Postage stamps of Gold Coast (Ghana)

There are many countries in the world which were once called something else as these were rather colonized by different maritime powers of periods before the 20th century or changed their names to suit the aspirations of their people.

The African continent has been invaded and colonized by the Dutch, French, Portuguese and the British. Of the many such colonies, Gold Coast was one. Gold Coast refers to the region of the West Africa, est of Ivory Coast and west of Slav Coast (an area that now constitutes Togo, Benin and Western Nigeria).

Gold Coast had changed hands with many colonists since 1482 when the Portuguese colonized it and called it Portuguese Gold Coast. About two hundred years later in 1642 it became the Dutch Gold coast. Till 1871, it had also been temporarily under the domination of Prussia and Denmark and was called so. In 1871 came the British and took control of the area as the British Gold Coast.

The first stamp of the Gold Coast were issued on 1 July 1875 in times of the rein of Queen Victoria. Gold Coast then became member of the Universal Postal Union in January 1879.

In 1957, the British Gold Coast became the first colony to gain independence and became present day Ghana. The first stamp of Ghana was printed in March 1957.

The two stamps in the top left column are of the period of the British Gold Coast, issued in 1948. The remaining stamps were issued by the independent Ghana after 1957 and are part of my stamp album.