Internal Postmarks and Registration Markings of Liberia

• Circular Postmarks

  • Post Office Cancellations

    • hand stamped postmark in blue earliest known use: from first issue onward (MONROVIA, HARPER, BUCHANAN) usual color for MONROVIA; BUCHANAN and HARPER are rare

      CP1_blue

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: from first issue onward (HARPER, MONROVIA, BUCHANAN, GREENVILLE) usual color for HARPER; BUCHANAN, GREENVILLE and MONROVIA are rare; relative frequency of towns, irrespective of color: MONROVIA: 63%, HARPER: 35%, BUCHANAN: approx. 1%, GREENVILLE: less than 1%

      CP1_black

    • hand stamped postmark in green found only on three copies of 24c green (MONROVIA), in same color as stamp, and on the 12c stamp shown

      CP1_green

    • hand stamped postmark in black (occasionally blue) earliest known use: from first issue onward (HARPER, BUCHANAN) this is CP1 beginning to wear with the circle starting to break up

      CP2

    • hand stamped postmark in black (occasionally blue) earliest known use: from first issue onward (HARPER, BUCHANAN) final stage of CP1 with the circle apparently completely missing

      CP3

    • hand stamped postmark in same color as CP1-CP3 earliest known use: from first issue onward PAID cancellation additional to CP1 and although carefully applied centrally it is not usually in correct alignment with the rest of the postmark

      CP4

    • hand stamped postmark in same color as CP1-CP3 earliest known use: Dec 13, 1884 (HARPER) three line date additionally applied to CP1 and, as with CP4, often out of alignment; usually found on 1882 8c numeral issue

      CP5

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Sep 10, 1880 (MONROVIA); Jul 28, 1880 (HARPER); Mar 15, 1884 (ROBERTSPORT); Jan 3, 1882 (BASSA); Mar 22, 188- (MARSHALL); Jun - 1881 (SINOE) first recorded postmark (by date of usage) with fixed dateline center; known in use for nearly 20 years from MONROVIA and HARPER and approximately 10 years from ROBERTSPORT and BASSA; SINOE is rare

      CP6

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Sep 30, 1881 (MONROVIA) only seen once on the back of a postcard emanating from an official in the MONROVIA Post Office

      CP7

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Apr 20, 1882 (MONROVIA) lettering of MONROVIA and LIBERIA as well as overall diameter slightly smaller than type CP6, but three line date exactly the same; this type has also been seen used in conjunction with the CP9x bar obliterators, it is usually placed near the stamps on the front of the cover

      CP8

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jul 31, 1888 (MONROVIA) scarce variety of CP8

      CP8A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jul 28, 1880/1886? (HARPER); Jan 21, 1890 (BUCHANAN); Oct 1, 1893 (ROBERTSPORT); Jun 25, 1900 (GREENVILLE) the small stars are in the shape of minute Maltese Crosses; not recorded from MONROVIA

      CP10

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Dec 24, 1879 (MONROVIA) large lettering and the three-line-date distiguishes this type from CP12, but there is also a variant with one-line-date (CP12A); the date 24 DEC 1879 is found on examples of the 1880 issue which is, in fact, days before the accepted date of this issue; only known from MONROVIA

      CP11

    • hand stamped postmark in black or violet earliest known use: Oct 12, 1890 (MONROVIA, in violet); Dec 23, 1891 (HARPER); Aug 1, 1890 (GREENVILLE); Jun 15, 1891 (ROBERTSPORT); Nov 1, 1892 (BASSA); Sep 22, 1886 (BREWERVILLE); Feb 4 (CLAY ASHLAND); Apr 26, 1890 (GRAND BASSA); Apr 1, 1890 (MARSHALL); Sep 24, 1886 (MILLSBURG) one-line-date and narrower lettering than CP11, but Cockrill reported a variety CP12A dated Aug 22, 1882 (HARPER, found on Scott 32) with wide lettering like type CP11; the Xs between MONROVIA and LIBERIA are apparently moveable as they can occur at all sorts of angles even as a plus sign, and the angle of one can be different to the other so that it is equally possible for both to be omitted

      CP12

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: May 25, 1892 (HARPER) only known from HARPER

      CP13

    • hand stamped postmark in black or red earliest known use: 1898 (HARPER, in black) only known from HARPER

