Mr. Archer also gives this year (1866) as the date when the first postage stamps of the Colony were issued. This date was for a time accepted in the stamp catalogues, but it is now generally believed to be an error, the earliest records in the stamp journals of the period shewing the date to be 1869.
The postal notices we have been able to trace are of but little interest, the following being all that bear on matters of interest to collectors:—
POST OFFICE NOTICE.
Reduction of Postage, &c.
On and from the 1st April, 1892, the Postage to all parts of the World on Letters, Newspapers, Books, etc., will be as follows:—
For Letters, 2½d. per ½ oz.
For Postcards, 1d. each.
For Reply Postcards, 2d. each.
For Newspapers, books, printed papers, commercial papers, patterns and samples, ½d. per 2 oz., with the Postal Union proviso of a minimum payment of 2½d. for a packet of commercial papers, and of 1d. for a packet of patterns or samples.
Fee for registration of any of the above named articles, 2d.
Fee for the acknowledgment of the delivery of a registered article, 2½d.
By His Excellency's Command,
(Signed) J. H. FINDEN,
Postmaster.
Post Office, Bathurst, Gambia,