Tripolitania
In 1948 the MEF stamps were replaced in Tripolitania by issues overprinted with the country name and Italian currency. 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.
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 TRIPOLITANIA", for British Military Administration,
plus value in Italian Lire (named "Military Authority Lire" for political reasons)
1 July 1948
1 "1 M.A.L." on ½d pale green
2 "2 M.A.L." on 1d pale red
3 "3 M.A.L." on 1½d pale brown
4 "4 M.A.L." on 2d pale orange
5 "5 M.A.L." on 2½d pale blue
6 "6 M.A.L." on 3d pale violet
7 "10 M.A.L." on 5d brown
8 "12 M.A.L." on 6d purple
9 "18 M.A.L." on 9d green
10 "24 M.A.L." on 1/- brown
11 "60 M.A.L." on 2/6d green, Arms
12 "120 M.A.L." on 5/- red, Arms
13 "240 M.A.L." on 10/- blue, Arms
overprint varieties
1 v1 1m overprint misplaced
3 v1 3m "3" misplaced 2mm to right (rows 8/8 and 18/8?)
4 v1 4m "4" misplaced 2mm to right (rows 8/8 and 18/8)
5 v1 5m overprint double
Overprint changed to read "BA TRIPOLITANIA", for civilian British Administration
plus value in Military Authority Lire
6 February 1950
Note: it is reported that the "M" was removed one by one from each position on the plate, resulting in occasional minor damage to neighbouring letters.
14 "1 M.A.L." on ½d pale green
15 "2 M.A.L." on 1d pale red
16 "3 M.A.L." on 1½d pale brown
17 "4 M.A.L." on 2d pale orange
18 "5 M.A.L." on 2½d pale blue
19 "6 M.A.L." on 3d pale violet
20 "10 M.A.L." on 5d brown
21 "12 M.A.L." on 6d purple
22 "18 M.A.L." on 9d green
23 "24 M.A.L." on 1/- brown
24 "60 M.A.L." on 2/6d green, Arms
25 "120 M.A.L." on 5/- red, Arms
26 "240 M.A.L." on 10/- blue, Arms
overprint varieties
16 v1 3m "3" misplaced 2mm to right (rows 8/8 and 18/8) (see illustration above)
17 v1 4m "4" misplaced 2mm to right (rows 8/8 and 18/8) (see illustration above)
Changed colours and designs
3 May 1951
The colour of the low values was changed to retain conformity with UPU requirements; the release date of these and the new high values was to coincide with the Festival of Britain.
27 "1 M.A.L." on ½d orange
28 "2 M.A.L." on 1d blue
29 "3 M.A.L." on 1½d green
30 "4 M.A.L." on 2d brown
31 "5 M.A.L." on 2½d red
32 "60 M.A.L." on 2/6d green
33 "120 M.A.L." on 5/- red
34 "240 M.A.L." on 10/- blue
Note: the misplaced "3" and "4" varieties were corrected for this issue.
Postage dues, watermark sideways
1 July 1948
35 "1 M.A.L." on ½d green
36 "2 M.A.L." on 1d red
37 "4 M.A.L." on 2d black
38 "6 M.A.L." on 3d violet
39 "24 M.A.L." on 1/- blue
overprint varieties
missing dot after "A" (image courtesy of David Allen)
35 v1 1m missing dot after "A"
36 v1 2m missing dot after "A"
36 v2 2m missing dot after "M" (row 1/17)
37 v1 4m missing dot after "A"
37 v2 4m missing dot after "M"
note: the "missing dots" occur in several places on the sheet, and other stamps show them very faint.
Change to "B.A." 6 May 1950
40 "1 M.A.L." on ½d green
41 "2 M.A.L." on 1d red
42 "4 M.A.L." on 2d black
43 "6 M.A.L." on 3d violet
44 "24 M.A.L." on 1/- blue
overprint varieties
40 v1 1m missing dot after "B"
41 v1 2m missing dot after "B"
42 v1 4m missing dot after "B"
43 v1 6m missing dot after "B"
44 v1 24m missing dot after "A"
44 v2 24m missing dot after "B"
watermark varieties
43 wi 6m watermark sideways inverted
note: the "missing dots" occur in several places on the sheet, and other stamps show them very faint.
From 24 December 1951 Tripolitania was incorporated (along with Cyrenaica, Fezzan and Ghadames) into Libya and therefore used Libyan stamps.
page last updated on: 17 July 2006, 6 March 2013, 22 May 2013, 23 June 2014
gbos: GB Overprints Society