Twice in its postal history, Barbados has issued special revenue-generating semi-postal relief fund stamps intended to aid neighboring areas in the wake of disasters.
The 1907 Kingston relief fund stamps
The first such stamp was issued in 1907 during the reign of King Edward VII, after an earthquake struck northeast Jamaica, seriously damaging the capital of Kingston and killing up to 1,000 people. These Barbados stamps include the overprint ‘Kingston Relief Fund. 1d.’ in red ink.
The 1979 St. Vincent relief fund stamps
In 1979, a now-independent Barbados once again issued aid relief stamps, this time for the island of St. Vincent, whose volcano La Soufrière erupted, although there were no casualties thanks to an effective advance warning system. These stamps are overprinted with ’28c + 4c’ and ‘St. Vincent Relief Fund’ over 35c stamps of the time (with a black bar obscuring the original face value).
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Both of these relief stamps from Barbados are collected today, though the 1907 issues tend to be more numerous in for sale listings. Check the listings often for the latest; selection is updated each day.
