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
Postage dues, watermark sideways
1 July 1948
14 "1 M.A.L." on ½d green
15 "2 M.A.L." on 1d red
16 "4 M.A.L." on 2d black
17 "6 M.A.L." on 3d violet
18 "24 M.A.L." on 1/- blue
overprint varieties
missing dot after "A" (image courtesy of David Allen)
14 v1 1m missing dot after "A"
15 v1 2m missing dot after "A"
15 v2 2m missing dot after "M" (row 1/17)
16 v1 4m missing dot after "A"
16 v2 4m missing dot after "M"
note: the "missing dots" occur in several places on the sheet, and other stamps show them very faint.
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.
19 "1 M.A.L." on ½d pale green
20 "2 M.A.L." on 1d pale red
21 "3 M.A.L." on 1½d pale brown
22 "4 M.A.L." on 2d pale orange
23 "5 M.A.L." on 2½d pale blue
24 "6 M.A.L." on 3d pale violet
25 "10 M.A.L." on 5d brown
26 "12 M.A.L." on 6d purple
27 "18 M.A.L." on 9d green
28 "24 M.A.L." on 1/- brown
29 "60 M.A.L." on 2/6d green, Arms
30 "120 M.A.L." on 5/- red, Arms
31 "240 M.A.L." on 10/- blue, Arms
overprint varieties
21 v1 3m "3" misplaced 2mm to right (rows 8/8 and 18/8) (see illustration above)
22 v1 4m "4" misplaced 2mm to right (rows 8/8 and 18/8) (see illustration above)
Postage dues, watermark sideways
32 "1 M.A.L." on ½d green
33 "2 M.A.L." on 1d red
34 "4 M.A.L." on 2d black
35 "6 M.A.L." on 3d violet
36 "24 M.A.L." on 1/- blue
overprint varieties
32 v1 1m missing dot after "B"
33 v1 2m missing dot after "B"
34 v1 4m missing dot after "B"
35 v1 6m missing dot after "B"
36 v1 24m missing dot after "A"
36 v2 24m missing dot after "B"
watermark varieties
35 wi 6m watermark sideways inverted
note: the "missing dots" occur in several places on the sheet, and other stamps show them very faint.
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.
37 "1 M.A.L." on ½d orange
38 "2 M.A.L." on 1d blue
39 "3 M.A.L." on 1½d green
40 "4 M.A.L." on 2d brown
41 "5 M.A.L." on 2½d red
42 "60 M.A.L." on 2/6d green
43 "120 M.A.L." on 5/- red
44 "240 M.A.L." on 10/- blue
Note: the misplaced "3" and "4" varieties were corrected for this issue.
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
gbos: GB Overprints Society