Italy / Aegean islands – Karki year 1912/16 Stamps MH lot
The stamps you are asking about are issues for the island of The stamps issued for Karki (the Italian name for the island of Chalki in the Dodecanese) between 1912 and 1916 belong to the early period of the Italian occupation of the Aegean Islands.
These are overprinted Italian stamps, not original Karki designs.
🇮🇹 Karki 1912-1916 Overprinted Issues
The Italian forces occupied Chalki (Karki) in May 1912 during the Italo-Turkish War. To establish postal services, they initially took existing Italian Kingdom definitive stamps and locally applied an overprint with the island’s name.
1. The 1912 Initial Overprint Issue
This first main series consists of Italian definitive stamps of the 1901–1911 issues (which typically feature King Victor Emmanuel III) overprinted with the island’s name, “KARKI”.
- Underlying Stamps: Italian definitive stamps (Series known as Floreali or Leoni and Michetti types).
- Overprint: The word “KARKI” printed in black (or sometimes blue).
- Denominations: The set includes a range of values from 1 Centesimo (C) up to 50 C or 1 Lira. Common values include:
- 2 C, 5 C, 10 C, 15 C, 25 C, 40 C, 50 C, 1 L (various colors corresponding to the base Italian stamp).
2. The 1916 Surcharged Issue
A specific stamp was later overprinted and surcharged, usually to meet changing postal rates:
- 1916 Surcharge: A 20 C surcharge on the 15 C slate-grey stamp.
- Description: Italian 15 C stamp (slate-grey) with the “KARKI” overprint, additionally surcharged “20” (Centesimi) to increase its face value.
🗺️ Context for Collectors
Karki is one of the smaller Dodecanese islands that received its own individual stamp issues, making its stamps a distinctive part of the Italian Aegean Islands (Egeo) philatelic area. Stamps from this early period are valuable not just for their rarity, but also as historical artifacts of the provisional postal administration under Italian military occupation.
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