Postage Stamps of Italian Post Offices in China

by Tony Clayton

Pechino (now known as Beijing)

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The Italian Post Office in Pechino (in English: Peking or Beijing) opened in 1917. In September, seven denominations were created by overprinting Italian stamps by hand. These were issued in very small numbers, and in December nine values were issued in Italian currency from 1 centesimi to 5 lire. These were overprinted in Turin.

20 Centesimi, no watermark Sassone 12. This is not to be confused with the unissued version with watermark that is much more common

A year later the 10 lire was issued.

10 lire Sassone 17.

In 1918 nine values were also overprinted locally in Chinese currency.

½ cent on 1 centesimi Sassone 19.

40 cent on 1 lire Sassone 26.

2 dollars on 5 lire Sassone 27. Two other varieties of this stamp exist, both very rare. The first has handstamped Pechino 12mm rather than 13 mm long, and the other has DOLLARI in capital letters; only 15 examples are known.

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Stamps of Italian Post Offices - Pechino
Copyright reserved by the author, Tony Clayton
v4 5th January 2011