Somalia
In 1948 the EAF stamps were replaced in Somalia by issues overprinted with the country name and the local currency the East African shilling (the MEF stamps had been sold in local currency equivalents, though not overprinted with these values). The first set was for the British Military Administration ("BMA"), but with the change to civilian government and wider public use of the posts the overprint was changed to "BA" - British Administration.
Unlike Eritrea and Tripolitania, Somalia did not overprint postage due stamps.
For unreleased overprints on Italian stamps see at the end of this section.
Note: this numbering system was drawn up by the Society for the website, and may not be used without permission.
King George VI
Stamps overprinted "BMA SOMALIA", for British Military Administration
plus value in East African Cents/Shillings
27 May 1948
1 "5 CENTS" on ½d pale green
2 "15 CENTS" on 1½d pale brown
3 "20 CENTS" on 2d pale orange
4 "25 CENTS" on 2½d pale blue
5 "30 CENTS" on 3d pale violet
6 "40 CENTS" on 5d brown
7 "50 CENTS" on 6d purple
8 "75 CENTS" on 9d green
9 "1 SHILLING" on 1/- brown
10 "2 SH. 50 CENTS" on 2/6d green, Arms
11 "5 SHILLINGS" on 5/- red, Arms
There was also a proposal to issue the stamps in booklets (see The Overprinter 1/1979).
overprint varieties
(image from unidentified auction)
4 v1 25 cents: overprinted misplaced to the right and slightly down.
10 v1 2/50 dot distorted and misplaced "2 SH .50 CENTS" (row 4/7)
note: this also occurs for Eritrea, showing that the same basic plate was used for both; it was corrected for the "BA" issues.
Overprint changed to read "BA SOMALIA", for civilian British Administration
plus value in East African Cents/Shillings
6 February 1950
Note: the overprint on the 5s and 10s is slightly shorter than the equivalent BMA overprint, making the lines at the top closer together.
12 "5 CENTS" on ½d pale green
13 "15 CENTS" on 1½d pale brown
14 "20 CENTS" on 2d pale orange
15 "25 CENTS" on 2½d pale blue
16 "30 CENTS" on 3d pale violet
17 "40 CENTS" on 5d brown
18 "50 CENTS" on 6d purple
19 "75 CENTS" on 9d green
20 "1 SHILLING" on 1/- brown
21 "2 SH. 50 CENTS" on 2/6d green, Arms
22 "5 SHILLINGS" on 5/- red, Arms
From 1 April 1950 Somalia was returned to Italian administration (as a UN trust territory) and subsequently combined with British Somaliland to become the Somali republic. The later overprints "Republic of Somaliland", allegedly emanating from the previous British Somaliland territory, are best deemed bogus.
Forerunners
In 1941 the British occupation authorities at first proposed to overprint contemporary issues of Italian East Africa (ie Eritrea, Ethopia, Somalia), but these were not released. There were two issues:
The first on a pictorial set:
(image by permission of Rita Flaminio "Errefil")
The accompanying set consisted of overprints on key-type Italian revenues.
An example of the 11 values prepared:
(image from unidentified listing)
page last updated on: 11 September 2006, 6 March 2013
gbos: GB Overprints Society