In 1912, Italy occupied and administered several Aegean islands that had previously belonged to the Ottoman Empire. To provide postage stamps for use on these occupied Aegean islands, Italy overprinted existing Italian stamp issues with the name “EGEO” (Aegean) in 1912-1916. Some key details:
1912 Issues:
- Early overprints simply read “EGEO” in black on the current Italian definitive stamps depicting King Victor Emmanuel III.
- Values ranged from 1 centesimo to 5 lire to cover common postal rates.
- These were provisional issues quickly produced after Italy seized control of islands like Rhodes.
1913 Dedicated Printings:
- New dedicated stamps were printed in Italy specifically for the Aegean islands in 1913.
- The designs featured the Italian coat of arms along with “EGEO” and the value.
- Issued in denominations from 1c to 10 lire, printed in sheets.
1916 Calino Overprints:
- In 1916, Italy overprinted existing stamps of Italy with “CALINO” along with “EGEO” for use on the island of Calino/Kalymnos specifically.
- These featured the portrait of King Victor Emmanuel III.
- Values included 5c, 10c, 20c and 25c denominations.
- Relatively few Calino overprints were produced compared to the general Aegean islands EGEO issues.
The Aegean islands occupation stamps, especially the scarcer 1916 Calino overprints, are avidly collected by specialists in Italian philately and students of the complex political situation in the Aegean region during and after World War I. Many varieties of overprints exist on different underlying Italian stamps.
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