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 Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is at ...

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

. Grenada is an island country in the British Commonwealth consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the

Grenadines The Grenadines is a chain of small islands that lie on a line between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Nine are inhabited and open to the public (or ten, if the offshore island of Young Island is counted): ...

in the southeastern

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexic ...

. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

First stamps

Beginning in 1858, the stamps of Great Britain were used in Grenada. Stamps posted in Grenada can be identified by the ''A15'' oval postmark cancelled at St. George's. The first stamps of Grenada depicting the portrait of Queen Victoria in the values of 1 penny (green) and 6 pence (rose) were issued on 3 June 1861.''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840-1970''. 110th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2008, p. 241.

Later issues

The seal of the colony featuring La Concepción with the motto ''CLARIOR E TENEBRIS'' (Even clearer in the darkness) was depicted in the 1906 issue and later issues in 1934, 1938, 1951, and 1953.

Independence

Independence was granted on February 7, 1974, and observed with stamps overprinted "Independence. 7th Feb. 1974". Grenada ranks among countries that have issued the most stamps in the world.

Local issues

Stamps inscribed "Grenada

" were issued from 1973 to 1999 for the islands of the Grenadines located to the north of Grenada. Since 1999, stamps for the Grenadines are marked "Grenada Carriacou & Petite Martinique".

References

* Bacon, E.D. and F. H. Napier. ''Grenada: to which is prefixed an account of the perforations of the Perkins Bacon printed stamps of the British colonies''. London: Stanley Gibbons, 1902 173p. Series Title: The Stanley Gibbons Philatelic handbooks; no. 7. * Charlton, Alfred. ''The Postal History and Postage Stamps of Grenada''. Leominster: P.L. Pemberton & Son, Ltd., 1955 51p. Series Title: Studies in philately. New series; 1. * Proud, Edward B. ''The Postal History of Barbados and Grenada''. Heathfield, East Sussex: Proud-Bailey Co., 2006 ISBN 9781872465425 335p. * Sefi, Alexander J. ''The Postage Stamps of Grenada''. London: D. Field, 1912 39p. Series Title: The "W.E.P." series of philatelic handbooks ; 8. * Raymond, Gale J. ''Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury: The Postal History, including the Caribbean Peacekeeping Forces 25 October 1983-7 June 1985''. Houston, TX.: "The Catamounts", 1988 44p. * Walker, Dan. ''Grenada's Postal History 1764-1913: eproduction of a postal exhibit 1982'. Redondo Beach, CA.: British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, 1982 95p.

External links

Identifying the King George VI Stamps of Grenada.
Communications in Grenada