Austrian Empire
Offices in the Turkish Empire
Part I
Austrian Post Office in Jerusalem,
Outside the Jaffa Gate (1898-1917)
The Austrian Empire, as well as other European
governments, maintained an extensive system of post offices in the
Turkish Empire, motivated by the often unreliable postal systems of the Turks.
The Austrians opened their first post office in the Turkish Empire near Istanbul in 1748. This eventually extended to many locations throughout the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Beginning in 1863, postage stamps of the Austrian possession of Lombardy-Venetia were used, but when these areas were turned over to Kingdom of Italy in 1867, the empire had to issue special postage stamps, identical in appearance to the Austrian issues, but denominated in Soldi. Lombardy-Venetia postage stamps used at Austrian post offices in the Turkish Empire are VERY scarce.
From
1867, all of the imperial postage stamp issues for post offices in the
Turkish Empire are identical to those of the Austrian Empire, with the
exception that they are all denominated or surcharged either in Soldi or , later on, in Turkish Paras and Piasters. As such, the technical production aspects of these stamps will not appear in the sections below, unless they are different from those of their contemporary Austrian postage stamp counterparts.
The seven "Coarse Printing" definitive postage stamps shown above for the Austrian Empire post
offices in the Turkish empire were issued in 1867.
The catalog attributes, for stamps of the Coarse Printings that are perforated 9 1/2, are as follows.
- 02 S. (1867 - Mi. #1I, Sc. #1) - Orange, Yellow.
- 03 S. (1867 - Mi. #2I, Sc. #2) - Green, Dark Green.
- 05 S. (1867 - Mi. #3I, Sc. #3) - Red, Carmine, Red Lilac.
- 10 S. (1867 - Mi. #4I, Sc. #4) - Blue (shades).
- 15 S. (1867 - Mi. #5I, Sc. #5) - Brown (shades), Red Brown.
- 25 S. (1867 - Mi. #6I, Sc. #6) - Violet, Brown Violet, Gray Lilac.
The catalog attributes, for stamps of the Coarse Printing that are perforated 9, 9 12, 10 x 9, 10 1/2, 12, 13, or compound, are as follows.
- 50 S. (1867 - Mi. #7I, Sc. #7) - Brown.
The six "Fine Printing" definitive postage stamps shown above for the Austrian Empire post
offices in the Turkish empire were issued between 1876 and 1883.
The catalog attributes, for stamps of the Fine Printings that are perforated 9, 9 1/2, 10 1/2, or compound, are as follows.
- 02 S. (1883 - Mi. #1II, Sc. #7C) - Yellow.
- 03 S. (1878 - Mi. #2II, Sc. #7D) - Green.
- 05 S. (1878 - Mi. #3II, Sc. #7E) - Red.
- 10 S. (1876 - Mi. #4II, Sc. #7F) - Blue.
- 15 S. (1881 - Mi. #5II, Sc. #7I) - Orange Brown.
- 25 S. (1883 - Mi. #6II, Sc. #7J) - Gray Lilac.
The six "Arms-type" definitive postage stamps shown above for the Austrian Empire post
offices in the Turkish empire were issued in 1883.
The catalog attributes, for stamps that are perforated 9 1/2 or 10, are as follows.
- 02 S. (1883 - Mi. #8, Sc. #8) - Brown.
- 03 S. (1883 - Mi. #9, Sc. #9) - Green.
- 05 S. (1883 - Mi. #10, Sc. #10) - Rose.
- 10 S. (1883 - Mi. #11, Sc. #11) - Blue.
- 20 S. (1883 - Mi. #12, Sc. #12) - Gray.
- 50 S. (1883 - Mi. #13, Sc. #13) - Red Lilac.
The six Lombardy-Venetia and Austrian Empire "Arms-type" definitive stamps shown above were re-valued in Turkish currency between 1886 and 1888.
The catalog attributes, for stamps that are perforated 9 1/2, 10, or 13 1/2, are as follows.
- 10 Pa. on 03 S. (1886 - Mi. #14, Sc. #14) - Green.
- 10 Pa. on 03 K. (1888 - Mi. #15, Sc. #15) - Green.
- 20 Pa. on 05 K. (1888 - Mi. #16, Sc. #16) - Rose.
- 01 Pi. on 10 K. (1888 - Mi. #17, Sc. #17) - Blue.
- 02 Pi. on 20 K. (1888 - Mi. #18, Sc. #18) - Gray.
- 05 Pi. on 50 K. (1888 - Mi. #19, Sc. #19) - Violet.
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