Postage stamps 1879–1905

Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878 with the approval of the Congress of Berlin, although it formally remained part of the Ottoman Empire. So the first stamps of 1879 carry no inscription and no country name – just the Austrian double eagle and the value in the upper corners. The post was run by the army, which is why StampWorld lists the same stamps under military post too.

Sources: Wikipedia: Postage stamps and postal history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, World Stamps Project: Bosnia and Herzegovina 1879–1918

Austria-Hungary had introduced the krone as early as 1892, but postal rates only switched to heller and kronen on 1 January 1900. So in 1900 Bosnia received a new set of 14 stamps with the same double eagle – the value in heller now sits in the lower corners, and the three krone values have a different design. Between 1901 and 1904 five more values were added, with the numerals printed in black.

Sources: Wikipedia (de): Postgeschichte und Briefmarken von Österreich, Big Blue 1840-1940: Bosnia & Herzegovina – a closer look, Wikimedia Commons: Stamps of Bosnia and Herzegovina