It depended on the governor-general based in Santa Isabel, who had lieutenant governors in Annobón and Elobey Chico.

Annobón was ceded to Spain together with Fernando Po through the 1778 Treaty of El Pardo, in exchange for some territories to the south of Brazil.

The first issue depicted a profile of the young Alfonso XIII of Spain, and consisted of 18 values, from ¼ centimos to 10 pesetas.

The American author William Styron wrote a short vignette entitled Elobey, Annobón, and Corisco, about his time as a young Marine officer during World War II.

Although written in 1985, the vignette was not published until 2009, in the collection of Marine-related short stories The Suicide Run (Random House 2009).