The Somaliland Protectorate issued a definitive stamp set for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, at the beginning of her reign. This set included 12 stamps, ranging in denomination up to 10 shillings, and is catalogued in Stanley Gibbons as SG137–148.
These stamps were released while Somaliland was still a British protectorate, and they feature classic colonial-era designs with QEII’s portrait.
They were printed by Bradbury Wilkinson, known for high-quality intaglio engraving, giving the stamps a crisp, tactile finish.
All the stamps of British Somaliland were withdrawn from sale on 25 June 1960 as Somaliland obtained independence and merged with Italian Somalia in 1960 to form the Somali Republic.