      CP13A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Apr 25, 1891 (BASSA) differs from CP10 in the circle being 1.5 mm larger in diameter and month and year of the three-line-date being in a smaller type

      CP14

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jul 7, 1893 (ARTHINGTON) similar to CP14 but without the ornaments between the words; first postmark for ARTHINGTON (rare)

      CP15

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Apr 29 (BREWERVILLE) like type CP15, but without year date

      CP15A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: 1896 (MONROVIA, on 1892 issue) like CTO2, but with dateline; rare

      CP17

    • hand stamped postmark in black or violet earliest known use: Apr 24, 1897 (MONROVIA, in violet); May 4, 1895 (HARPER, in violet); Jan 25, 1900 (BUCHANAN, in violet); Sep 14, 1896 (GREENVILLE); Oct 9, 1903 (ROBERTSPORT, in violet); Sep 14, 1896 (GRAND BASSA); Feb 9, 1913 (MARSHALL); Nov 28 (NANNA KROO); Jun 12, 1913 (RIVERCESS, in violet); May 24, 1912 (POST OFFICE DEPT. - MONROVIA) in type CP18 lettering is close to the circle whereas in the A type it is further away from the outer ring and the letters are taller; CP18A is known from MONROVIA and HARPER

      CP18_CP18A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Feb 15, 1913 (MONEY ORDER BUREAU) one of, if not the rarest postmark of Liberia of the 20th century; probably only used on internal mail

      CZ1

    • hand stamped postmark in black or violet earliest known use: May 20, 1900 (MONROVIA, in violet); Jan 1, 1909 (HARPER, in violet); May 11, 1901 (BUCHANAN, in violet); Oct 19, 1912 (GREENVILLE); Aug 1911 (ROBERTSPORT); Jun 17, 1914 (MARSHALL); Nov 1928 (NANNA KROO, smaller sized postmark) first Registration postmark which appears to have come into use in 1900 according to Colonel Rogers’ records; known in use until as late as 1925

      CP20

    • hand stamped postmark in black or violet earliest known use: Apr 12, 1905 (MONROVIA, in violet); Sep 7, 1905 (HARPER, in violet); Apr 23, 1906 (BUCHANAN, in violet) in use for about ten years from all three towns

      CP19

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jul 2, 1914 (RIVERCESS) Maltese cross ornaments either side between RIVERCESS and LIBERIA; not to be confused with CP19

      CP23

    • hand stamped postmark in black, violet or blue earliest known use: Jan 10, 1910 (MONROVIA, in violet, blue, blue/black); Jan 29, 1918 (HARPER, in violet); Jan 26, 1915 (BUCHANAN, in violet, blue, blue/black); Aug 16, 1917 (GREENVILLE, in violet, blue, blue/black); Nov 14, 1920 (ROBERTSPORT); Nov 4, 1937 (BASSA); Sep 14, 1920 (MARSHALL); May 19, 1920 (RIVERCESS, in violet, blue, blue/black); Jun 21, 1939 (KAKATA, year in full and slightly larger postmark) also found as CTO on sets printed in Germany (1920/21 - 1924) with many different dates from MONROVIA, HARPER, BUCHANAN, GREENVILLE, ROBERTSPORT, MARSHALL and RIVERCESS; there is no major difference between this and type CTO13, thus the much rarer postally used stamps can be indistinguishable from cancelled-to-order without gum, if they have a black postmark from a town listed above; severe cases of break-up of the lines across the inner circle (CP21A) should not be confused with the smaller diameter circled type CP22

      CP21_CP21A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Nov 25, 1941 (MONROVIA); Nov 11, 1960 (BUCHANAN, also blank dateline with manuscript date); Nov 15, 1959 (GREENVILLE); May 10, 1945 (MARSHALL) at least 3 mm less in diameter than CP21

      CP22

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Nov 27, 1941 (HARBEL POST OFFICE) Henry Chlanda records a similar, but smaller postmark (30 mm diameter)

      CP24

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Feb 15, 1942 (MONROVIA); Jul 14, 1942 (HARPER); Apr 2, 1941 (ROBERTSFIELD); Aug 23, 1945 (HARBEL) with or without year date; this postmark is very similar to the types used by the British Postal Service at the time

