Postage stamps and postal history of Mayotte
Encyclopedia
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s and postal history
Postal history
Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems...
of the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
island of Mayotte
Mayotte
Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
, one of the Comoros Archipelago islands located on the south-east side of Africa.
Mayotte was the first Comorian island to fall under French influence at the beginning of the 1840s. It was the French administrative and postal center in the archipelago. Between 1911 and 1975, Mayotte's postal history is the same as the other Comoros: part of the Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
colony, then part of the Comoros Archipelago overseas territory.
In July 1975, Mayotte's postal history diverged again because its inhabitants voted by referendum to remain a French territory. After a shortage of stamps, stamps of France were used from February 1976 to December 1996.
Since 1 January 1997, Mayotte has been postally autonomous and has issued its own stamps. Postal operations are managed by an overseas subsidiary of La Poste
La Poste (France)
La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French Overseas Departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte...
.
Centre of the French postal system in the Comoros
Mayotte became a French colony when commandant Passot bought the island from sultan Andriantsouli, at the beginning of the 1840s. Few letters posted before 1900 in Mayotte or the Comoros are known: the oldest came from Mayotte in December 1850 and do not bear a postage stamp.
Nosy Be
Nosy Be is an island located off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of 312 km2 and its population was officially estimated at 36,636 in 2001....
, a northern Madagascan island. The oldest known stamped letter from Mayotte is dated December 1863.
The next shipments of stamps were dispatched from Mayotte to the three other Comorian islands when they fell under French influence. At this time, "Mayotte et dépendances" (Mayotte and dependencies) was written on the date stamp where the letters originated; only the sender's address or the correspondence point to the real origin. Moreover, until the 1870s, the cancellation is a rhombus of points with a hole in the middle; it is impossible to determine where a stamp was used but removed.
In the 1890s, like other French colonies, new stamps were designed to include the colony's name: the post office was victim of speculation between low-valued currency colonies and high-valued currency colonies. Mayotte received its stamps in November 1892.
Part of Madagascar colony and of the Comoros Archipelago
Like the other Comoros and some colonies around MadagascarMadagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Mayotte was administratively included in the latter colony in 1911. In 1912, all Mayotte's remaining stamps were overprinted to serve as 5 and 10 centimes stamps.
During the Madagascar period, a 1942 stamp commemorated the centenary of Mayotte's and Nosy Be's joining with France, with portraits of de Hell, Jéhenne and Passot.
Later, starting 15 May 1950, the stamps of the "Archipel des Comores" (Archipelago of the Comoros) are used in Mayotte, like the CFA franc
CFA franc
The CFA franc is the name of two currencies used in Africa which are guaranteed by the French treasury. The two CFA franc currencies are the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc...
. Eight stamps of this period directly concerned Mayotte: the place of the first radio transmitter of the Comoros (1960 stamp), cannon battery of Dzaoudzi
Dzaoudzi
Dzaoudzi is a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. The commune of Dzaoudzi , made up of the twin towns of Dzaoudzi and Labattoir, is located on the small island of Petite-Terre...
in a 1966 series about military fortifications, three landscapes in 1974 (Moya beach, Chiconi
Chiconi
Chiconi is a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean....
and Mamoudzou
Mamoudzou
Mamoudzou is the capital of the French overseas region and department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. Mamoudzou, known as Momoju in the local Shimaore language, is the most populated commune of Mayotte. It is located on Grande-Terre , the main island of Mayotte...
), and maps on stamps by Pierre Béquet in 1971 and 1974.
The shortage of 1976
In 1974, referendums occurred in the four Comorian islands regarding their inhabitants' wish for independence. The "no" vote won in Mayotte and France decided to treat the island separately. The Comorian parliament voted for independence on 5 July 1975, while the representatives of Mayotte did not vote for independence.From a postal point of view, the problem is that the postage stamp stocks are in Moroni
Moroni, Comoros
-References:...
, on Grande Comore
Grande Comore
Grande Comore is an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population as of 2006 is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which is also the national capital...
, and they were quickly overprinted to strike out all reference to French sovereignty.
In Mayotte, there was a stamp shortage as of December 1975. Until the new stamps arrived from Metropolitan France, the préfet authorized the use of cut stamps on mail. The goal was to have enough 50 CFA franc stamps for simple letters to France.
Stamps of 100 francs were cut in two, stamps of 200 francs in four. They were overprinted "Administration provisoire de Mayotte" (provisory administration of Mayotte). Four stamps were cut (in chronological order):
- 200 francs "Angraecum eburneumAngraecum eburneumAngraecum eburneum is a species of orchid....
" of 1969, - 100 francs "HansenGerhard Armauer HansenGerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen was a Norwegian physician, remembered for his identification of the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae in 1873 as the causative agent of leprosy....
1841-1912" of 1973, - 200 francs "Pablo PicassoPablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
1881-1973" of 1973, - and 200 francs "Saïd Omar ben Soumeth, great muftiMuftiA mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
of the Comoros" issued 1974.
The 20 francs stamps about "Artcraft - bracelet" of 1975 were cut in two to help complete two stamps of 20 francs.
Stamp catalogues gave a high price to these stamps (150 euros minimum in Dallay
Dallay
Dallay is a French philatelic editor established in Paris. Dallay has published stamp catalogs since 2001.The catalogs list postage stamps issued by France and other francophone areas: metropolitan France, French overseas territories, French post in Andorra and Monaco...
2006-2007), the stamp must be on cover and cancelled during the shortage period that finished with the arrival of French stamps and the introduction of the French franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
.
1976-1996
In February 1976, stamps identical to those used in Metropolitan France arrived. Like in the RéunionRéunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
in January 1975, the French franc replaced the CFA franc through the Institut d'émission d'outre-mer, the CFP franc
CFP franc
The CFP franc is the currency used in the French overseas collectivities of French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. The initials CFP originally stood for Colonies Françaises du Pacifique...
issuing bank.
Only the date stamp distinguished a stamp used in Mayotte.
Philatelic autonomy since 1997
The post in Mayotte is operated by an overseas section of La PosteLa Poste (France)
La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French Overseas Departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte...
.
On 2 January 1997, the island obtained a philatelic autonomy: local institutions can choose the stamps' topics: coat of arms, artworks, traditions, fauna and flora are omnipresent. They continue to be printed by the French postal printer, Philaposte Boulazac, formerly Imprimerie des timbres-poste et valeurs fiduciaires (ITVF), whose name appears at the bottom of the stamps.
Stamps of France are no longer accepted since 31 March 1997, but the Marianne definitive series is overprinted "Mayotte". In 2001, a second definitive series completed Marianne: a black and white map of the island. Another proximity with Metropolitan stamps was the double denomination in franc and euro between July 1999 and December 2001.
Timeline
| Years | Used stamps |
|---|---|
| 1850?-1861? | None |
| 1861?-1892 | General Colonies stamps |
| 1892-1912 | Mayotte Mayotte Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and... |
| 1912-1950 | Madagascar Madagascar The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa... |
| 1950-1975 | Archipel des Comores Comoros The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar... |
| 1975-1996 | France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
| 1997-... | Mayotte Mayotte Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and... |
| Legend | |
| ? | Supposed date or first known date. |
See also
- Postage stamps and postal history of the ComorosPostage stamps and postal history of the ComorosThe postage stamps and postal history of the Comoro Islands is an overview of the postage stamps and postal history of the Comoro Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago located on the south-east side of Africa....
- Postage stamps and postal history of MadagascarPostage stamps and postal history of MadagascarThis is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Madagascar, briefly also known as Malagasy.Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...