This is a survey of the

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

s and postal history of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. The country's postal history is intricately linked to the island's political past.

Ottoman and Austrian postal services

Postal services existed during the Venetian and Ottoman periods of occupation. There was an Ottoman postal service in Nicosia from 1871 where mail was hand stamped "KIBRIS". A few Turkish Duloz stamps are known used on fragments or as singles (no complete cover has yet been found). Stamps of the Austrian post offices in the Turkish empire were used at Larnaca from 1864 with values up to 25 kreuzer.''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Cyprus, Gibraltar & Malta''. 1st edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2004, p. 1.

The British administration

The British administration of Cyprus began on 11 July 1878 and initially British stamps were used which may be identified by the numbered cancels used. The first

s marked Cyprus were British stamps

overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...

ed CYPRUS from 1880. The first postage stamps produced specifically for use in Cyprus, rather than being overprinted British stamps, were issued on 1 July 1881. British 1880 1d red SG 2 Plate 181 overprinted Cyprus.JPG, British Penny Red overprinted for use in Cyprus from 1880 (Plate 181) Cyprus 1881 half piastre Emerald Green stamp SG11 SC11.JPG, 1881 half piastre stamp of Cyprus from the first series designed solely for the island Cyprus map 1928.jpg, Stamp marking 50 Years of Cyprus under British rule in 1928

Independence

Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. Since 1960, the Cyprus Postal Services have issued stamps in several series per year.

Postal stationery

British

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s were first used in Cyprus from 1878, examples of such postcards used in Cyprus are very rare. In April 1880 Great Britain postcards overprinted CYPRUS were issued. Postcards with the name Cyprus in the design were first issued in July 1881. With changes in postage rates and the design different postcards continued to be made available to date. As with postcards British

registered envelope A registered envelope is a form of postal stationery consisting of a strong envelope with an imprinted stamp or indicia used for sending registered mail. The envelopes usually include a perpendicular blue cross and an R in a circle symbol, both i ...

s were made available from July 1878, these were followed by Great Britain overprinted registration envelopes in April 1880 and in 1881 registration envelopes with the name Cyprus in the design were issued. In total over 150 different registration envelopes have been issued to date. The first

newspaper wrapper In philately a wrapper is a form of postal stationery which pays the cost of the delivery of a newspaper or a periodical. The wrapper is a sheet of paper, large enough to wrap around a folded or rolled newspaper and with an imprinted stamp to pay ...

s were Great Britain wrapper overprinted CYPRUS and issued in 1880. This wrapper is commonly found mint; only one complete used copy is known.''Cyprus Circular Post'', Vol 15, No 5, May 2005, Cyprus Study Circle In 1881 the island was supplied with newspaper wrappers with the word Cyprus in the design. Different designs continued to be produced until 1976, after which they were discontinued. Pre-printed

aerogramme An aerogram, aerogramme, aérogramme, air letter or airletter is a thin lightweight piece of foldable and gummed paper for writing a letter for transit via airmail, in which the letter and envelope are one and the same. Most postal administration ...

s forms (or air letter as they were inscribed), with a 4½ piastre stamp affixed, were first made available in 1944. Aerogrammes with an imprinted stamp were first made available in 1946 and various designs have been produced since that date.

References

External links

Cyprus Postal Services

Cyprus Philatelic Society

Cyprus Study Circle

Cyprus Stamp Issues since 1960

This Day in History - Cyprus Declares Independence
APS {{PostalhistoryEurope

Philately of Cyprus