Alderney Stamps.
Alderney was known as Aurigny in Norman times, and is still known as such in France. In fact the small local airline bears the ancient Norman name, although it is believed that the planes are from a more modern era.
The Island has never issued it’s own postage stamps or indeed had it’s own postal administration; but many stamps have been issued using the Alderney name or on it’s behalf. As with Jersey and Guernsey, British postage stamps were used from 1840 until 1969 with the exception of the German Occupation years.
Revenue stamps were the first stamps, not for postage, but for stamp duty, tax, etc. They were in use from January 1923 until 1st April 1962.
The Commodore Shipping Company Ltd. carried GPO mail by boat between Alderney and Guernsey between 1962 and 30th September 1969. They also ran a parcel delivery service by arrangement with The States of Alderney and The Government of Sark.The company issued stamps or carriage labels which were used for this; these issues consisted of a definitive set and a Europa set and from 1964 minisheets were introduced.
Although some were genuinely used for the carriage of parcels, the fact that from the 1964 Europa issue onwards the printing came under the control of a London wholesale stamp dealer and the large number of similar issues, great number of varieties, errors, imperf sets, trials, proofs and overprints make it seem that these were issued purely for the philatelic market.
On 1st October 1969 The Alderney Shipping Company took over the parcel delivery service, issuing just two typeset labels. These were withdrawn in 1975.
The Alderney Parcel Delivery Service was set up in 1974 for the carriage of parcels to and from the island. Stamps first issued in that year used a combination of rubber stamps, typewritten and printed items, with pictorials available in 1975. In 1984 issues ceased after Alderney issued it’s own postage stamps. Delivery services continued and in 1990 issues resumed and still continue today.
Other issues include Balloon Race labels. Regan’s Post, States of Alderney Local Post, 1991 Alderney Week Labels and Raz Island labels, all short lived issues of no postal validity.
On 14th June 1983 the Guernsey Post Office issued stamps for use in Alderney and valid in Guernsey. Birds were the subject of the first Alderney commemorative set on 12th June 1984, on 5th May 1994 the first stamp booklet was issued,with the first minisheet celebrating the ‘50th Anniversary of Return of Islanders to Alderney’ on 16th November 1995
