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Stamps from the Danish West Indies


By Erik Jensen

In July 2001, the museum was visited by members of the American division of Danish West Indian Society and in October by stamp collectors from Scandinavian Collectors Club in USA. Both groups wanted to see stamps etc. from the former Danish colony.


The Danish colony of the West Indies in the Antilles east of Puerto Rico consisted of three islands: St. Thomas and St. John that were conquered by the Danish West Indian Company in 1672 and 1675 respectively, and St. Croix that was bought from France in 1733. In 1917, the West Indies were sold to the United States for 30 million dollars, which was equivalent to 94 million kroner at that time. They are today a part of the US Virgin Islands.

The centre of gravity of the colony was St. Thomas with Charlotte Amalie seaport which soon became a port of transit for most of the West Indies. During the second half of the 18th century the chief revenue came from customs duties, but coffee growing and not least production of cane sugar became increasingly important. The palmy days of the islands took place during the first third of the 19th century during the South American Wars of Independence when sugar prices were high and sales were good. This resulted in soil exhaustion and ruthless exploitation of slaves. Soon afterwards when the market was flooded by cheaper cane sugar from Spanish Louisiana (now one of the United States of America) and later by beet sugar, the West Indies eventually became a bad piece of business. A heavy decline in transit traffic during the 1860’s as well as earthquakes and hurricanes, especially in 1870, also contributed to this. The population figure declined from 43,000 in 1835 to 30,000 in 1900. Coloured people constituted 98 % of the population.

Slavery
The plantations were run by white colonialists, but the workforce was black, i.e. slaves imported from Guinea in Africa. In 1688 there were 175 negro slaves, but in 1750 the number had increased to not less than 11,807. The import of slaves was abolished in 1803. At that time the colony had become "self-sufficient". The final step towards abolition of slavery was taken by Governor Peter von Scholten during a rebellion in 1848.

Postal History
Concurrently with the economic recovery an increasing need for communication with business partners and family arose naturally and in addition there was the correspondence of the government and the military. The first regulations for the postal connection between Denmark and the West Indies are from 1781. Until then mail was delivered at random shipping opportunity.

The Danish West Indies got their own stamps in 1856. They were printed in Denmark and looked the same as Danish stamps except for the value which was indicated in "cents" because the islands had "dollars" as their currency. In 1904, they got their own currency, 1 "franc" = 100 "bit".

The Collections
The Museum possesses a so-called "Sample and Model Collection" containing drafts, workshop drawings, proofs, and entire sheets of all West Indian stamps printed in Denmark. Besides, a large special collection made by Master of the Royal Hunt G.A. Hagemann (1877-1971) whose father owned a large sugar plantation, La Grange, at St. Croix, was donated to the museum in 1956. Finally, consultant doctor Torben Geill (1897-1990) entrusted a collection to the museum shortly before his death. Together the three collections throw light on all aspects of the postal history and philately of the West Indies.


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