Liannos et Cie Local Mail Service Country Guide
In August of 1865 the local post distribution company “Liannos et Cie” was established to distribute the mail arriving at Constantinople which was not addressed in Arabic as the staff of the Ottoman Postal Service were not able to do so.
Liannos charged a price for each piece of mail based on the distance from the city centre. To manage these charges, in the autumn of 1865 Liannos issued three stamps, with denominations of 5, 20 and 40 paras, printed by Perkins Bacon of London. Liannos would attach the stamps to letters coming from abroad and charge the recipient the postal fee, using an oval handstamp with the word Liannos and the date to cancel the stamp. The mint stamps are fairly common but genuinely used are scarce.
These stamps are mostly perforated 14. There are also imperforated Liannos stamps but these have never been seen on cover. Even perforated stamps on cover are quite rare.
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