Nigeria 1973 definitive postage stamps
Though Nigeria is sadly famous as the country of various scams, Nigeria also IMHO stands as one of the most interesting stamp producers in Africa. They have never published excessive number of new issues (only about 800 stamps after 1914); and most of their stamps have very clear and valid messages (like Pay your taxes, Don’t be late at work etc). Not so surprisingly, also one of my all-time favorite definitive stamp sets comes from Nigeria.
The 1973 Science set features 17 different stamps produced in both photogravure and offset printing (according to Michel stamp catalog) during the course of following two decades (up to year 1992). In addition the stamps have been printed on paper with and without watermark; not to mention countless varieties and freaks born due to printing conditions. Below are some stamps from my collection.
18 k Palm oil stamp
1973 Nigeria - Palm Oil, 18k definitive postage stamp. On the left photogravure (unwatermarked paper), on the right offset (watermarked paper). Even without looking at the watermark, the differences (larger imprint, use of fills) between the prints are very clear
Here’s a small freak – a 18k stamp where colors have been printed in reverse order (yellow on top of black):
1973 Nigeria - Palm Oil, 18k definitive postage stamp, offset (watermarked paper). Reversed printing of colors (yellow on top of black). Unlisted variety.
20 k Vaccine production stamp
1973 Nigeria - Vaccine production, 20k definitive postage stamp. On top photogravure (unwatermarked paper), below offset (unwatermarked paper). These are easy to identify by looking at inscription on bottom of stamp (clear vs smudgy).
And then something that pokes in the eye – a 20k offset stamp (watermarked paper) with gray color (on testing bottles) omitted. As this is my only sample of watermarked stamp, I don’t know if this is true EFO or just normal variation (any feedback on this is highly welcomed by me):
1973 Nigeria - Vaccine production, 20k definitive postage stamp, offset (watermarked paper). I believe this stamp has omitted gray color (on testing bottles).
50 k Pottery stamp
1973 Nigeria - Pottery, 50k definitive postage stamp. On the left photogravure (unwatermarked paper), on the right offset (watermarked paper). Once again there are multiple easy-to-notice differences besides watermark, such as different color and size of footer inscription, and use of color fills.
Closing words
Please feel free to comment and add up your details / observations /opinions about the above stamps. As stamp catalog listings on part of these stamps (and Nigeria in general) are IMHO somewhat superficial, I’m quite convinced these stamps provide plenty of new findings for all stamp collectors alike.
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Hello Keijo
Regarding the Nigeria definitives. The image of the 20k Vaccine (watermarked paper) which you speculate may be missing grey is in fact normal. For whatever reason the colours were changed with the introduction of watermarked paper.
The 18k Palm Oil with what you describe has reversed printing order of colours is very unusual. First, could you confirm it is on watermarked paper because watermarked paper is only recorded from December 1978 (while yours is postmarked 25 JA 1977). It would be useful to see a plate block to try to work out what is going on with the colours. Green (which is missing from your copy) would have been created by a mix of blue and yellow suggesting a fault with one of those colours.
Best wishes.
Tom
Hi Tom,
it’s a pleasure to have you here; your errors catalog is work of love
Re, the Nigerian stamps… Thanks for the info on 20k stamp.
About 18k stamps… Will check on this later today. Good catch with the omitted green color, I never actually noted it lacking before
@Tom… I just checked the watermark, and…
There is no clear large “NIGERIA” watermark. But I’m also pretty sure it has something. I know that is a vague description, but that’s the best I can do. I tried with watermark fluid & Morley-Bright, but neither method shows nothing that could assist me in saying anything confirmative. The best results I was achieve by looking the stamp against the light:
There’s some watermark like pattern going throughout the stamp, but I can’t say for sure if it’s just a random moire or a real watermark. But if it’s a watermark, then it’s nowhere like the large NIGERIA watermark, but more like the previous “NF” watermark. But that’s impossible I think?
Anyway, I’m emailing you a larger resolution version of the pic.
The debate here are very educative to me who is collecting Nigerian stamps. I have more than 20 pieces of each of this 1973 definitive stamps. Maybe it’s time to go into work to identify some Grey areas about them.
Thank you and please keep me posted
@Edet… Thanks. I’m very happy to hear that a native Nigerian collector like You finds my post useful
Just an update to this topic… During the weekend I received email from Tom Pierron (who rans the superb errors.info), and he had managed to found a similar (green missing) variety than what I have:
So better keep those eyes open whenever seeing this stamp. It’s likely there’s a bunch more varieties out there.