NORTHERN NIGERIA 1900 set of 9 to 10s SPECIMEN, SG1s/9s

Northern Nigeria 1900 Queen Victoria set of 9 to 10s, overprinted 'SPECIMEN', SG1s/9s.

A very fine mint set with lovely fresh colours and part original gum, (½d, 1d, 2½d with original gum). There are a couple of insignificant blemishes, mentioned purely for accuracy and truly a really fine set of the first postage stamps issued from Northern Nigeria.

The protectorate of Northern Nigeria was formed on 1 January 1900 from the northern part of the Niger Company Territories. Only one post office existed in this area, at Lokoja, and this continued to use stamps from Great Britain until the issue of these stamps during April 1900.

"SPECIMEN" examples were used solely by postal administrations for reference purposes to help spot any attempted forgeries.

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is £225.

• BUY NOW: Order online, by phone +44 (0)1534 639 998, or via email info@paulfrasercollectibles.com