Description: This vintage 10-millieme (10 MILLS) definitive postage stamp was issued by the Kingdom of Egypt. The monochrome design features a central oval frame containing a formal portrait of King Farouk I, who is shown looking slightly to the left while wearing a traditional Egyptian fez, or tarbush. He is attired in an ornate, braided military uniform decorated with royal medals and sashes. Symmetrical Egyptian papyrus reed motifs flank the central portrait frame on both the left and right sides. The top border displays the word "EGYPTE" in Latin script on the left, paired with its Arabic equivalent on the right, separated by a miniature royal crown. The lower corners contain the face value, with "10 MILLS" printed in English typography on the left and the Arabic denomination version mirroring it on the right. This specific specimen shows an authentic, dark circular town postmark struck across the upper-left section of the monarch's face.
Circa: 1944-1952
Condition: Used - Hinged
Notes:
This definitive stamp is a pivotal piece of postal history from the final chapter of the Egyptian monarchy. King Farouk I was an avid and globally renowned collector himself, amassing a massive legendary hoard of rare coins, fine literature, and specialized philatelic misprints during his reign. Following the Egyptian Revolution of July 1952, which forced Farouk into exile, the newly formed revolutionary government was left with massive stocks of these royal definitives. Rather than destroying them, the cash-strapped postal administration overprinted the remaining sheets with three thick horizontal bars to visually obliterate the exiled king’s face. Consequently, finding a clean, unaltered specimen like this one that escaped the post-revolution overprinting process offers an excellent historical benchmark for collections focused on Middle Eastern political history.