What's up plebs?
Back with yet another silver copy of a popular stamp!
This one seems to feature a ship of some shorts
Not much info on the stamp... Just the word TOGO and the number 5, on the bottom left & right corner
Good thing these silver opies have a bit more info on the reverse side _
So I guess it's a German stamp from 1900. After a bit of googling, I found how the original looked like:
So, apparently this stamp is called "German Colonies 1900 Togo" or something like this. Remember, I am a total retard when it comes to stamps 😆
As for the ship, it pictures the Hohenzollern
In 1900 stamps picturing the Kaiser's yacht, "Hohenzollern" were issued for Germany's colonies typographed, engraved and without watermark. source
SMY Hohenzollern was the name of several yachts that were used by the German Emperors between 1878 and 1918. They were named after the royal House of Hohenzollern that ruled Germany during those years, although it had a much longer presence in the country, with their first recorded mention in 1061. Here's a link to wikipedia if you want to learn more about the family. And here's a link if you want to learn more about their royal yacht, lmao.
Turns out these yachts were a common theme for stamps used in the German colonies back then..
The Yacht issue was a series of postage stamps, bearing the image of German Kaiser's yacht, SMY Hohenzollern II, that were used in all of Germany's overseas colonies. Millions of stamps were produced and they were the principal means of postage for all German imperial overseas possessions in the years 1900–1915. source and further info
Which brings us to TOGO :)
Togo, short for Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa, lasting from 1884 to 1914. It encompassed what is today the nation of Togo and a good chunk of the Volta Region of Ghana. After World War 1 it changed hands and was split between the Brits and French. Eventually, the British part was integrated to Ghana whereas the french became the Republic of Togo. Fun fact: At some point Czechoslovakia might have considered acquiring the colony although this could may as well be pure speculation.
Ok, after all this quick historical rundown everything everything about the stamp makes total sense!
Here are some more shots I took:
Ok friends, hope you enjoyed yet another quick historical lesson through the wonderful world of silver !
Stay tuned, more silver stamps coming soon!
Fun Silver Posts
Enjoyed the post? Here is some more fun silver/monetary content I have written in the past that you might enjoy:
- The country that uses plastic coins!
- The bizarre coins of Cook Islands
- Infographic: What Type of Silver Whale are you?
- My silver pocket piece
- My favorite piece from the stack
- The 10 Million Dollar Coin
- This is where gold really comes from!
- That's one big nugget!
- The Ten Thousand Dollar Bill ?!?!
- Biggest Gold Coin Ever