Tonga

Friday, January 1, 1886

↓ - Independence - Niuafo'ou

British Colony

Oceania

5, 5a


	Tonga #1	#2	#3	xxx

Perforated 12½ (line) or 12 x 11½ (comb), watermark 62 (NZ and small star), typographed.

Description	Perforation	Scott	S.G.
January 1, 1886
1 penny carmine rose	12½ x 10	1b	1a
2 pence bright violet	12½ x 10	?	2a
1 shilling blue green	12½	5a	4a
August 27, 1886
1 penny carmine rose	12½	1a	1
2 pence violet	12½	2a	2
October 9, 1886
6 pence ultramarine	12½	3a	3
1 shilling pale green	12½	?	4
July 15, 1887
1 penny carmine rose	12 x 11½	1	1b
2 pence violet	12 x 11½	2	2b
October 15, 1888
6 pence ultramarine	12 x 11½	3	3a
1 shilling blue green	12 x 11½	5	4b

Scott #4, 6 pence orange yellow, was not issued until August 15, 1892.


Independence	Niuafo'ou
1970 Sc243 SG315	1983 Sc1 SG1

Tonga, a group of islands in the South Pacific, was a British Protectorate from 1900 until it became independent in June 1970.

Niuafo'ou is a small (6 square mile) volcanic island better known as "Tin Can Island" in memory of its primitive postal history,

"since the island has neither a natural harbor nor a wharf, mail was delivered and picked up by strong swimmers who would retrieve packages, "sealed up in a biscuit tin" and thrown overboard from passing ships. Established in the nineteenth century, Tin Can Mail was developed by a trader named Charles Ramsey and later commercialised by a competitor, Walter George Quensell, who festooned the mail with many colourful cachets that have become a collectors' item. The Tongan government took over this tradition with special Niuafoʻou stamps since 1983". Wikipedia

Sources: ScS, SGS, Wikipedia.

Images from David Olson, mountainstamp.com.

FI ref: 240, 731

Page credit: JA/NB

Page created 19 Feb 2014

Page updated 19-Aug-2017

↑