Algeria "EA" Overprint on French Stamp

Algeria · 1962 ·

This stamp is part of the first series issued by independent Algeria. It features a simple, locally applied overprint of the letters "EA" (for État Algérien, or Algerian State) on existing stocks of French definitive stamps. The overprints were a provisional measure to establish postal authority immediately following independence.

Issued just one day after Algeria officially declared independence from France on July 1, 1962, these overprinted stamps mark the nation's entry into the global postal system as a sovereign state.