The British Government protested against the omission of "CONDOMINIUM" on the first
series, so Paris promised to correct this on the occasion of providing new stamps
as the stock of the first issue was gone. The new stamps were released by the
l'Agence Comptable des Timbres-Poste Coloniaux in Paris on 16 March 1910.
Only the 5c, 10c and 1f were sent to Vila and went on sale there on 11 September
1910, but the 25c and 50c were not received until the end of 1911, after the
issue of the definitive stamps. They were placed in reserve, although some may
have been issued on request. Covers with 25c and 50c stamps earlier than end of
1911 had the stamps affixed at home from the Paris stock and were sent to Vila
for processing but retained by the postmaster A. Dechamps. See letter in "1908" "Used 1911" 7 August 1911.
There were two printings: the first used the Paris inventory of the first
issue and added just the word "Condominium", the second used an extra edition of
the New Caledonian stamps not on sale in New Caledonia for a complete three line
overprint.
As in the 1908 issue, only "8" millesimes are listed.
First printing
|
(Stamps from the Goron, Merot and Klinger coll.). |
Second printing |
|
Second printing
|
Michel: 15 - 19 |
*****: ** - *** |
Yvert: 15 - 19 |
S.-G.: F6 - F10 |
Printed Quantities: (without the 1920 provisionals) |
||||
5c |
10c |
25c |
50c |
1F |
42 000 |
84 000 |
96 000 |
42 000 |
10 250 |
Partly sold in Paris at the Colonial Stamps Agency, later sent to Vila: |
||||
30 000 |
60 000 |
16 000 |
14 000 |
8 250 |
Sent to Vila |
||||
12 000 |
24 000 |
20 000 |
8 000 |
2 000 |
Overprinted in 1920 |
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|
|
60 000 |
20 000 |
|
The 25c and 50c stamps were not officially on sale in Vila.
But they were there from end of 1911 on!
So I think there are a lot of "bottle of red wine" usages. ( vbg )
I doubt that the 50c Pt. Sandwich cancel is of genuine use. The readable 1? D-? 1? most likely make this PCH Type 4AU used either in an unauthorised or at least unauthenticated manner after 1908. |
And this is a similar example - 25c Pt. Sandwich cancel. The readable part of the cancel is 12 DE 1?. This has to be investigated in the future. Images thanks to Jeff / Australia. |