carmine | 1897 | 3 | G3 | 3 | ||
| 20pf ultra | 1897 | 4 | G4 | 4 | ||
| 25pf orange | 1898 | 5 | G5 | 5 | ||
| 50pf red-brown | 1898 | 6 | G6 | 6 | ||
| French Occupation, surcharges or overprints of German Togo "Yacht" issue ‡ | ||||||
| 5 centimes on 3pf brown | 1914 | 151 | 1 | |||
| other surcharges, 5c and 10c | 1914 | 152-156 | 2 | |||
| other overprints 20pf to 80pf | 1914 | 158-162 | 3-7 | |||
| British Protectorate, surcharges or overprints of German Togo "Yacht" issue ‡ | ||||||
| ½d on 3pf brown | Oct 1914 | 33 | H12 | |||
| 1 penny on 5pf | 1914 | 34 | H13 | |||
| overprints 3pf to 2 marks | 1914 | 35-45 | H14-28 | |||
† Michel also lists bright ochre (Mi1e, 1898) and bright orange-brown (Mi1f, 1899)
‡ Both Scott and Gibbons distinguish multiple fonts for the French and British surcharges. Listing and matching these is outside the scope of this exercise.
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French mandate |
| 1921 Sc193 SG37 |
Louis Laflamme (FICC#210) wrote extensively on the various Togo #1s in FICC Journal v20n1p7. Most of the text and the illustrations are taken from that article.
Germany first established its Protectorate in Togo in 1884 and post offices from 1888, identifiable by postmark. Specific stamps were issued from 1897, although the catalogues disagree on the months. Louis notes that Michel differentiates more shades on the #1 than does Scott [or Gibbons].
During WW1, French troops invaded Togo from Dahomey and British troops from the Gold Coast in early August 1914 and German forces had surrendered by the end of the month. Togo remained anger Anglo-French military occupation (occupying the west and east respectively) until 1919.
After WW1 Togo became a League of Nations mandate administered by Britain and France. British Togoland first used used Gold Coast stamps. The French mandate began with Dahomey overprints and used the stamps of French West Africa during WW2.
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Autonomous Republic |
Independence |
| 1957 Sc332 SG194 | 1960 Sc376 SG253 |
Changes of Administration
After WW2 Togo became a United Nations Trust Territory, again administered by Britain and France. In 1957, British Togoland voted to join with the Gold Coast to form Ghana. The French territory became an autonomous republic in 1956 and gained full independence in 1960.