By THIMI NIKA
With the Declaration of Independence on Nov. 28, 1912 and the establishment of the interim government of Vlora headed by Ismail Qemali, the Albanian people showed the entire world that they had a steadfast desire for freedom and progress.
Shortly after the declaration, the government of Ismail Qemali undertook a difficult challenge: setting the foundations of a European country at a time when European elements were often absent from the realm. The government had to realize a lot of objectives, but it was especially focused on the setting up of a new national postal service to replace the Ottoman system.
The governmental cabinet decided to create a structure at the ministerial level. The Ministry of Post and Telegraph-Telephones was established on Dec. 4, 1912.
Lef Nosi of Elbasan city was appointed to head the ministry. Under his supervision, six postage stamps series were issued within eight months, from May to December 1913, which was considered a relatively short period.
If we refer to publications of the time, especially to the 21st edition of P쳬indja e Shqip쯩s롮ewspaper, dated 15/28 March 1914, the first stamp was issued approximately six months after the declaration of independence.
As the Vlora government didn’t have sufficient financial funds to print postage stamps abroad, it pursued a practical and appropriate way and produced the first national stamp with small expenses. With a metal hand stamp ordered and obtain in the nearby Greek island of Corfu, the post office clerks brought the idea to Minister Nosi and used the stamp with different colors, ranging from white to gray and from gray to green.
The seal stamp had a circular shape and a diameter of 38 mm. The inscription: “MINISTERIA OF POST. TELEG. E TELEFONEVET “(THE MINISTRY OF POST TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONES) was placed within the seal between two concentric circles. The double eagle put in a shield was placed in the middle of it. Both the writing and the eagle were of black color in the seal stamp. Each envelope was sold for 1 piaster, or one grosh (Ottoman coin), although nothing was written over it.
How many envelopes of these types were produced and put into circulation is not fully known.
But P쳬indja e Shqip쯩쳠says “2,232 pieces of stamps with the seal of the minister” were put into circulation. This figure is the same with that provided by all the catalogs and it is also in line with the opinion of the absolute majority of the authors who wrote on this topic. The figure of 2,443 pieces was claimed by the fourth edition of Opinga newspaper in its article entitled “The first edition.” The difference is either simply an error, or a confusion with the second emission circulation.
But in what date was the first ever Albanian stamp put into circulation?
The P쳬indja e Shqip쯩쳠newspaper in its English edition says that these stamps “were put into use on May 1, 1913 and were removed from use on June 30, 1913.” Whereas the French edition alongside the Albanian one says: “Emis le 5 mai 1913 ils ont ete supprimes le 30 du mois suivant.” (Issued on May 5, 1913, they stopped issuing them on 30th of the following month.) So it is obvious that the same newspaper is publishing contradictory versions in Albanian and French.
The monthly magazine Opinga published in France by Nikola Lako also mentioned May 5, 1913 as the date when the first stamp seal was put into circulation.
Likewise, the Italian catalog Michel and the German catalog Sassone cite May 5 as the date when the first seal stamp was put into circulation. Many domestic and foreign philatelists share the same view. But, some catalogs as Zumstein and Landman didn’t contain the date when this stamp was put into usage, while the French catalog Yvert & Tellier had not cataloged it at all. Therefore which of the dates corresponds to the historical truth?
Since we haven’t found so far any archival document containing the date and any envelope circulated on 1, 2, 3 and 4 May 1913, almost all those who wrote about this emission have accepted that May 5, 1913 was the date when it was put into circulation. Such a fact was documented long ago, as it is also evidenced by the stamp on the envelope which belongs to Ferik Ferra collection. This stamp is published in this edition of our magazine. So, the first national Albanian stamp was issued 73 years after the birth of the postage stamp in England (1840). Albania was, at the time, the last country among European countries that issued its own stamp.
The first emission was sold in the post offices of 14 cities, where Ismail Qemali government had expanded its jurisdiction and namely in Vlora, Peqin, Fier, Lushnj묠Berat, Skrapar, Elbasan, Quk쳬 Kavaja, Durr쳬 Shijak, Tirana, Kruj롡nd Lezh뮍
As mentioned above, the first postage stamp was prepared on the envelope and they were sold together. But we have found another version of it: cut in a round or square shape from the envelopes with which it was sold and stuck on other envelopes. The post office administration is not the author of this version, because it was used in such a way simply for pragmatic needs. Samples with two or more seals cut from the previous original envelopes are also found.
A lot of contradictory opinions are expressed on the date it was put into circulation and its removal from usage. This happened because different authors have seen envelopes with stamps of the first emissions circulated after June 30, 1913, which was mentioned as the last date by P쳬indja e Shqip쯩쳠newspaper. Other authors, such as Friedrich Vallishi and Pashko Prendushi refer to this date as well. Kol롇jinaj, for example, mentioned Oct. 3 1913 as the last date that is 3 months after June 30, 1913, while Otto Bikel and Gustav Frejze said that “envelopes could be found until December 1913.”
So, the final date of the usage of the first stamps emission is still an open chapter for researchers.
