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Bahamas

FIRST STAMPS Britain 1858-9 (oblit: A05 at Nassau.
FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 10 June 1859 inscribed Interinsular Postage.

CURRENCY
1859, sterling.
1966, 100 cents = 1 dollar.

A group of about 700 islands of which only 30 are inhabited. They were the first point of discovery by Columbus. San Salvador was sighted on the night of 11 October 1492 and he landed there next day. New Providence was settled by the English in 1629 but they were driven out by the Spanish in 1641. The British returned in 1666 but the islands were again taken by Spanish forces in 1703. The Bahamas were finally ceded to Britain in 1783, after considerable fighting during the latter part of the American War of Independence.

Earliest letters from Bahamas are dated from the 1760s but there were no handstamps until 1804, when a straight line BAHAMAS was introduced. In 1841 a regular mail service was started by the Royal Mail Line and a 'Crown Paid' handstamp together with a dated postmark for New Providence was introduced in 1846.

The first British stamps were consigned to the colonies in April 1858, but the Bahamas P0 became independent of London in 1859. The 'Interinsular' inscription was used because the external mails were still under the control of London until May 1860.

During the American Civil War (1861-65) the Bahamas enjoyed a financial boom as a base for Confederate blockade-runners.

The Bahamas remained a Crown Colony until gaining self-government on 7 January 1964. They became independent within the Commonwealth on 10 July 1973.