NigeriaFirst Postage Stamp

A collector’s maze of Nigerias

For first issue collectors, Nigeria is less a single beginning than a maze of earlier postal identities: Lagos, Oil Rivers, Niger Coast, Northern Nigeria, Southern Nigeria, and territories once administered by the Royal Niger Company. On 1 January 1914, Northern and Southern Nigeria were united to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Five months later, on 1 June, Nigeria received its first stamps, printed by De La Rue in London. The stamps are typographed, perforated 14, and watermarked Multiple Crown CA. At the centre is King George V. The design follows the familiar British colonial key plate style of the period, but importantly for first issue collectors, this was the first time the name NIGERIA appeared on a postage stamp.