Portuguese Colonies. (Portuguese Azores). 1911. Azores postage dues series overprint 'Republica' SG D218, 5r brown/ SG D224, 100r blue set of 7 hand-stamped 'SPECIMEN'.
Stamps of Portuguese Azores were received at the Rhodesia Post Office from the U.P.U. in Berne and applied with their own gum to pages from a commercially bought stamp album and the 'SPECIMEN' type R4 hand-stamp applied.
Portuguese Azores postage dues overprint 'Republica' series with receipt date and dispatch number written alongside. The 'Specimen' hand-stamp is the fancy type R4 listed by Marcus Samuel and James Bendon unique to Rhodesia and certainly on the stamps of Portuguese Azores.
These unique 'SPECIMEN' stamps were 'Liberated' from the Rhodesia Post Office in early 1980's and have just appeared on the market.