1936 Air Mail Surcharges

A single engine Waco biplane, owned by the Firestone Plantations Company and piloted by E. J. Quigley, carried Liberia's first air mail¹. This occurred on February 28, 1936 through an arrangement between the Liberian government and Firestone Plantations Company. This arrangement seems that it caught the post office by surprise as stamps from 1928 were quickly (and poorly) overprinted "Air Mail" and surcharged "Six Cents". Only 335 copies of each stamp where created [1]. Many of the items on this page are from the Varaschini collection.

C1-3

Details

Issue date
Designer
Printing method
Printer
Paper
Perforation
Sheet size
Subjects

First Day Covers

Varieties

• "VIR AIR MAIL"
• "VIA AIR MAIL"
• Inverted surcharge
• Short obliterator
• Regular instead of official overprinted

Notes

1. Cockrill states a Fokker F18 was used but if you read the letter on this page, it states that the plane was a Waco

Further reading

• Liberia. The Provisional Surcharged Issues 1918 & 1936-1945 / Cockrill, Philip / c1980

References

1. "Air-mail Commentary " / p. 642 / Flight / / Dec 10, 1936

See also

• 1928 Pictorial Issue
• Liberian Illustrated Stamp Identifier
• Liberian Philatelic Society Publications Subject Index
• Postage Stamps
• Surcharges and Overprints