Italian Levant, 100 Different Stamps

Step Inside Italy's Lost Outposts
with 100 Italian Levant Stamps!

In the late 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire weakened its grip on the eastern Mediterranean, European powers established post offices across the region — operating under diplomatic agreements known as capitulations that granted extraterritorial rights on Ottoman soil. Italy was among them. Beginning in 1873, Italian postal agencies opened in Constantinople, Smyrna, Beirut, and eventually a string of offices reaching into Albania and beyond. For half a century, they issued their own stamps: standard Italian designs overprinted with the office name and revalued in local currency — piastres and paras instead of lire and centesimi.

The Treaty of Lausanne brought it all to an end in 1923, closing every foreign post office in Turkey for good. These stamps are what remain — a compact, historically rich catalog from a network of offices that no longer exist and never will again.

Contents vary, but here are some of the stamps and topics you may find:

• Portrait definitives of Victor Emmanuel III — the backbone of the Italian Levant catalog, appearing in multiple denominations and colors, overprinted for specific offices including Constantinople, Smyrna, and Scutari di Albania
• Currency surcharges in piastres and paras — Italian stamps revalued in Ottoman currency, often with the office name printed alongside, making each stamp a precise document of where and when it was used
• Albania office issues — overprints identifying the Italian postal presence in Durazzo and Scutari, active from the early 1900s until Albanian independence closed the offices
• Special delivery and express stamps — including the distinctive "ESPRESSO" overprints issued for use at the Constantinople office

When the Treaty of Lausanne took effect in 1923, Italy's Levant postal catalog closed permanently. Order today and add this chapter to your collection.