Togo 1914 5pf green "Anglo French Occupation" on German Togo 2nd (Narrow) setting, tied on piece by Lome 23.12.1914 circular date stamp, SGH15.
A very fine used example with choice centering and exceptionally fresh. Used just four months after Allied occupation.
Accompanied with a 2019 British Philatelic Association (BPA) certificate of authenticity.
Stanley Gibbons catalogue value: £800.
Following Germany’s surrender of Togoland to joint Anglo-French forces in August 1914, remaining stocks of the German Colonial “Yacht” issue were overprinted “Anglo-French Occupation”.
Three types of overprint were produced locally at Lomé. The Type 3 “narrow setting” is the scarcest as it was used only on limited residual stocks.
Postal use from late 1914 to early 1915 is recorded, almost entirely confined to Lomé. Genuinely postally used examples on piece are far scarcer than mint examples.
This represents the first joint Allied occupation issue of World War I. Very scarce due to being valid for only six months before being replaced by separate British and French issues.
The 5pf green, being the lowest denomination, was often used on printed-matter rates, making fine, well-centred survivors rare.
