Zambia

Zambia Philately: 1968 New Currency Definitives – 10n Picking Tobacco

thedigitalphilatelist 16/01/1968

Production of tobacco in Zambia dates back to the early 1920’s when European settlers grew it on a small scale. The importance of tobacco as a cash crop grew over the years up to the early past independence years.

In the 1960s, tobacco was considered to be one of the ways of diversifying the copper oriented economy. However, post-independence, there was a decline in tobacco production. Firstly, there was an exodus of ex-patriate farmers. Before Independence the production of tobacco was completely in the hands of ex-patriate large scale commercial farmers. In 1964 a total of 313 of them produced the record crop of 24 million lbs. In the following years, due to the political change sweeping central Africa, many commercial farmers left the country and in the 1970/71 cropping season only 116 (tenants of the state not included) participated in production.

In the later half of the 1960’s, there was concern about the future of the tobacco industry in Zambia. The auction floor in Lusaka, which was opened in 1966 required subsidizing by the Government. , Previously Zambian Virginia was sold at the floors in Salisbury, Rhodesia, and Limbe, Malawi. Government subsidizing was also required to the processing, re-drying and packing plant, which was opened in 1967.

Secondly, Rhodesia’s UDI was considered partially responsible for lower prices, because the embargo did not allow British importers, who purchase about 60% of Zambia’s Virginia crop, to use the cheaper access routes to the sea leading over Rhodesian territory. Transport of tobacco had to be made of the road to Malawi and the railroad to Beira, thus increasing the transport costs.

Details
  • Designer: Gabriel Ellison
  • Printer: Harrison & Sons Ltd., London
  • Process: Photogravure
  • Paper: 
  • Watermark: None
  • Perf: 14.5 x 13.5 (comb)
  • Gum:
    • Gum Arabic (original printing)
    • Polyvinyl Alcohol (reprint)
  • Cylinders: 1A (Sepia), 1A (Copper), 1A (Green), 1A (Orange), 1A (Yellow)
  • Sheet: R10 x 10 (stamps)
  • Quantity:
  • Reprint:
    • 4th Printing – 22 April 1969
Cylinder Numbers

There are two types of cylinder numbers on the 10n. One is normal type, and the other is crudely drawn with the ‘A’ unusually wide.

Sheet Numbers
Sheet Numbers (Re-Gummed)
References