Bulletin 83 Jan. 2023

VOL: V JANUARY 2023 ISSUE 83
MONTHLY DIGITAL BULLETIN OF ANANTHAPURI PHILATELIC ASSOCIATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
POST OFFICE MAURITIUS
Read article on Page 10

2 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023
MONTHLY DIGITAL BULLETIN OF ANANTHAPURI PHILATELIC ASSOCIATION,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Vol. V Editor & Designer

Issue No.83 Mohanachandran Nair
January 2023 Email: [email protected]
We wish CONTENTS
all our readers Cover - Post Office Mauritius - Words rarest envelopes 1
a very Editorial 4
In Memory 5
H New Indian Issues 6
A News in Brief 7
Post Office Mauritius Stamps 10
P Himalayan Birds on Stamps - Book Review 20
P India Abroad 22
Y New Special Cancellations 23
Stamp of the month 24
Knowledge Bank 25
N New Issues from Other countries 29
E Mind Blowing Joint Issues - 19 30
W New Special Covers 32

Forthcoming Events 35
Philatelic Links 38
Y
E Advertisements
Phila Art 2
A Post Horn 19
R Bharatexotics 21
I S Jain 37
2023
Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 3
Editorial
Dear Friends,
Amritpex2023 is fast approaching. The list of accepted exhibitors was published. Hope all of them
will remit the participation fees and attend the function at New Delhi. I am sure that it will be a great
gathering of philatelists, dealers and officers of India Post. After 2019 in Mumbai INPEX it will be the
largest physical exhibition in the country. So please visit the exhibition and make the event a
memorable one.
Meanwhile it is reported that some persons are calling the exhibitors and asking for soft copies of
their exhibits with some or other pretext. PCI has given a warning through social media that exhibits
and their write up are the personal property of the Philatelist and covered under Intellectual Property
Act and cannot be used by others without specific permissive uses rights given by the exhibitor. So all
are requested not to entertain any such unauthorised calls or send soft copies.
I hope the pandemic, protests and many more difficulties that had made living life quite hard had
gone. Let us all embrace the new year with much needed hopes and happiness.
Wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Mohanachandran Nair
Mobile:9387801948

In Memory
Dr. V. Balakrishnan Nair
Born on 4.12.1939
Died on 6.12.2022
With deep sorrow, we report that our founder President Dr. V. Balakrishnan Nair
went to heaven on 6 December 2022. He was 83 years old. He was a humble person
with a helping mentality. He had a vast knowledge in Indian Philately and liked to
discuss it with his friends. He had a wide circle of philatelists friends and shared his
depth knowledge on the subject with them. He collected all Indian materials especially
Special Covers of Kerala. He never exhibited his collection anywhere. But he used to
visit all philatelic exhibitions in South India.
He was very punctual in attending APA meetings. During his tenure as President,
he was ready to travel anywhere for the various purposes/benefits of APA. He was
instrumental in introducing our Association among unknown persons and to take
membership with us. This is a great loss for us and the philatelists who are friends with
him.
Our condolences to the bereaved family.

May his soul rest in peace.
Team APA
New Indian Issues
Pa Togan Nengminza Sangma Sri Aurobindo
Denomination: Rs.5-00 Souvenir Sheet

Issued on 12.12.2022 Denomination: Rs.150-00
Issued on 13.12.2022
125 Years Sardar School, Jodhpur Visamanbapu
Denomination: Rs.5-00
Denomination: Rs.5-00
NEW MEGHDOOT POSTCARDS
Reserve Bank of India, Ombudsman

News in Brief
NEW BOOK ON PHILATELY RELEASED
‘Himalayan Birds on Stamps’, a new coloured paperback edition book authored by Shri Lokeswara
Rao IFS (Retd.) was released on 9 December 2022. It is reported that the book was released in two
places, one by Shri. S Rajendra Kumar, IPOS, CPMG at CPMG Office, Karnataka Circle, Bangalore
and the second in Write Order Publishers Office, Bangalore. The publisher of the book is Write Order
Publishers, Bangalore. This book refers to the stamps, booklets and picture postcards on Himalayan
birds issued by India, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Pakistan.
Releasing function at CPMG Office, Bangalore Releasing function at Write Order Publishers
Office, Bangalore
PHILATELY AWARENESS PROGRAMME
Mr. Devendra Jain of Hyderabad conducted a Philately Awareness Programme at Bhavan’s

Atmakuri Rama Rao School Jubilee Hills, Hyderabadon 20 December 2022. The staff members of
Hyderabad GPO also attended the programme. Small gifts were distributed to children for answering
questions.
Courtesy: Mahesh Parekh

SCOUT STAMP EXHIBITION
The centenary year celebration of the Bharat Scouts and Guides, Madurai District Association was
held at St. Britto Higher Secondary School, Arapalayam, Madurai with Zonal Camporee from 9 to 11
November 2022. In connection with the celebration a philatelic exhibition on scout stamps was
conducted by Shri. Rajesh Kumar, Philatelist and Scout Master at Govt. Higher Secondary School, T.
Mullipallon, Madurai District. The function was inaugurated by the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu
Shri. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhili and also he released a picture postcard and My Stamp designed by
Shri. Rajesh Kumar. He also designed a special cancellation which was released on 11.11.2022.
Rajesh Kumar and students with Special Cancellation Rajesh Kumar and students with
Picture Postcard My stamp
On this occasion a Postcrossing meetup was also arranged on 11.11.2022 at the same venue. A
postcrossing meetup card was also released for postcrossers.

CELEBRATION OF 200TH MONTHLY MEETING OF MAPNA
Madurai Philatelists and Numismatists Association (MAPNA) celebrated its 200 th monthly meeting
on 25 December 2022 at Victoria Edward Hall, Madurai. In connection with the celebration a
Postcrossing Meetup was also conducted. A Postcrossing Meetup Card depicting The Victoria Edward
Hall, Madurai was released on the occasion. Shri. Swamiappan, President, MAPNA presided over
the meeting. Mr. Mohan Treasurer of The Victoria Edward Hall was the Chief Guest. Mr. M Nassar,
founder member of Tiruchirappalli Philatelic Club and Mr. Raja Sekhar, Dy. Post Master, Madurai,
felicitated the meeting.
Three awards were given to the outstanding performance of the members.
MAPNA Great Student Achievement Award was given to Master. S. Anbu Chidambaram. Great
Youth Achievement Award went to Mr. G. Rajesh Kumar. MAPNA Lifetime Achievement Award was
received by Shanmughalal, Secretary of MAPNA.
Prizes were distributed to the winners of quiz competition. A cake written as the MAPNA 200th
Monthly Meeting was cut at the function. Around 50 members participated in the meeting. Shri.
Swamiappan welcomed the gathering and C. Madhavan made vote of thanks.

Post Office Mauritius Stamps
By Col. J Dutta & Dr. Anjali Dutta
From Royal Philatelic Collection

Considered to be the finest of the four surviving examples of this stamp
Over a hundred years ago in September 1847, the British island colony of Mauritius gave the world two
stamps, destined in after years to be numbered among the rarest and most widely publicised of any known to
philatelists. The story starts on 17 December 1846 when the Legislative Council of the island passed an
Ordinance No 13 fixing, inter alia, the rate of internal postage at 2 pence per half-ounce for country letters and
1 penny per ounce for local town delivery. Most of the new regulations came into force on New Year's Day 1847.
Article 9 of the Ordinance is particularly interesting because it foreshadowed the use of postage stamps. Article
9 stated that ‘every letter, newspaper or packet of any kind is liable to postage under this Ordinance, if posted
within the colony and its dependencies, and having a stamp or stamps affixed thereto and appearing on the
outside, such stamps being provided by the Government and being of the value or amount required in each case
according to the preceding tariff, and not having been used before, shall pass by the post free of postage’. The
popular story in philatelic lore is that Lady Gomm the wife of the governor Sir William Gomm intended to give a
fancy dress ball at the Government House on 30 September 1847 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of
governorship of Sir William Gomm though it was mainly because Lady Gomm liked to gather pleasure loving
people around her and could use any excuse for doing so. Her ladyship intended to frank the invitations with the
first stamps of Mauritius. The search began to find the Mauritian equivalent of the Heaths who had engraved the
immortal penny black. The search lead to Joseph Osmond Barnard who was born in Portsmouth England in
1816. He arrived in Mauritius in 1838. A year later he married a young woman of Dutch origin. An advertisement
in a local newspaper Le Cernéen of 9 March 1839 described Barnard as a miniature painter and engraver though
he was really a watch maker and jeweler.
Sir William Maynard Gomm, KCB Joseph Osmond Barnard

Governor of Mauritius in 1847 the engraver of Mauritius stamps
Barnard’s estimate was £10 for preparing the plate and 10 shillings for printing a thousand stamps, 500 of
each value of 1d and 2d. Barnard’s modest estimate was accepted. The original estimate was found by Major
EB Evans when he visited Mauritius in 1878 and is now in the British Library.
Barnard sat to work. As he was really a jeweler and not an engraver, the result must not be criticized too
severely. It is passable. He inscribed the word ‘Postage’ at the top in burly letters, the value at the foot and
Mauritius to the right. Only one side remained blank, but here he experienced a tragic lapse of memory. He set
out to find the Postmaster, J Stuart Brownrigg, to ask him to refresh his memory. Arriving at the door of the Post
Office he saw the words Post Office before his eyes. It dawned upon him that these are the missing words. This
led to the production of the world’s greatest errors the ‘POST OFFICE MAURITIUS’. With only 500 of each value
printed they anyway began as rarities. Barnard decided to engrave his two designs upon the back of a small
copper plate, of the size commonly employed for printing ladies visiting cards. The size of this copper plate,
although not a matter of immense importance, has been so often misreported. The size as measured by Nevile
Lacy Stocken a London stamp dealer, who had it in his possession for someime is 3 11/48 inches x 2 19/48
inches. The weight, as ascertained by Stocken, was 1 oz. 9½.Troy dwt. Such details have more interest for us
than they could have had for Barnard. The original plate was bought in the summer of 1912 by Stocken, from
Colonel Colnaghi, the grandson of the Governor of Mauritius in 1847 when the Mauritius stamps were prepared.
Colnaghi found the plate in the family archives but had no idea of its significance. Stocken prepared the reprints
of the plate in Paris in 1912 on Papier Japon and printed ‘reprint’ on the backs of each copy, but not all copies
have this printed on them. Although they do not have the word ‘reprint’ on the back, the paper is different enough
for them to be easily recognised as not being the original. The number of sheets printed with the original plates
is not known, but they are rather rare and valued on their own merit by some collectors.
The Mauritius Post Office Issue Printing Plate was sold for EUR 1,320,000 on 1 December 2016
It is said that Barnard, first set out engraving the Queen’s head; then added the legends and that the wording
on the left hand side of each stamp was left till the last as the engraver could not remember what it had been.
The stamps were printed off one by one on an antiquated hand-press, the penny value being first struck off
in a bright orange, followed by the two pence value in a deep rich blue. He made a mistake due in all likelihood,
to the excess of concentration on one detail (at the expense of even a moderate concentration on the whole)
which too often marks the work of the amateur, accounts for much of its deficiencies.
The Royal Philatelic Society’s official description of Barnard’s design is as follows:
‘A left profile of Queen Victoria with diadem of alternate crosses and fleur-de-lis on the groundwork of rather
coarse vertical lines which slope, in the case of the ld, from right to left, and in the case of the 2d, from left to
right. The groundwork is formed by labels of solid colour containing inscriptions of white sans serif capitals. The
corners contain square white blocks with coloured ornaments as follows: In the upper left and lower right corners,
a multi-rayed star with a dot in the centre, and in the remaining corners, a minute circle with four pear-shaped
lines radiating from it towards the corners of the bock. The head is shaded with small dots which become coarser
as the back of the neck is reached. At the base of the neck, to the right, appear the initials, JB (ie of the engraver,
John Barnard).’
When only three hundred and fifty pairs had been struck off, the engraver reported to Brownrigg.It is
supposed because Barnard had become aware that the left hand panel of each stamp, should, correctly, have
borne the words “Post Paid” and not as had been printed “Post Office”. There is no official minute recording the
conversation between the Postmaster and the stamp engraver, but it is thought that Barnard wanted, before
continuing with the printing, to be assured that the incorrectly worded stamps would be accepted by Authority.
Apparently, that assurance was not immediately forthcoming: and, perhaps, but for a lady’s whim it might never
have been granted since Lady Gomm had drawn up the invitation list for the fancy dress ball that she intended
to give on the night of 30 September 1847, and she waited to stamp the envelopes with the new adhesive postal
labels. The stamps were issued on 21 September 1847. Three of those envelopes which carried the invitations
to the Ball have survived and are called the Ball covers. They were addressed to Monsieur Alcide Marquay (in
the Thomas Keay Tapling collection now in the British Library), Edmond Duvivier Esq (bought by King George
V in 1933 when it was offered in the Manus sale for which the king paid £2400) and the third was addressed to
H. Adam Esq.Junr (in a private collection).
In 1865, Herpin announced to the public that he had found, amongst a number of varieties of the 1865 issue,
one specimen with the inscription “Post Office” instead of ‘Post Paid’. No one could, at that time, explain the
apparent freak. Indeed, the true explanation of Herpin’s find was not forth coming until 1878, when Major EB
Evans, who had interested himself in the rarity, visited Mauritius and had the apparent error explained to him by
the Postmaster, who told Major Evans that the ‘Post Office’ stamps were intended for purely local use. Whether
this information was correct or not, the fact is that out of the twenty eight copies known to have survived from
the original issue only five have been found on the Island, no fewer than sixteen being found in Bordeaux twelve
of them with a lady Madame Borchard. Major Evans gathered a more material reward for his enterprise than
mere information: from a music teacher, of Port Louis, he acquired a small collection in which he found a used
1d ‘Post Office’ for £10. The stamp was later bought by Tapling for £75, and is now with the other stamps of his
collection, in the British Library.
Major Edward Benjamin Evans and Thomas Keay Tapling
Ball Cover addressed to Edmond Duvivier Esq, Royal Philatelic Collection

Ball cover addressed to Monsieur Alcide Marquay. Ex Tapling collection now in the British Library. The envelope
addressed to Monsieur Alcide Marquay was used in 1847 and probably contained an entry card to Lady Gomm’s
ball. It was bought in 1876 by Edouard Buger for Fr.75 (£3). In 1878 Major Evans bought Buger’s collection,
while in Mauritius, for Fr.250 (£10). In 1884 Thomas Keay Tapling bought Evans’s collection; the value of the
envelope was £75. In 1891 The British Museum received Tapling’s collection as a bequest.
In1973 the Tapling Collection was transferred to the British Library.
Monsieur Borchard was the gunsmith of Bordeaux, whose firm enjoyed the patronage of many Mauritians.
Among the files of the house of Borchard were many letters whose covers bore the stamps of Mauritius: how
many, is now never known, for, on the death of Monsieur Borchard in 1869, his business was wound up, and
the firm’s papers sent off to be pulped. As it was, Madame Borchard found, in all twelve (and it may be more)
of the precious ‘Post Office’ issue.
The sixties of the nineteenth century saw the beginnings of philately (a science to be distinguished from
mere ‘stamp-collecting’) and Madame Borchard had fallen under the insidious spell of the tiny coloured oblongs
when she first began to hunt among her husband’s correspondence for foreign stamps. She was certainly an
enthusiastic collector, but lacked a high degree of philatelic knowledge. Not having any space in her album
allotted to the two stamps from Mauritius that she had found on a letter from Mauritius, she willingly ‘swapped’
them for two Montevideo ‘Suns’, with a young collector, Albert Coutures, who sold them in the following year
(1865) to Monsieur JB Moens, one of the earliest Belgian dealers, through his local agent, Monsieur E Gimet for
3000 francs.
Madame Borchard and Monsieur Coutures were not the only collectors in the thriving Atlantic wine-port of
Bordeaux: there were, in addition, a Madame Desbois and a Monsieur E Lalanne, whose names (especially the
former) are ones of importance in the later history of the ‘Post Office’ Mauritius stamps. Madame Desbois, as a
dealer, had more inclination or, possibly, more opportunity to acquire these rejects from Madame Borchard and
of the twelve that the latter lady found (or, perhaps it is safer to say, the twelve of which was have record of) no
fewer than nine came into the hands of Madame Desbois, all directly from the original finder, say in one case,
where Madame Borchard sold the stamp to a collector, Monsieur Martineau, who any way sold it later to Madame
Desbois.
At the same time, the discovery of yet another pair (1d pair on a single envelope addressed to Thos. Jerrom
in Bombay hence called Jerrom cover or Bombay cover) inspired treasure hunters around the world to feverish
activity. Charles Howard, who had found the envelope in a Bombay bazaar in 1897, had, indeed, made his
exciting find before Madame Duvivier had come across the long forgotten invitation to the ball. He did not
announce it until after the lady had made her sale. The envelope that Howard found cost him £50. He had
intended to sell it for £500, but, on reading that Madame Duvivier had sold her single stamped envelop e for £
600, and that Peckitt had re-sold it for £1,000, Howard raised his price to ₤1,000 for each stamp. On 4 November
1898, Peckitt paid Howard £1,375 for the entire envelope and, on the 15th of the same month, the dealer sold it
to Vernon Roberts for £1,800. It passed on to the collection of Mrs Louise Boyd Dale. It was then sold in 1968
in New York at the HR Harmer auction for $380,000 to Raymond Weill a New Orleans dealer. It has been sold
again to Guido Craveri for an undisclosed price. It is one of the philatelic gems of the world.

The famous Jerrom cover, was sold for EUR 2,400,000 on 1 December 2016
After a lapse of twenty three years five new stamps turned up within a gap of two years, but the greatest
treasure was yet to be unearthed. In 1902 a French schoolboy, inspired by some articles which had appeared
in a philatelic magazine over the signature of Monsieur Theodore Lemaire, purchaser of the Legrand collection
and Adam’s envelope, mentioned the matter of the ‘Post Office’ Mauritius to his mother, whose dead husband
had been in business in Bordeaux. Indifferently, she gave the lad permission to search through the old files of
his father’s business, but the laborious hunt had a rich reward. As is always with such searching, the treasure
revealed itself to the boy’s delighted gaze only as he had reached the last files. Truly, they were superb
specimens that the lad found. One envelope bore a 1d and a 2d with a variety of hand-stamps marking the
letter’s journey from Mauritius to Bordeaux, via Plymouth and Boulogne. The other letter bore a 2d stamp, with
a small tear. For the first envelope, Monsieur Theodore Lemaire, whose articles had inspired the boy to make
his profitable search, gave £1,800; for the second, £1,200. At H.R. Harmer’s ‘Hind’ sale in 1934, the first
envelope fetched ₤5,000, and in 1922 Arthur Hind had paid £7,500 for it! The second was acquired from the
Berlin dealer, Philipp Kosack, in 1903, by the Reichspost Museum, Berlin. The treasures of Reichspost Museum
disappeared after World War II and surfaced in the United States in 1976.Both East and West Germany laid
claim to the treasure and it was returned to Germany in 1990 by the US State Department after unification. The
envelope with two stamps is a crown jewel of philately for it is the only one with both the 1d and 2d stamps and
is called the Bordeaux cover. It has passed through many famous collections like that of Theodore Lemaire,
Arthur Hind and on 1 October 1963 it was purchased at the Robson Lowe auction in London by Raymond Weill
for £28,000. History was made on 3 November 1993 when the Zurich auction house of David Feldman sold the
cover for an equivalent of £2.2 million making it the costliest philatelic material ever. The previous world record
was a penny black on cover used on 2 May 1840 which was sold by Guido Craveri, Harmers SA in Lugano in
1991 for ₤1,350,000.
The envelopes were addressed to the firm of wine merchants namely Ducun and Lurgnie (or Lurguie as it is
spelt on the Bordeaux cover), of Bordeaux. The covers still have the original letters from the Mauritian business
house Edward Francis & Co.
Reichspost cover

Reichspost cover has the 2d a Boulogne entry cds of 27 December 1847; the other postmarks are not legible.
It is annotated ‘p. Mischief-via England’. Mischief was a barque under Captain Lewis which left Mauritius for
Liverpool on 14 October 1847. The letter inside in French is dated 4 October 1847 confirming the demand of 30
barrels of wine.
Bordeaux Cover
The Bordeaux cover was postmarked in Mauritius on 4 October by the double circle ‘MAURITIUS/POST
OFFICE’ date stamp, in England by the Plymouth ship letter mark and an illegible red postmark, in London by
the boxed two lined postmark ‘COLONIES & C ART. 13’ marque d’echange required under the Anglo-French
Postal Convention, and in France by cds of 26 December 1847 both Boulogne entry and Paris transit and 28
December 1847 Bordeaux arrival. The two stamps are cancelled by a rectangular ‘PENNY POST’ hand stamp.
The cover is annotated ‘via England’. The letter inside in the same handwriting as the French letter is in English
and the two letters are exactly the same, the French one being a duplicate copy of the English one. This cover
from records of sailing was carried by the barque John King under Captain Martin.
The two envelopes found by the French schoolboy in 1902 brought the number of Post Office Stamps to
eight since Marcel Pouget had discovered one at Bordeaux in the January of 1897. Those for whom the
monetary value of the stamps held a greater interest than any philatelic worth were inspired to put arduous
attempts at discovery after the report of the French boy’s handsomely rewarded efforts. Oddly enough, there
was an immediate result of this world wide interest in the ‘Post Office’ Mauritius.
The story is told in recollections of Nevile Lacy Stocken, the London stamp dealer, through whose agency
the last discovered but two ‘Post Office Mauritius’ was brought to the notice of the stamp conscious world.
“I received a visit from a lady one morning towards the end of the year, 1903, when she showed me a pencil
sketch of a stamp. She explained that her husband had recently unearthed a small collection which he had made
during his schooldays, some forty years previously, and which had by chance remained hidden away and
forgotten for all those years, until he had found it whilst searching through some old papers. It had been shown
to a lady friend who had some little knowledge of stamps, and she had noticed this (Mauritius) label, and had
informed the owner she believed that it was (should it prove to be genuine) of considerable value. Mrs. Bonar
(who my visitor proved to be) wished to know if I would go to her husband’s office to inspect this alleged rarity.
Having many times wasted precious hours (and sometimes even whole days) chasing after ‘finds’ that almost
invariably proved to be wild geese, I demurred, asking her why it could not be brought to me? She explained
that the book had already been left with a firm of dealers, who, having made some ridiculous offer with regard
thereto, were so loth to give up the prize which was within their grasp, that the lawful owner had great difficulty
in regaining it, and had become alarmed at letting the book out of his possession, or even venturing forth with it
from the precincts of his own domain. I began to think that there might be something in it and, learning that the
gentleman could be seen no further away than the Civil Service Commission in Buckingham Gardens, I hied me
there. I was politely received by the owner, Mr James Bonar, who produced the little collection, which was
contained in a very early and modest album; an octavo book ruled into squares, and probably costing about
sixpence. I turn over several pages adorned with early stamps of little value, together with a few better ones in
poor condition, until my eye is astonished and gladdened by the sight of one of the primest rarities that has ever
come into my view. ‘That is the stamp,’ the owner informs me, ‘that we are told is a good one. I remember it
was one of several given to me in 1857, by an old friend of my father’s, a master in the Mercantile Marine, living
in Edinburgh.’ ‘You are a very lucky man, sir,’ I tell him; ‘this stamp happens to be a magnificent specimen of
one of the world’s rarities, and worth a lot of money.’”
The stamp (No XXIV) had not been mounted in the correct philatelic fashion, but glued on to the surface of
a page and Mr Stocken, having received Mr Bonar’s permission to take it away with him for inspection, had to
cut out the stamp with the backing paper still attached. Arriving home, Mr Stocken boiled the stamp to dissolve
the ancient gum, which had penetrated the paper, but an original estimate of its value was happily confirmed.
He advised Mr Bonar to place a reserve of ₤1,200 on this finest of all known used copies, and was amused (as
only a dealer may be amused) to learn that the owner “had visions of about a couple of hundred being the utmost
he could hope for!”
“The news of the discovery created a stir in the philatelic world, and indeed in other quarters, and paragraphs
relating to it and its history appeared in various publications all over the world. When the day of the sale arrived,
the large sale room in Leicester Square was crowded to the doors with an assembly including a number of the
best known collectors and dealers, as well as many press-reporters and curiosity mongers. The bidding started
at £500, and very quickly passed the reserve. The agent for the Berlin Reichspost Museum, the late Hugo
Griebert, was sitting next to me, and he had an absolutely open and discretionary bid to buy at any price he
considered reasonable. He had, however, fixed his mind upon £1,200 as the price he would have to pay, but
was forced to exceed this, and finally bid £1,400.”
At £1,450, the stamp was knocked down to Lord Crawford, acting for the Prince of Wales (later King George
V), and so No XXIV, given to a schoolboy forty years ago, as a souvenir whose only worth was its ‘curiosity
value’, went into the Royal Collection to take its place alongside the 1d No XVII, which, in that same year, had
passed into the Prince of Wales’s possession from that of Lord Kintore.
So far, we have read a history whose theme has been a consistent good fortune for all or most, rather of its
principal actors: but the not yet completed history of the ‘Post Office’ Mauritius has chapters which make reading
less cheerful than those which record the good fortune of Madame Duvivier, of Adam or of Bonar.
There is, for instance, the tale of Monsieur Noirel of Port Louis, the man who found No IV among a lot of old
papers in 1868. Noirel found two used 1d ‘Post Office’ Mauritius stamps, and one (No. IV) he sold to T Lionnet.
A day or two later, another collector, who had heard of the find, approached Noirel with an offer to buy. Only
then did the unhappy finder realize that he had given the drill jacket (with the remaining ‘Post Office’ Mauritiu s
in a pocket) to his wife to wash! The stamp was never seen again. For the stamp that he did sell (No IV) to
Monsieur Lionnet, was re-sold by the purchaser to JB Moens, two years later for frs100 (£4).
Far more moving, indeed, was the tragedy whose principal parts fate allotted to Walker, an Anglo-Indian tea-
planter, Bratt, an American tourist and a thief whose name has not been recorded.
A search for stamps had taken Walker and Bratt to a small village on the south-west coast of India, from
which coolies had immigrated to Mauritius. An offer by the two men to buy old stamps produced unexpectedly
numerous offers, and among the stamps brought to them for sale, Walker and Bratt were delighted to observe
a 1d and a 2d ‘Post Office’ Mauritius. They bought the treasures and easy in their minds that they had exhausted
the stamp resources of the place, the travelers determined to return on the following day to Madras, Bratt put
the stamps, for safe keeping, within the back cover of his pocket-watch.
During the night, a thief entered Bratt’s bedroom and made off with his watch, but the offer of a large reward
brought the watch back, the thief having been detected in the very act of offering it for sale. The stamps had
gone! The thief had opened the case, and, finding some “little dirty pieces of paper”, had burnt them, “so as to
destroy all trace”!
Last scene of all, that ends this strange, eventful history, is, perhaps, the strangest of the lot, and, once
again, it involves Stocken.
‘One fine morning, during the summer of 1912,’ Mr Stocken begins, ‘I had just arrived at my office, and was
sitting leisurely scanning the day’s correspondence a friend called on me. Solemnly seating himself in front of
me, he gazed seriously at me with a mysterious expression on his face. ‘What would you say if I told you that
the original plate of the ‘Post Office’ Mauritius was not only still in existence, but is quietly reposing at many
hundreds of yards from this spot, and that I could take you there to see it; and, moreover, that you can purchase
it for a reasonable sum if you wish?’
‘After some conversation on the telephone, an appointment was fixed up, and I shortly afterwards found
myself in a taxi alongside my friend, on the way to Drummond’s Bank, Charing Cross, and was there introduced
to the owner of this wonderful piece of treasure trove. He proved to be Colonel Colnaghi, a grandson of the
Governor of Mauritius during the period which included the date when their historic stamps were issued. After
a brief delay, during which a minion of the bank was dispatched to the strong room for it, this ounce -and-a-half
of copper was placed in my hand. It was on a par with another memorable moment some eight and a half years
