Stamps of Great Britain used in Morocco: 1935

Stamps of Great Britain were used in Morocco since in 1857. First, the British Post opened offices in Morocco, and started operating under the control of Gibraltar post. Later, the offices moved under the direct supervision of the United Kingdom. They continued operating in Morocco until the independence of the country in 1956. The Tangier office closed on April 30^th, 1957 after the independance of Morocco. 

Beginning of the British post offices in Morocco

The first post office opened in Tangier in 1857, the other offices followed in Moroccan seaport cities like Tetuan in 1880s. A British post office started operating in Fez in 1892 and in Meknes in 1907.

In 1898, the British post overprinted the stamps with the mention “Morocco Agencies”. But in 1936, British post offices in Morocco started using unoverprinted British stamps. 

Stamps with value in Spanish currency:

British post offices, sold stamps to customers with an overprint of a new value in spanish currency “Pesetas” and “Centimos”. The same offices used the stamps in British currency for parcels and air mail. This continued until the stablishment of  the French mandate zone in 1912 in the central part of Morocco.

Stamps with value in French currency:

In 1912, Morocco was divided into two protectorate zones. France controlled the central part of the country while Spain controlled the northern part. The use of stamps with the Spanish currency was restricted to the Spanish zone. Likewise the offices in the French zone overprinted the stamps with the value in French currency: “CENTIMES”.

The British post closed its offices in the French zone of Morocco  in 1937 and 1938.  As a result, in 1949 the only remaining British post office in Morocco except from Tangier was in Tetuan. This office resumed using stamps with the overprint “Morocco Agencies”. In Tangier, the stamps were overprinted only “TANGIER” without a value overprint. 

The stamps presented here are the British stamps issued for the 25^th anniversary of the reign of the King George V issued with the overprint “Morocco Agencies” with the price in spanish currency “CENTIMOS”.

The same stamps were issued with new values in french currencies to be used in the French zone of Morocco.

In summary, over almost a century, the Stamps of Great Britain were used in Morocco with and without overprints. They also got values in British pounds, Spanish Pesetas or French Francs.