Ghana, a republic in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, holds a significant place in African history. Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence in 1957. This momentous occasion and subsequent milestones have been captured and commemorated through the issuance of postage stamps, offering a unique lens through which to view the nation's journey.
The Gold Coast gradually came under British control by the middle of the nineteenth century and it was administered by Sierra Leone, further along the coast, until Gold Coast became a Crown Colony in 1874. The settlement at Lagos on the coast of Southern Nigeria was under Gold Coast control between July 1874 and 13 January 1886 when it became a separate colony. The first separate stamps for the Gold Coast were issued in 1875. During World War Two, Gold Coast issued 1d and 6d war savings stamps.
In August 1914, German Togo was invaded by British troops from Gold Coast and French troops from Dahomey which occupied the territory until 1919. Overprinted stamps of Gold Coast were used in the British occupied zone of Togo.
Ghana began printing their stamps in 1957, marking a new era of self-representation and national identity. Ghanaian stamps after independence were noted for their bold colours and the frequent incorporation of the Ghanaian flag in their design.
It would appear that Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah personally took interest in the themes of the various stamps issued. July 1 1960 of course came with its own postage stamp the portrait of the Osagyefo prominent on it. Kwame Nkrumah it would appear had his portrait in most of the postal stamps.
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The fourth anniversary of the country's attainment of republican status was marked with the issuance of a 6 pence postage stamp with Kwame Nkrumah's portrait and a landmark structure in the background.
There was a 6 pence Abraham Lincoln-embossed stamp to celebrate his personality of world history. For those who had no knowledge of this great American statesman; the 16th president to occupy the White House and who prosecuted the Civil War whose success held the nation together that was an opportunity for them to find out more: after all one of the roles of postage stamps was to educate people through pictures.
One of the landmarks of Accra until 24th February 1966 was the statue of Kwame Nkrumah erected in front of the House Of Parliament in Accra. One of the things which Accra residents who opposed the rule of Kwame Nkrumah and his CPP and rejoiced on the day of his ouster was the pulling down of the statue. Excited citizens descended upon the statue ecstatically as though it were the man they hated. They hurled stones at it and some removed the stones around it and taking them to their individual homes as mementoes. Eventually the damaged statue was moved to the Accra Museum where I think it remains, not standing though but lying on the ground at the time I last saw it.
The Casablanca Conference in Morocco one of the continental engagements of Kwame Nkrumah and his colleagues obsessed with a Pan Africa attracted a postage stamp with the theme clearly embossed. The 1964 Olympics Games in which Ghana partook was also captured on a 6 pence postage stamp.
In 1963 when the Red Cross celebrated its centenary worldwide, Ghana which was just seven years into independence joined the rest of the world in marking the landmark and what better way to do that than issuing a postage stamp. The stamp issued thereof contains the important dates-1863-1963. This is a source of knowledge of the piece of history of the Red Cross which was established in 1863.
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In today's edition one of the stamps commemorates our legendary Gye Nyame symbol, arguably the most popular of the Adinkra symbols. The postage stamp was in the 6 pence denomination.
This postage stamp depicting the weighing of jars commemorates Ghana’s conversion to the metric system in 1975. It is a part of the Witco Stamp Collection, which comprises seven binders of stamps representing chemistry and related sciences from over 90 countries, dating from 1910 to 1983.
Some postage stamps bore Nc, New Cedi, Np or New Pesewa. Time was it when the cedi which replaced the pound, shilling and pence was changed and to emphasise this, the adjective New preceded the currency. This held for a long time until it was dropped. The seat of state occupied by the President was for instance in the new cedi denomination. Our own kingfisher bird was represented in a postage stamp as was the mace of Parliament.
Ghana postage stamp commemorating the conversion to the metric system in 1975.
Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS took power in 1981 and banned political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, RAWLINGS won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996 but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR succeeded him and was reelected in 2004.
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I wish I could easily tell the number of designs of postage stamps issued from the Gold Coast days to the period after independence. The assortment is many, covering as I indicated earlier all subjects as it were.
In subsequent editions I shall continue with our walk into the history of the Gold Coast and Ghana through postage stamps. By A.R.
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