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GABON 1886-1909

(French Colony in Africa)

Return To Catalogue - Gabon 1889 issue - Gabon 1910 onwards and miscellaneous - France

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Stamps of the French colonies were also used in Gabon, they can be recognized by the cancel "GAB" with dots, example:


A "CORR. D. ARMEES GABON" cancel on a pair of two 5 c French Colonies Ceres stamps.

1886 Stamps of the french colonies, surcharged "GAB" and dots and value:

5 on 20 c red on green 10 on 20 red on green Image obtained from a Harmers auction Certified genuine Image obtained from a Harmers auction 15 on 50 c blue 75 on 15 c blue Image obtained from a Harmers auction 75 on 15 c blue

  '5' on 20 c red on green
  '10' on 20 c red on green
  '25' on 20 c red on green
  '50' on 15 c blue
  '75' on 15 c blue

Value of the stamps

 
vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon
 
*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare
Value Unused Used Remarks
5 on 20 c RR RR  
10 on 20 c RR RR  
25 on 20 c R R 10,500 stamps issued
50 on 15 c RRR RRR Only 300 stamps issued
75 on 15 c RRR RRR Only 300 stamps issued

The overprint was made from a "GAB" cancelling device, only 13 dots and "GAB" were left. The value was applied seperately.

Forgeries:


(Forged cancels and forged overprints taken from a Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries, reduced sizes)


Forged stamps with forged overprint and forged cancel. I suspect these to be Fournier forgeries; the cancel is "LIBREVILLE 6 AOUT 86" or "LIBREVILLE GABON-CONGO 13 NOV 92" as in the above Fournier forged cancels.


Most likely a forgery, the right hand side of the "5" is much fatter, it does have a "LIBREVILLE GABON" cancel though.


Forged overprint on a genuine stamp.


Most likely a forgery of the 75 on 15 c stamp. The basic French Colonies stamp has different perforation from the genuine stamps!


Another deceptive forgery.

 

1889 Stamps of the french colonies, surcharged with only a value

Image reproduced with permission from: http://www.sandafayre.com Image obtained from a Harmers auction 25 on 10 c black Image reproduced with permission from: http://www.sandafayre.com '25' on 5 c green Image obtained from a Harmers auction Image obtained from a Harmers auction Image reproduced with permission from: http://www.sandafayre.com Genuine overprint

 

  '15' on 10 c black
  '15' on 1 F green
  '25' on 5 c green
  '25' on 10 c black
  '25' on 75 c red

Value of the stamps

 
vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon
 
*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare
Value Unused Used Remarks
15 on 10 c RRR RRR Only 400 or 800 stamps issued.
15 on 1 F RRR RRR Only 1200 stamps issued
25 on 5 c RR RR Only 4000 stamps issued
25 on 10 c RRR RRR Only 400 or 800 stamps issued.
25 on 75 c RRR RRR Only 1000 stamps issued

Image reproduced with permission from: http://www.sandafayre.com
With "CORR. D. ARMEES GABON" cancel

Dubious overprint
Dubious overprint


Two "25" overprints with a clearly different "2" (very curly upper left part); most likely forgeries.


Forged overprints (presumably on a genuine basic stamp)


Fournier forgery wih forged overprint and forged "LIBREVILLE 6 AOUT 86 GABON" cancel.

 

1889 Postage due stamps of the French colonies surcharged "GABON TIMBRE" and value

Could be a forged overprint 15 on 5 c black 

  '15' on 5 c black
  '15' on 30 c black
  '25' on 20 c black

This '15' on 5 c and '25' on 20 c provisional issue were made on 27 Mars 1889 (http://www.colfra.org/spip.php?article217), both
in quantities of 1500 stamps.
On 16 April another set of 1500 stamps of the value '25' on 20 c were printed (http://www.colfra.org/spip.php?article218).
On 1 Mai 1889 another batch of 1500 '25' on 20 c stamps were printed together with the '15' on 30 c (250 stamps) (http://www.colfra.org/spip.php?article219).
The overprints were made in three stages, 1) the word "GABON", 2) the word "TIMBRE" and 3) the value.

