Niger: Stamps

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Suggestion,
This post should come under a NEW THREAD TITLE  in Africa   "Niger : Stamps"
Thanks for your consideration.

Tom
these stamps are illegal emmissions from some dubious authority,
You shall come across all sorts of similar stamps from other countries, especially Russian autonomous states
I cannot recall seeing them listed in any catalogue whatsoever.

They seem to follow a similar format, strips of wildlife vignettes, with counries name printed somewhere, and weird currency values.

They are immediately identifiable, by the postmark, which is printed as part of the stamp's design.

Rod,

Thanks for explaining the situation. I shall pay closer attention to postmarks in the future.

I had never heard of "illegal emissions" of stamps "from some dubious authority" before. I can understand somebody counterfeiting genuine stamp designs, but just making up what amount to stickers to look like new stamp issues seems somewhat pointless, unless they're trying to trick unwary collectors.

So, does anybody collect these things and is there a category for them or are they just rubbish? As I said, I got these in a batch of mixed stamps of former French colonies from a supposedly reputable stamp dealer called Mystic Stamp in Camden, New York. The batch also contains the cat and horse stamps you posted, although the other stamps I've checked are in the catalogs.

Stamp collecting is such a fascinating hobby; I keep learning new and unexpected things all the time.

All the best.

Hey, firstfrog.

That's pretty much how I see the situation.  I like the stamps so will hang onto them, but probably file them in a different category than the "official" stamps from Niger.

It just surprised me that I'd run into "illicit" stamps although apparently there a quite a few of them out there from various countries.  Like I said before, I love this hobby as there's always something interesting and new to learn.  And this forum is the best.

The first series of stamps from Niger,YVERT 1-17,issued from 1921 to 1922.Stamps from the Targui series of Upper Senegal and Niger were surcharged Teritoire du Niger.

Londonbus1......Thanks....these are very addictive !!! I originally planned to just go for the omnnibus series of stamps and then found the early definitive sets appealing,particularly the African colonies.With a few exceptions,they are not too expensive.However,I am only interested in used copies and these tend to be harder to find.I have seen many mint sets for sale but complete used sets are a little more uncommon.I am mising a couple of stamps which have a very low catalogue value but are very difficult to locate.Searching for different postmarks is also very challenging.

Anglobob

I finally managed to acquire the missing stamps,after months of searching.None of them have a high catalogue value but used copies seem to be much harder to find.
Stamps from Upper Senegal and Niger were used YV 18-28,with various surcharges and new colours until 1926 when the first series of Niger Colony stamps were issued.This series featured wells,views of the fortress at Zinder and a canoe on the River Niger and ran until 1940,again with many colour changes and new values.YV 29-52 and YV75-85.
From 1944 to 1959,stamps of French West Africa were used.