Tax stamps in Korca 1917-1921, emission issues and laws for their placement according to the relevant documents where applicable.
A difficulty and rarity in finding Korca tax stamps is revealed in the material available to us, making their emissions clear. The history of events in the autonomous or self-governing province of Korca is more or less known, historical data and facts documented in many history sites give us a clear picture of the political-historical developments in the area.
In the Korca newspapers, January 30-31, 1917, a notice was issued for the sale of tax stamps showing us their monetary values; '' The people of Korca are reported to have stamps for Senate 8/3 clarification reference. For 0.07, 030 percent and 1 in 5 francs are found in these areas; in posts of Korca, Sotiraq Zografi, Theodhos Havjari and Ilia Nikolla who are the only sellers of these stamps. In the newspaper dated 30.1.1917 the value 0.07 is a typo because in the translation that is pasted in Greek we see the real values' 0.05, 0.30 percent and 1 of 5 francs. I emphasize here that this newspaper was printed in Albanian, Greek and French within its number.
This emission is characterized only by the black eagle overprinted, '' special sign '' this overprint, which was also enacted in the law of 10 July 1917 - canonization of the rights of the stamps and the courts - at node 17 of the this canonism; '' Once this tax law is put into effect, it will have a special mark on the care of the finance department; Any temple that does not have a special sign on August 1 loses its power and cannot be established without the special sign.
The official date that the area changes its name from 'Republic of Albania' to 'District of Korca' is February 16, 1918.
There was a commotion in the city and the administration did not function through a brief transition period in changing and naming the area. However, barely by March 1918 this administration never lost its Albanian character by launching a new chapter led by France under the command of generals. This show March 17, 1918 - April 23, 1920 is characterized only by the red eagle imprint that follows it to the end, despite the values of the first and second shows, creating one and only; '' District of Korca '' A. From March 17 to April 11, 1918, the stamps of '' Self-governing Albania '' and '' Albanian Republic '' with red eagle prints were used (figs. 20, 21 and 22). This is because the issue of '' Korça Region '' A was not printed yet, which in our material appears for the first time on 19 April 1918 at the value of 5 francs (fig. 23). So once again we mention the 'special mark' or the red eagle in our case which is being overwritten on all stamps of all three shows; The self-governing Republic and the District create and broadcast a single show, '' Korca District ''. Due to the lack of materials and the rarity of these tax stamps, many collectors classify them in three issues; 1. Without imprint, 2. With black eagle imprint, 3. With red eagle imprint. But this is wrong, the final result based on the material we have and the historical facts brings us to a single issue; '' Korca District '' A with red eagle imprint.
This show is special because it is not a print product but a hand stamp. This show has been commissioned 5 hand stamps whose origins are unknown but worth researching. The material is special iron or steel used in that period. And so the 5 values of this show are emitted using different colors for each value; 2 francs in green, 1 franc in dark blue, 50 cents in red, 20 cents in brown and 10 cents in black.
On August 11, 1920, the show '' District of Korca '' ends with the Austro-Hungarian stamps on August 30, 1920, the first stamps in our material. These stamps are classified into two categories, 1. With large eagles issued in 1916 and 2. With small eagles issued in 1918 by the Austro-Hungarians for their purposes against the Albanian state. They are distributed all over Albania and used as postage and tax stamps, with and without impression. In our case for the Korca area, as tax stamps, they have been used mixed and possibly giving us a single issue during this one-year period until November 1921. The following values are certainly not fulfilled. , there are also shortages, to push them to their completion.
Author
Mirgen Shamlli