Value of the stamps

 
vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon
 
*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare
Value Unused Used Remarks
15 on 5 c RR RR Exists with double "TIMBRE": RRR or
double "GABON": RRR
1500+1500+1500 stamps were printed.
15 on 30 c RRR RRR 250 stamps were printed.
25 on 20 c RR RR Exists with double "TIMBRE": RRR or
double "GABON": RRR
1500 stamps were printed

Forgeries:


(Forged cancels and forged overprints taken from a Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries, reduced sizes)


Highly dubious stamp, the cancel is from Reunion....


Other forgeries.


Forgeries, the stamps, overprints and cancels are forged. These are Type 7 forgeries (Oneglia?).

 

1889 Inscription "Gabon - Congo POSTES Republique Francaise" with "GAB" and small dots overprinted

Image obtained from a Harmers auction 

  15 c black on pink
  25 c black on green

There are 10 different types.

Value of the stamps

 
vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon
 
*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare
Value Unused Used Remarks
15 c RRR RRR Only 1000 stamps issued
25 c RRR RRR Only 1500 stamps issued

For types and forgeries of this issue, click here.

 

 

Gabon stopped issuing its own stamps in 1891 and used the stamps of French Congo instead. Only in 1905 it re-issued its own stamps.

 

1905 French colonies type, inscription "GABON" coloured

5 c green, 50 c brown and 75 c lilac

  1 c black
  2 c brown on yellowish
  4 c brown
  5 c green
  10 c red
  15 c grey
  20 c red on yellow
  25 c blue
  30 c brown
  35 c black
  40 c orange
  45 c black
  50 c brown on blue
  75 c lilac
  1 F green
  2 F violet
  5 F lilac

These stamps have perforation 14 x 13 1/2. For stamps in the same Tablet design, but for other French colonies, click here.

Value of the stamps

 
vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon
 
*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare
Value Unused Used Remarks
1 c * * Exists with 'GABON' double: RR
2 c * *  
4 c * *  
5 c * *  
10 c ** *  
15 c *** ***  
20 c *** ***  
25 c *** ***  
30 c *** ***  
35 c R R  
40 c *** ***  
45 c RR RR  
50 c *** ***  
75 c R R  
1 F R R  
2 F RR RR  
5 F RR RR  

Forgeries:


(Fournier forgeries)


Left genuine, right Fournier forgery.


More modern forgery of Gabon.

Fournier has made forgeries of these stamps, for more information on these forgeries click here.

 

1912 Stamps of 1892 surcharged:

  '05' on 2 c brown
  '05' (red) on 4 c brown
  '05' (red) on 15 c grey
  '05' on 20 c red on green
  '05' (red) on 25 c blue
  '05' (red) on 30 c brown
  '10' on 40 c red
  '10' (red) on 45 c black on green
  '10' (red) on 50 c brown on blue
  '10' on 75 c violet
  '10' on 1 F green
  '10' on 2 F violet
  '10' on 5 F violet

Value of the stamps

 
vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon
 
*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare
Value Unused Used Remarks
05 on 2 c ** **  
05 on 4 c ** **  
05 on 15 c * *  
05 on 20 c * *  
05 on 25 c * *  
05 on 30 c *** ***  
10 on 40 c * *  
10 on 45 c * *  
10 on 50 c ** **  
10 on 75 c ** **  
10 on 1 F ** **  
10 on 2 F ** ** Inverted surcharge: RR
10 on 5 F *** ***  

All the above '05' and '10' surcharges, exists with a variety with more space between the '0' and '5' or the '1' and '0' (value *** to RR).


Fournier forgeries of these stamps, for more information on these forgeries click here.

Gabon 1910 onwards and miscellaneous

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer