Old and rare stamps of India are extremely popular in the world of philately. Let’s explore the designs and history behind three such old Indian stamps today. ½ Anna Stamp of East India Company These historical Indian stamps were issued in 1854 when England was under the rule of Queen Victoria. During this period, the East India Company had established several trading centres and colonies in India. These definitive postage stamps of India were blue in colour and bore the face value of 1/2 Anna. 30 million stamps were printed at Calcutta using the Lithography process. It is not always easy to acquire Indian rare stamps as they are extremely expensive. However, you can always find this interesting variety more easily. They belong to the Die 1 variety and do not have any perforations. The central image shows a portrait of Queen Victoria while the watermark shows the Arms of East India Company, printed sideways. If you like collecting stamps based on personalities then you should definitely look for these.
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The East India Company set up the first post office in Bombay in the year 1688. Very soon, the Company went on to open up post offices in other major cities such as Calcutta and Madras to improve the official means of communication. More postal services were introduced by Lord Clive in 1766. It was in the year 1774, that these postal services were offered to common people of India by Warren Hastings, charging a fee of two Annas per 100 miles. On 31st March 1774, the East India Company established the Post Office Department at Calcutta. Similar departments were opened in Madras and Bombay in the year 1778 and 1792, respectively. During this period, services were handled by Zamindars and runners who delivered posts. The Post Office Act XVII was introduced in 1837 and the Governor-General of India in Council was given the responsibility to manage postage services in India. When certain officials started taking undue advantage of the free postage services, people started opposing and the Indian Post Office was established on 1st October 1837. After the introduction of prepaid postal services, the very first British India stamps called Scinde Dawk adhesive stamps were released on 1st July 1852 within Sindh district. There are many collectors who simply love stamps in India, but very few are lucky to own a rare Indian stamp. Here’s a refreshing list that will help every new collector who is looking for rare Indian postage stamps for their collection.
The 1854 Half Anna Stamp (Die 2 Edition) When it comes to rare Indian stamps, the Die II variety of the Half Anna Stamp issued in the year 1854 featuring a portrait of Queen Victoria is something to look out for. These are considered to be one of the first official postage stamps of India. More than 35 million stamps were produced in three varieties. 30 million stamps were produced using Die I, while only 2 million were produced using Die II in pale chignon colour. |
AuthorPassionate collector of coins, banknotes & stamps who loves researching about ancient, medieval & modern Indian history! Archives
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