The Niger Coast Protectorate was a British protectorate in the Oil Rivers area of present-day Nigeria, originally established as the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1884, renamed on 12 May 1893, and merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company on 1 January 1900 to form the colony of Southern Nigeria.

Postage stamps and postal history

The main post office was established at Old Calabar in November 1891; sub-offices existed at Benin, Bonny, Brass, Opobo, and Warri. Initially the postage stamps of Britain were used; in July 1892 they were overprinted with "BRITISH / PROTECTORATE / OIL / RIVERS". A pressing need for halfpenny values in mid-1893 resulted in a variety of surcharges on 2p and 2 1/2p stamps. While most simply read "HALF / PENNY", with a horizontal bar to obliterate the old value, some were overprinted "1/2 d" twice, with the intent that they be bisected diagonally to produce two 1/2p stamps.

The name change occurred just as new stamps were being prepared, and so the first issue of the Niger Coast Protectorate, featuring a 3/4 portrait of Queen Victoria, was inscribed "OIL RIVERS" but obliterated and overprinted "NIGER COAST". Available in November 1893, they were superseded the following May by stamps in a new design and the correct inscription. These stamps continued for the remainder of the protectorate's existence, with a change over to use the "Crown & CA" watermark from 1897 on (the paper had previously been unwatermarked).