Montenegrin Stamp Issues of Gaeta
When the exiled king and government of Montenegro moved to Italy, they issued there the following sets of stamps in 1921: definitive set with effigy of King Nikola I overprinted with inscription СЛОБОДНА ЦРНА ГОРА (Free Montenegro), postage dues and advice of receipt stamps.
Red Cross surcharge stamps with effigy of Queen Milena are a private issue. The stamps were sold in Italian city of Gaeta where Montenegrin refugee center was located. None of the stamps of the Gaeta issue were postally used.
It seems that all stamps of the definitive issue, having para denominations, were overprinted with only one form as the same varieties of overprints can be observed on multiple denominations and on the same positions in a sheet.
Some stamps were printed on paper that bears watermark on the border. The watermark in cursive letters reads “= Sorel Parchment Paper =” and is sometimes vertically flipped. Examples of stamps from the 1st or the 10th column partially printed over the watermark are known to exist.
Many coincidental varieties of these issues were recorded, most of them probably derive from unfinished sheets and printer’s waste.
Definitive issue
Constant Varieties
| CONSTANT VARIETIES ON STAMPS | Field number | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 para, red | |||
| I |  |
Small red dot nex to the right numeral 5 | 9 |
| CONSTANT VARIETIES ON OVERPRINT | Field number | ||
| All denominations | |||
| I |  |
Letter A in ЦРНА damaged | 13 |
| II |  |
Letter Ц in ЦРНА damaged | 19 |
| III |  |
Dot next to letter A in ГОРА | 24 |
| IV |  |
Letter A in ГОРА damaged | 35 |
| V |  |
Letters О and Б in СЛОБОДНА damaged | 41 |
| VI |  |
Letter A in ГОРА damaged | 47 |
| VII | |
Two dots in letter Д in СЛОБОДНА | 48 |
| VIII |  |
Letter A in ГОРА damaged | 61 |
| IX |  |
Letter H in СЛОБОДНА damaged and letter Г in ГОРА broken | 67 |
| X |  |
Letter Д in СЛОБОДНА open on top | 71 |
| XI | |
Letter A in ЦРНА damaged | 72 |
| XII | |
Letter Г in ГОРА damaged | 73 |
| XIII |  |
Letter Г in ГОРА damaged | 100 |
Coincidental Varieties
| COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variety | 1 para |
2 pare |
5 para |
10 para |
15 para |
20 para |
25 para |
35 para |
50 para |
1 perper |
2 perpera |
5 perpera |
| Shifted surcharge |
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| Imperforate |  |
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| Unsurcharged |  |
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| Imperforate, unsurcharged |
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| Bottom perforate unsurcharged |
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| Imperforate surcharge head to tail |
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| imperforate double surcharge |
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| Inverted surcharge imperforate |
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| Imperforate misplaced overprint |
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| Part perforate misplaced surcharge |
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| Sucharge inverted and shifted imperforate |
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| Surcharge double wrong color imperforate |
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| Shifted print phases unsurcharged imperforate |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |  |
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| Images by courtesy of Mr. Niel Roult and the Witt Collection. | ||||||||||||
Sheets of Stamps
| COMPLETE SHEETS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 para, example 1 35 para, example 2 50 para, example 1 50 para, example 2 |
Postage dues
Types
| 25 para, blue | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TYPES | Field number | ||
| I |  |
White dot in the blue field above denomination on the left | 3, 8, 23, 28, 43, 48, 63, 68, 82, 86 |
Constant Varieties
| CONSTANT VARIETIES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 para, blue | Field number | ||
| I |  |
Colored dot below letter Ц in ЦРНА, touching the frame | 12 |
| II |  |
Colored dot on the upper frame on the left side | 21 |
| III |  |
Colored dot on the ornament on the left | 23 |
| IV | |
Blue dots on numerals 2 and 5 in denomination on the left | 24 |
| V |  |
Upper borderline broken above letter T in ПОРТО | 26 |
| VI |  |
Colored dot on the upper frame above letter O in ПОРТО | 28 |
| VII |  |
White dot on right numeral 5 | 34 |
| VIII | |
Circular frame below letter A in ГОРА damaged | 35 |
| IX | |
Colored dot on the left numeral 5 | 36 |
| X | |
Big colored smudge on letter M in МАРКА | 37 |
| XI |  |
Colored dot before letter П in ПОРТО | 58 |
| XII |  |
Thin colored line in circular frame above letter H in ЦРНА | 61 |
| XIII |  |
Blue dot after letter O in ПОРТО | 77 |
| XIV |  |
Blue dot below lower frame | 88 |
| XV | |
Circular frame broken between the dot and the ornament on the right | 89 |
Coincidental Varieties
| COINCIDENTAL VARIETIES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 para, red | |||
| 1 |  |
Imperforate. | |
| 25 para, blue | |||
| 1 |  |
Double perforation, horizontally. | |
Sheets
| COMPLETE SHEETS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 para, blue | |||
| 25 para, example 1 25 para, example 2 25 para, example 3 25 para, example 4 |
Advice of Receipt Stamps
Coincidental Varieties
| 25 para, blue and orange | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imperforate |  |
|
Red Cross Surcharge Stamps
Coincidental Varieties
| 15 para, gray and red | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Double perforation, vertically |  |
|
| 2 | Imperforate |  |
|
References
Bibliography
- Katalog poštanskih maraka jugoslovenskih zemalja (1991), Jugomarka (Belgrade). YU ISSN 0351-4447
- Zoran Šafar, Miroslav Bolta: Katalog poštanskih maraka u upotrebi na teritorijama Bosne i Hercegovine, Crne Gore, Slovenije i Hrvatske (2015). Tom 2. ISBN 978-86-85073-21-2
Contributors
Some of the images on this page were contributed by:
- The Witt Collection: http://www.cinderellas.info/wittcoll/