      CP25

    • hand stamped postmark in black, red, green, blue or violet earliest known use: Jul 8, 1947 (MONROVIA, in violet, blue); Apr 21, 1956 (MONROVIA P.O., in violet, blue); Mar 7, 1949 (HARPER); May 11, 1959 (BUCHANAN, in red); Jan 12, 1952 (GREENVILLE, in blue, green); Oct 10, 1951 (ROBERTSPORT, in violet, blue); Sep 1, 1952 (CAREYSBURG); Oct 8, 1946 (GANTA); Feb 20, 1947 (GEDETARBO, in violet, green); Dec 31, 1958 (GRANDCESS); Oct 12, 1948 (HARBEL); Nov 7, 1955 (MARSHALL, in violet); Nov 20, 1959 (RIVERCESS); Jan 6, 1958 (ROBERTSFIELD, in violet); Dec 23, 1959 (SALLALA); Aug 15, 1960 (SANIQUELLI); Jan 4, 1959 (TAPPITA); Oct 12, 1946 (WEBBO); Feb 21, 1956 (WHITE PLAINS) this postmark was introduced during a complete reorganization of the Liberian Postal Service under British Postal Service advisers over a period, probably from 1942-1944, when it was decided to decentralise and open a number of new post offices, in fact almost doubling the existing number; many errors exist with missing dates for year, day and/or month, star where year date should be, inverted figure and letters etc.; variety CP26A has a smaller star and slightly larger lettering

      CP26_CP26A

    • hand stamped postmark in black or violet earliest known use: Aug 28, 1947 (MONROVIA, separate date); 1947 (MONROVIA POST OFFICE); manuscript Apr 17, 1946 and Jul 22, 1946 (GANTA); undated on 1944/46 provisionals 4c/10c (ZORZOR); manuscript Jul 14, 1946 (TAPPITA POSTAL AGENCY); Dec 3, 1949 (TCHIEN POSTAL AGENCY) lettering is at a slant always; sometimes with separate dateline CP27A

      CP27_CP27A

    • hand stamped postmark in violet earliest known use: Sep 19, 1947 (MONROVIA) similar to CP31, but with separate dateline CP27A

      CP27_var1

    • hand stamped postmark in black or dark violet earliest known use: Jul 29, 1947 (MONROVIA) narrow lettering similar to CP31, but smaller diameter and with larger space for dateline CP27A

      CP27_var2

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jun 6, 1947 (MONROVIA) due to the dateline not fitting in the handstamp recourse had to be made to separate dateline stamping; also known without dateline

      CP31

    • hand stamped postmark in black or violet earliest known use: Aug 26, 1947 (MONROVIA); Aug 3, 1948 (BUCHANAN); Jul 30, 1948 (GREENVILLE, in violet); Aug 5, 1946 (ROBERTSPORT); Nov 17, 1949 (FOYA, in violet); Jan 11, 1949 (GANTA, in violet); Feb 23, 1949 (GBARNGA); Aug 10, 1951 (GRANDCESS); Jan 19, 1948 (HARBEL); May 11, 1951 (KAKATA); Dec 12, 1946 (KOLAHUN); Jun 21, 1948 (TAPPITA) also reported from HARPER, but no date given

      CP29

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: manuscript Jun 26, 1946 (MONROVIA); manuscript 1947 (HARBEL)

      CP30

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Aug 17, 1948 (MONROVIA) only on FFC with C61 and C62

      CP32

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jan 12, 1963 onwards (MONROVIA) unlisted PM similar to CP32, but smaller and without year date

      CP32A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jan 20, 1951 (MONROVIA PORT AREA)

      CP34

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Apr 12, 1951 (HARBEL)

      CP35

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Apr 23, 1951 (HARBEL)

      CP36

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: manuscript 1946 (HARBEL)

      CP36A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jan 12, 1952 (MONROVIA)

      CP37

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jun 4, 1956 (MONROVIA) this postmark also exists with the base apparently broken and ‘LIBERIA’ missing; all examples so far recorded seem to have the same time, 9.45 AM

      CP39

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Jul 24, 1956 (MONROVIA) this looks like the variety of CP39 with ‘LIBERIA’ missing mentioned by Cockrill

      CP39A

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Nov 15, 1956 (MONROVIA)

      CP40

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Dec 9, 1958 (GEDETARBO) known cancelling stamps on same cover with CP26 dated Dec 9, 1958

