Morocco Agencies (French currency)
For the British post offices in the French sphere of influence in Morocco it was decided to issue British stamps overprinted in French currency in 1917. This was mostly the huge area of south west Morocco. Until then the offices had used stamps overprinted with Spanish currency.
See further under Morocco Agencies British currency, Morocco Agencies Spanish currency and Tangier.
A more detailed historical note is in the "Spanish currency" listing.
All stamps overprinted "MOROCCO AGENCIES" with new value in French currency.
Note: this numbering system was drawn up by the Society for the website, and may not be used without permission.
King George V
Mackennal Head, script cypher watermark, Seahorses (Bradbury Wilkinson)
1917 unless otherwise stated
1 "3 CENTIMES" (in red) on ½d green
2 "5 CENTIMES" on ½d green
3 "10 CENTIMES" on 1d red
4 "15 CENTIMES" on 1½d brown
5 "25 CENTIMES" on 2½d blue
6 "40 CENTIMES" on 4d grey
7 "50 CENTIMES" on 5d brown (1923)
8 "75 CENTIMES" on 9d green (1924)
9 "1 FRANC" on 10d blue
10 "3 FRANCS" on 2/6d brown (1924)
11 "6 FRANCS" on 5/- red (1932)
It is interesting to note that unlike the issues with Spanish currency, the format of the French-currency stamp overprints in this set is remarkably consistent. What is less easily explained is why the 3c overprint in French currency needed to be printed in red, presumably to distinguish it from the 5c stamp, whereas for the similar overprints in Spanish currency both the 3c and the 5c were acceptable in black.
overprint varieties
6 v1 40c overprint double, one albino
9 v1 Fr1 overprint double, one albino
10 v1 Fr3 overprint double, one albino
Watermark block cypher
1925
12 "5 CENTIMES" on ½d green
13 "10 CENTIMES" on 1d red
14 "15 CENTIMES" on 1½d brown
15 "25 CENTIMES" on 2½d blue
16 "40 CENTIMES" on 4d grey
17 "50 CENTIMES" on 5d brown
18 "75 CENTIMES" on 9d green
19 "90 CENTIMES" on 9d green (1934)
20 "1 FRANC" on 10d blue
21 "1 FRANC 50 CENTIMES" on 1/- brown (1934)
overprint varieties
13 v1 10c overprint double, one albino
16 v1 40c overprint double, one albino
18 v1 75c overprint double, one albino
20 v1 Fr1 overprint double, one albino
watermark varieties
17 wi 50c watermark inverted
18 wi 75c watermark inverted
Silver Jubilee
8 May 1935
22 "5 CENTIMES" (in blue) on ½d green
23 "10 CENTIMES" (in blue) on 1d red
24 "15 CENTIMES" (in blue) on 1½d brown
25 "25 CENTIMES" (in red) on 2½d blue
overprint varieties
22 v1 5c with "AGENCIES" displaced upwards 3mm
reported in The Overprinter 3/1993 (same error as illustrated for 10c below)
23 v1 10c with "AGENCIES" displaced upwards 3mm
23 v2 10c se-tenant with 10 "centimos" see under Spanish currency issues.
24 v1 15c with "AGENCIES" displaced upwards 3mm
reported in The Overprinter 3/1993 (same error as illustrated for 10c above)
Photogravure set
Re-engraved seahorses
1935-1936
26 "5 CENTIMES" on ½d green, small format (Oct 1935)
27 "10 CENTIMES" on 1d red, small format (2 March 1936)
28 "15 CENTIMES" on 1½d brown, small format (8 January 1938)
29 "25 CENTIMES" on 2½d blue (25 September 1936)
30 "40 CENTIMES" on 4d grey (2/12/1936)
31 "50 CENTIMES" on 5d brown (15 September 1936)
32 "90 CENTIMES" on 9d green (15 February 1937)
33 "1 FRANC" on 10d blue (10 February 1937)
34 "1 FRANC 50 CENTIMES" on 1/- brown (20 July 1937)
35 "3 FRANCS" on 2/6d brown (1935)
36 "6 FRANCS" on 5/- red (17 June 1936)
Note: although the ½d, 1d and 1½d unoverprinted stamps have several sizes, all the overprints with French currency are in the small format only.
Original and re-engraved versions of the Seahorses (there are other less conspicuous differences).
King Edward VIII
26 October 1936
37 "5 CENTIMES" on ½d green
38 "15 CENTIMES" on 1½d brown
There are no conspicuous variations in the size of the overprints, as happened with the Spanish and British currency sets.
overprint varieties
(image courtesy of Temple Bar auctions)
37 v1 black bar through "POSTAGE"
This was caused by a raised printers spacing bar; it has often been forged so buy with care!
King George VI
Coronation
13 May 1937
39 "15 CENTIMES" (in blue) on 1½d brown
Definitive stamp
11 June 1937
40 "5 CENTIMES" (in blue) on ½d green
The offices using stamps in French currency closed during 1937-1938 and the stamps were withdrawn on 8 January 1938.
go to Morocco British currency
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page last updated on: 2 June 2009.
gbos: GB Overprints Society