The Disappearing Rainforest and other Definitives of the 80s/90s.

Nigeria has a very conservative stamp issuing policy, new releases maybe only 2 or 3 times a year, and in theory a new definitive set every 10.

Definitives have always been an interesting area for Nigeria collectors, as often an initial philatelic launch will be followed over the years with unannounced additional stamps being added to the range.

My interest in collection Nigerian stamps was triggered by the Definitive releases of 1973 and the following decade – but more of that another day.

In 1986, the Nigerian Life Definitive set was released, with values upto N2.

These low values were then supplemented by some higher values, depicting famous Nigeria locations.

Note, the N500 (National Theatre) originally issued in 1990, was reprinted and released 20 years later in 2010 (Easily distinguished by its NSPMPLC imprint rather than N.S.P&M Co LTD).

In 1993, a lovely set of 4 wildlife stamps appeared, without any official Philatelic release, and remained in circulation, for several years.

Apart from the N20 Roan Antelope value which duplicates the original N20 Ancient Wall, the other values complement the High Value definitives, and therefore these are widely regarded as definitives rather than commemorative or special stamps. Note of the original high values, the Ancient Wall stamp does seem to be the most scarce -so maybe this did have a shorter time frame of availability.

In 1999, another stamp started to appear in wide usage, once again there was no Philatelic release.

The stamp in question was the N10 Rainforest stamp. This, I believe is another addition to the then current definitive set, a possible substitute for the Lekki Beach N10.

This is quite common and relatively easy to find used. In fact there are 2 versions found, with different Perforations (either Perf 14 or Perf 13). However trying to find unused versions of this stamp is proving to be exceptionally difficult for collectors.

Possibly fuelled by the lack of official notice, and the fact 1999 was very early days in Internet history, many international collectors would not have been aware of it. Maybe by the time it came to light widely stocks had been exhausted.

Whatever the reason, this stamp is elusive in mint form.

I have been selling Nigerian stamps on Ebay for over 10 years, and in that time have had only 1 copy available to sell. I’m sure there must be some out there, but they never seem to turn up.