1898-1905 Scott O31 2c bister & black "Hippopotamus" Official stamp overprinted "O S" in red Quick History Liberia, meaning "Land of the Free", is located on the coast of equatorial west Africa. The Capital is Monrovia, and the population was 1,500,000 in 1940. Liberia has an interesting history, to say the least. I will only be able to touch on some highlights here, but a more in depth historical reading by the WW stamp classicist is well worthwhile. 1736 map with the "Grain Coast" labeled The Portuguese originally called the area the" Pepper Coast" because of the melegueta peppers found there. Later, the Dutch, then the British established some trading posts on the then called "Grain Coast". But no real settlement occurred until 1821, when the first of the free Blacks from the United States arrived. How did that happen? Beginning in about 1800, the idea took hold that establishing a colony in Africa could be one solution for the then 100,000+ freed American slaves. The motives, though, were both altruistic laudatory and racist. • Some freed slaves and their descendants, and white abolitionists believed that life there would be more free and egalitarian then what would be possible in the United States. • On the other hand, slaveholders did not want freed slaves around, as that could foment rebellion; and so often also supported the concept. * And many whites, although finding slavery distasteful, did not want to associate with blacks. But supporting a noble concept to repatriate the freed slaves would be quite socially acceptable. So in 1816, the American Colonization Society was founded to return free Blacks to Africa, where, by presumption, they would enjoy greater freedom. Many prominent politicians, including Henry Clay, and James Monroe (whom the Capital of Liberia-Monrovia- was named) supported and promoted the society. Even Abraham Lincoln was generally in favor, but later changed his mind. Lincoln's biographer Stephen B. Oates noted that Lincoln thought it was immoral to ask black solders to fight for the Union, then remove them to Africa after their military service. The freed American Blacks, some 3000 in the early years, and called Americo-Liberians, did indeed found a country in 1847, with governance modeled after the U.S. constitution. Ironically, they did not associate with the natives: and the natives rejected them also. At least nine insurrections had to be put down between 1856-1920. Monrovia in the 19th century The Americo-Liberians, never constituting more than 5% of the total population, literally governed Liberia from 1847-1980, when a bloody coup d'état occurred. So what about the stamp issues? Genius! If one was putting together a business plan during the classical era years to attract the most stamp collectors, what would one do? • Put African safari animals, natives doing handicrafts, native abodes, and wild pictorial scenes on the stamps. • Engrave them, and make many bi-colored in bright contrasting hues. • Use the finest stamp printing firms and designers from London, Berlin, and New York for the stamp production. You have Liberia. ;-) Liberia's first stamp issue was in 1860 (representing "Liberia"), but the first bi-colored set came out in 1892. This was followed by long exotic sets produced in 1897, 1906, 1909, 1918, 1921, and 1923. Then one almost doubles the production by the often different colored Official issue stamps. Finally, one has the many overprinted issues with a generous supply of errors and misprints. Since there are many attractive stamps to review, I will publish two Liberian posts: the first covering 1860-1914, and the next covering 1915-1940. Let's begin. 1896 Scott 42 20c vermilion "Coat of Arms" "The love of Liberty brought us here" Into the Deep Blue The 2011 Scott Classic catalogue, from 1860-1914, has 134 regular, 14 registration, 9 postage due, and 74 official, for a total of 231 major stamp descriptions. Of those, 127 are CV $10. And actually, the overprinted official stamps (two of them) of this design, which were then surcharged as above, are CV $2000+. ! 1903 Scott 94 3c black "Liberty" 1903 Official Scott O43 3c green, overprinted The 1903 "Lady Liberty" was printed in black, as illustrated. Then the official stamp was printed in green and had an overprint. The overprint exists in either "red" or "orange red". This stamp must be the latter. 1903 Scott 96 15c on 24c olive green/yellow Stamps of 1892 surcharged in blue Three stamps of the 1892 issue were surcharged in 1903. CV is $3-$6+. 1904 Scott 99 2c on 4c green & black Three more stamps were surcharged in 1904. I picked this one to illustrate, so the post can show all three of the color combinations of this "elephant" design. ;-) 1906 Scott 101 1c green & black "Elephant" Knowing a good thing when they had it, Liberia produced another issue in 1906 with 13 stamps. Leading off was....the elephant. ;-) 1906 Official Scott O48 5c ultramarine & black "Chimpanzee" Overprinted in various colors An official issue was also produced with an overprinted as shown. CV for the 13 official stamps is
