Shkoder Stamps
Issues of 1919-1920
Provisional Shkoder stamps first appeared at the beginning of 1919. In fact, the first issues were hand-stamped with their issue date, in Roman numerals, XV I MCMXIX or 15 January 1919.
When World War I ended on 11 November 1918, French forces occupied the Shkoder Region of Northern Albania, as well as other regions with sizable Albanian populations. During World War I, the town of Shkoder had been the center of the Austrian Empire occupation government, and following World War I, the town was again the center of the international military administration of Albania for a short time.
The Shkoder provisional stamps of 1919 and 1920 were created by applying overprints and re-valuations to existing
inventories of the Austrian Empire occupation revenue stamps of
World War I.
Overprinted and re-valued Provisional Shkoder stamps, of the types shown above, were issued on January 15, 1919.
The text of the Albanian overprint is "POSTA / e Shkodres / SHQYPNIS" (English: "Albanian Postage / Shkoder"). An additional hand-stamp, in Rose or Blue, features the date "XV I MCMXIX" (15 January 1919).
The Scott catalog attributes, for the seven listed stamps, are as follows.
- 02 Q. on 02 H. (1919 - Sc. #84) - Brown.
- 05 Q. on 16 H. (1919 - Sc. #85) - Green.
- 10 Q. on 08 H. (1919 - Sc. #86) - Rose.
- 25 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #87) - Blue.
- 25 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #88) - Blue.
- 50 Q. on 32 H. (1919 - Sc. #89) - Violet.
- 01 F. on 01.28 K. (1919 - Sc. #90) - Orange on Bluish.
The two 25 Q. on 64 H. stamps, noted in the table above, have different designs. Both of the designs are shown in the image directly below.
The seven overprinted and re-valued Provisional Shkoder stamps shown above, were issued on January 16, 1919.
The text of the Albanian overprint is the same as the previous issue, but the additional hand-stamp, in Rose or Blue, features a shooting star.
The Scott catalog attributes are as follows.
- 02 Q. on 02 H. (1919 - Sc. #91) - Brown.
- 05 Q. on 16 H. (1919 - Sc. #92) - Green.
- 10 Q. on 08 H. (1919 - Sc. #93) - Rose.
- 25 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #94) - Blue.
- 25 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #95) - Blue.
- 50 Q. on 32 H. (1919 - Sc. #96) - Violet.
- 01 F. on 01.28 K. (1919 - Sc. #97) - Orange on Bluish.
The seven overprinted and re-valued Provisional Shkoder stamps shown above, were issued on March 7, 1919.
The text of the Albanian overprint is the same as the previous issue, but the additional hand-stamp, in violet, features a different shooting star.
The Scott catalog attributes are as follows.
- 02 Q. on 02 H. (1919 - Sc. #98) - Brown.
- 05 Q. on 16 H. (1919 - Sc. #99) - Green.
- 10 Q. on 08 H. (1919 - Sc. #100) - Rose.
- 25 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #101) - Blue.
- 25 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #102) - Blue.
- 50 Q. on 32 H. (1919 - Sc. #103) - Violet.
- 01 F. on 01.28 K. (1919 - Sc. #104) - Orange on Bluish.
Overprinted and re-valued Provisional Shkoder stamps, of the types shown above, were issued on June 5, 1919.
The text of the Albanian overprint is "POSTAT / SHQIPTARE" (English: "Albania / Postage"). The lettering on these stamps has serifs, and the obliterator bars are vertical.
The Scott catalog attributes, for the seven listed stamps, are as follows.
- 10 Q. on 02 H. (1919 - Sc. #106) - Brown.
- 15 Q. on 08 H. (1919 - Sc. #107) - Rose.
- 20 Q. on 16 H. (1919 - Sc. #108) - Green.
- 25 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #109) - Blue.
- 50 Q. on 32 H. (1919 - Sc. #110) - Violet.
- 01 F. on 96 H. (1919 - Sc. #111) - Orange.
- 02 F. on 01.60 K. (1919 - Sc. #112) - Violet on Buff.
Overprinted and re-valued Provisional Shkoder stamps, of the types shown above, were also issued on June 5, 1919.
The text of the Albanian overprint is "POSTAT / SHQIPTARE" (English: "Albania / Postage"). The lettering on these stamps does not have serifs, and the obliterator bars are diagonal.
The Scott catalog attributes, for the seven listed stamps, are as follows.
- 10 Q. on 08 H. (1919 - Sc. #113) - Carmine.
- 15 Q. on 08 H. (1919 - Sc. #114) - Carmine.
- 20 Q. on 16 H. (1919 - Sc. #115) - Green.
- 25 Q. on 32 H. (1919 - Sc. #116) - Violet.
- 50 Q. on 64 H. (1919 - Sc. #117) - Blue.
- 01 F. on 96 H. (1919 - Sc. #118) - Orange.
- 02 F. on 01.60 K. (1919 - Sc. #119) - Violet on Buff.
Definitive Albania stamps, featuring the portrait of King Vidi I, were prepared during September 1914, but they were never issued, due to the King's forced exile. An example is shown above.
The Shkoder provisional stamps shown in the images below were created in early 1920, by overprinting some of the remaining denominations of these un-issued portrait definitive stamps.
Overprinted Provisional Shkoder stamps, of the types shown above, were issued in February 1920.
The overprint, in Blue or Black, on each of these stamps features the double-headed Albanian Eagle and "SHKODRA".
The Scott catalog attributes, for the five listed stamps, are as follows.
- 01 Q. (1920 - Sc. #120) - Gray.
- 10 Q. (1920 - Sc. #121) - Rose.
- 20 Q. (1920 - Sc. #122) - Brown.
- 25 Q. (1920 - Sc. #123) - Blue.
- 50 Q. (1920 - Sc. #124) - Brown Violet.
The four re-valued stamps shown above were also issued in February 1920. The color of the overprint and re-valuation differs on each of these stamps.
The Scott catalog attributes are as follows.
- 02 Q. on 10 Q. (1920 - Sc. #125) - Rose (Red).
- 05 Q. on 10 Q. (1920 - Sc. #126) - Rose (Green).
- 25 Q. on 10 Q. (1920 - Sc. #127) - Rose (Blue).
- 50 Q. on 10 Q. (1920 - Sc. #128) - Rose (Brown).
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Return to Albania Stamps from
Shkoder Stamps - Issues of 1919-1920
Map of Albania
The 1 Gr. on 25 Q. denomination Albania stamp shown above (Sc. #105) was overprinted "SHKODER 1919", in violet, during early 1919.