      CP41

    • hand stamped postmark in black or violet earliest known use: Aug 8, 1960 (MONROVIA); Nov 23, 1958 (MONROVIA, with star above date); Nov 30, 1960 (ROBERTSFIELD, in violet); Aug 19, 1960 (PAYNESFIELD) with or without star or (post office ?) number above date

      CP42

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: May 11, 1960 (MONROVIA) like CP42, but narrow lettering of MONROVIA and LIBERIA

      CP42_narrow

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Feb 28, 1968 (MOBIL P.O. BOX 1.) note spelling ‘MOBIL’ for ‘Mobile’, as opposed to correct spelling on vehicle

      CP44

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Aug 23, 1969 (GBARNGA MOBILE P O NO TWO) created from special postmark used for Bong County souvenir cover of 1967, see Souvenir Items

      CP43

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Aug 14, 1969 (MONROVIA 1); Jan 12, 1970 (MONROVIA 2); Oct 18, 1975 (MONROVIA 3)

      CP45

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: Dec 16, 1972 (MONROVIA RANDALL STR BOX)

      CP46

    • machine postmark in black earliest known use: Jun 3, 1963 (MONROVIA); Jul 1964 (ROBERTS FIELD); last known use: Dec 8, 1965 (MONROVIA) Liberia’s first machine postmark; two different dials for Monrovia: second dial with slightly narrower setting of ‘LIBERIA’ only used in late 1965

      CPm1

    • machine postmark in black earliest known use: Apr 4, 1966 (MONROVIA); last known use: Sep 25, 1981 (MONROVIA) same dials as CPm1, but boxed slogan killer ‘CLEAR ADDRESSING SPEEDS YOU MAIL’ instead of wavy lines; postmarks with year dates omitted are from 1977 to 1979 or 1981; two different dials for Monrovia: after initial use of second type of CPm1 change back to first dial in early 1968

      CPm2

    • machine postmark in black earliest known use: Dec 9, 1981 (MONROVIA); last known use: with year date Sep 7, 1982 (MONROVIA), without year date until at least Oct 10, 1989 (MONROVIA) similar to CPm1, but ‘MONROVIA’ in narrower typeface; later use without year date

      CPm3

  • CTO Markings

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1892 $1, $2, $5 pictorials

      CTO1

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1897 3c and 1913 8c surcharge, 1903 3c, 1903 10c registration set, 1906 and 1909 pictorials, also occasionally on 1892 $1-$5; like CP17 without date line

      CTO2

    • hand stamped postmark in black found only on 1903 3c black (ordinary stamp)

      CTO3

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1903 10c Buchanan and Harper

      CTO4

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1918 pictorials

      CTO12

    • hand stamped postmark in black found as CTO on sets printed in Germany (1920/21 - 1924) with many different dates from MONROVIA, HARPER, BUCHANAN, GREENVILLE, ROBERTSPORT, MARSHALL and RIVERCESS; there is no major difference between this and type CP21, thus cancelled-to-order stamps can be indistinguishable from postally used, unless they still have gum on the back

      CTO13

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1928 pictorials

      CTO14

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1936 airmail set

      CTO15

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1937 fauna and 1938 airmail set

      CTO16

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on 1937 fauna and 1938 airmail set

      CTO17

    • hand stamped postmark in black found on early Peckmore & Son issues and on E.A. Wright Bank Note Co. printed issues from 1950

      CTO18

    • hand stamped postmark in black very similar to CP26, but without dates

      CTO19

    • hand stamped postmark in grayish similar to CTO19, but lettering closer to the circle and star closer to the center

      CTO20

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: 1953 so far only on some sheets of 1953 bird issue

      CTOcf21

    • hand stamped postmark in black earliest known use: from 1954 onwards

      CTO21

    • printed postmark in earliest known use: from 1964 onwards by E.A. Wright Bank Note Co. printed on the stamps in the center of every block of four

      CTO22

    • hand stamped postmark in earliest known use: probably from late 1965 similar to CTO22, but hand stamped, without date and an ‘X’ instead of a star

      CTO23

    • hand stamped postmark in earliest known use: From 1967/1968 to well into the late 70s similar to CTO22, but hand stamped and without date; became standard throughout the 1970s despite different printing firms being responsible for printing the stamps during that period

      CTO24