British Central Africa, now the area of Malawi in Eastern Africa, existed and issued its own postage stamps between 1891 and 1907.
The first stamps in the British Central Africa Protectorate, in 1891, were the stamps of Cecil Rhodes’ Rhodesia; these stamps were inscribed BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY and had overprints reading ‘B.C.A.’ for the Protectorate. Some of these also had surcharges.
In 1895, British Central Africa got its very own stamps, inscribed BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. Some 1897 overprint errors exist — with penny overprinted as ‘PENN’ and, more unforgivably, ‘PNNEY’. Double overprints exist also; legitimate examples of these stamps fetch high prices on the market. There are also several variations of a crudely-designed 1898 INTERNAL POSTAGE stamp, with different border details, with and without overprints, et cetera.
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In 1903, a new series of stamps featured the longer inscription BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA PROTECTORATE. Last printed in 1907, from which the 2p and 4p versions are extremely rare, these represent the final British Central Africa stamps issued. In 1908, the area became the Nyasaland Protectorate and stamps were issued under that name.
