The definitive Serbia stamps of 1904 to 1920 were the final issues of the Kingdom of Serbia. It wouldn't be until almost the end of the 20th Century, before Serbia would once again emerge as an independent nation.
The eight wide-format Serbia stamps shown above were issued in 1904 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the House of Karageorgević and to celebrate the Coronation of King Peter I.
The two common designs feature:
The catalog attributes are as follows:
The eleven portrait definitive Serbia stamps shown above were issued between 1905 and 1908.
The design features the left-facing portrait of King Peter I.
The catalog attributes, for stamps that are printed on wove paper, are as follows:
The catalog attributes, for stamps that are printed on laid paper, are as follows:
The twenty-two portrait definitive stamps shown above were issued between 1911 and 1914.
The common design features a left-facing portrait of King Peter I in a military uniform.
The catalog attributes are as follows:
The seven wide-format pictorial Serbia stamps shown above were issued on October 15, 1915.
The common design features King Peter I and soldiers on a battlefield.
The catalog attributes are as follows:
The 15 P. through the 50 P. denominations were not issued for postal use. Instead, they were used as wartime emergency currency.
New dual-portrait definitive Serbia stamps were issued between 1918 and 1920. Eight examples are shown in the image above.
The common design features the conjoined heads of Karageorge and King Peter I.
The catalog attributes, for stamps printed on normal paper, are as follows:
The catalog attributes, for stamps printed on pelure paper, are as follows:
All of the Serbia stamps reviewed on this webpage seem to be a bit of a "philatelic minefield". In searching the internet, I have found imperforate examples and every imaginable variety of error, with many of them being priced at little more than the normal stamps.
The Scott catalog indicates that forgeries of all these stamps are plentiful. It seems odd that a forger would spend their time and effort making forgeries of stamps that only catalog a few cents each!
At any rate, BE CAREFUL!
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Return to Serbia Stamps from
Definitives of 1904-1920
Peter I Karageorgević (1844-1921) was the grandson of Karageorge (1768-1817), the founder of the House of Karageorgević and the elected leader of Serbia, following the First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813) against the Ottoman Empire.
He was proclaimed King Peter I of Serbia, by the Serbian parliament in 1903, following the assassination of King Alexander I.
King Peter I has the distinction of being the last monarch of the Kingdom of Serbia (1903-1918) and the first monarch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1921).