Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an autonomous province (vilayet) in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

from 1878 to 1908; however, it was under

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n control beginning in 1885 (see Bulgarian unification). The province is remembered today by philatelists for having issued

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 fa ...

s from 1881 on,Michel (2009) "Ostrumelien (Южна България)" ''Michel Europa-Katalog 2009/2010 Band 4: Sudosteuropa'' Schwaneberger Verlag, Unterschleissheim, Germany, page 488, Scott (2008) "Eastern Rumelia" ''Scott 2009 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Volume 2'' (165th edition)

Scott Publishing Co. The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in fo ...

, Sidney, Ohio, pp. 903–904. Westoby, William Amos Scarborough (1900) "Roumelia" ''The adhesive postage stamps of Europe: A practical guide to their collection, identification, and classification: Volume II'' L. Upcott Gill, London
pages 207–210
although a postcard was issued locally for internal use in 1880. StampEasternRumelia1881Michel1

The

1878 Treaty of Berlin The Treaty of Berlin (formally the Treaty between Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire for the Settlement of Affairs in the East) was signed on 13 July 1878. In the aftermath of the R ...

provided for the Ottoman Empire to issue special stamps for Eastern Rumelia. However, they were slow to do so. In 1880, in part a reaction to the local postcard, the Turkish government sent some 50,000 piasters worth of Turkish stamps overprinted with "ROUMELIE / ORIENTALE" in an oval. The Eastern Rumelian government found these to be unsatisfactory in presenting the province as an autonomous region, and refused to issue them. A compromise was reached, new stamps specifically printed for Eastern Rumelia were sent from Constantinople and both versions were issued on 16 January 1881. Overprints on stamps of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

were made locally. First was an "R.O." that was stamped both on regular Turkish stamps and the oval overprinted ones. This was done in Philippopolis. In addition, a pattern of bars was sometimes used. All of these overprints are uncommon and extensively

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

ed. The stamps that were specifically printed for Eastern Rumelia used design elements from the existing Ottoman postage stamps, differing from them by having the Greek inscription Ανατολική Ρωμυλία (''Anatolian (i.e. Eastern) Rumelia'') above the "Emp. Ottoman" and with French and Bulgarian inscriptions of the name in small letters along the left and right sides. In 1884, a 5 paras stamp and a ten paras stamp of a second issue of this design, with changed colors, were issued. Higher denominations for the 1884 issue were prepared, but not issued. Both of these sets, 1881 and 1884, were printed in Constantinople.''The Collectors Club philatelist: Volumes 38–39'' (1959) page 214 Most of these types are quite common, but perforation variations can be scare. On September 10, 1885, the existing Rumelian issues were overprinted with two different images of the

Bulgarian lion coat of arms of Bulgaria ( bg, Герб на България ) consists of a crowned golden lion rampant over a dark red shield; above the shield is the Bulgarian historical crown. The shield is supported by two crowned golden lions rampant; be ...

, and then with the lion in a frame and "Bulgarian Post" in Bulgarian (

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

letters). As with the first overprints, these are uncommon, with prices ranging from US$ 6 to $ 200, and counterfeits are widespread. From 1886 on, the province used Bulgarian stamps. File:StampEasternRumelia1885Michel18II.JPG, Stamp overprinted with the image of the Bulgarian lion File:1885juznabulgaria5piastres.jpg, Stamp overprinted with the image of the Bulgarian lion

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External links

Eastern Rumelia stamps
{{PostalhistoryEurope Philately of Turkey Philately of Bulgaria

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See also

External links