previously, when I cut from its resting place the finest of all known copies of the stamps printed from this very
plate and placed it in my pocket.
‘After some brisk negotiations, the plate changed owners, and became mine for a consideration in cash. . . .
This unique bit of copper . . . had been reposing, all unknown and undiscovered, amongst the papers of the late
Governor, until his grandson, unearthing it, had, not being himself a philatelist, wondered what it was. He had
taken it to the Army and Navy Stores to seek some information upon the subject, and my friend, being a member
of that institution, had there heard of it and brought the news to me,’
Stocken records that ‘this most interesting resurrection caused immense interest and excitement in the
philatelic world, and I was for weeks kept busy showing the treasure to curious collectors, dealers, journalists
and others.’
In spite of this, there was a singular reluctance, on the part of connoisseurs, to acquire this unique relic of
Barnard’s craftsmanship. HJ Duveen, then the owner of one of the finest collections extant, President of the
Royal Philatelic Society, wished to acquire it, any more than did King George V, to whom Lord Crawford showed
the plate.
It is true that some anonymous and officious member of the Colonial Office sent a peremptory demand to
Stocken to return ‘Government property’, but this piece of insolent bluff met with the contempt that it richly
merited, the possessor pointing out that as the plate had remained in the late Governor’s possession “for some
half a century, and had legitimately passed into the hands of his descendant and had equally as legitimately
passed from the latter to me in exchange for a considerable sum in hard cash, I had not the remote st intention
of making them a gift of it.”
With the discovery of the plate from which the stamps had been printed, it was felt that an opportunity to
secure some fine reprints should not be missed and accordingly a number of specimens were struck of, in ink
of a shade as near the original as it was possible to obtain. All these coloured reprints are marked REPRINT in
capital letters on the reverse side of the stamp. There were also a number of reprints struck off in black, but
these it would have been unnecessary to mark as reprints: their unusual color being sufficient evidence of their
unofficial origin.
‘Some day,’ prophesied Stocken, ‘these very interesting re-impressions may be put upon the market, and
thus enable many collectors who can never hope to acquire the originals to fill in these otherwise forever to be
blank spaces in their albums with the next best thing: fine reprints from the actual original plate, printed in colours
as similar to the genuine ones as possible.’
A used (and heavily damaged) 2d ‘Post Office’ was found, in 1917, ‘in an old box, among a lot of valueless
stamps’ and was bought by Lemaire, who was the purchaser, thirty years earlier, of Dr Legrand’s collection. The
last find was in May 1947 when a used 1d was discovered from an old stuck down collection formed in 1870.
Thus there are 26 of these rare stamps that survived 12 of one penny cancelled and 2 unused, and 6 of two
pence cancelled and 6 unused.
These stamps are the pride of philately and the prices for them are rising whenever they come up for sale.
In 1972 a 2d unused was sold in Hamburg for an equivalent of £30,000. David Feldman sold a 2d unused in
1993 $1.4 million in 1993. It was the highest price for any British Empire stamp. The 'Post Office' Mauritius
stamps were of particular interest to forgers. Forgery of Mauritius 2 pence stamp of the 1859 issue is commonly
referred to as the 'fillet head'. It is seldom seen, the catalogue value if genuine would be $100,000.

In modern times the Japanese collector Hiroyuki Kanai’s Mauritius collection was the greatest ever formed
and had six of these rare stamps. He wrote ‘I was interested in how many Mauritius Post Office stamps I could
collect among 26 pieces existing. I owned six Post Office stamps, and it is the greatest number ever to be owned
by one person in the world’.
New plates of a larger size each bearing dies for a dozen stamps were prepared and in July 1848, the
Mauritius post office were supplied with stamps of the new (and corrected ‘POST PAID’) design. The first issue
had been on account of its novelty snapped up by the public within a few days of their appearance. The dies for
these too were engraved by Barnard. The post paid stamps especially the early impressions where the design
is sharp and clear command prices over ₤20,000. Even in these stamps Barnard created a flaw. All stamps in
R3/1 have ‘PENOE’ for ‘PENCE’. No corrections were made this time and stamps from Barnard’s die continued
to be printed till 1859 when the Perkins and Bacon recess printed stamps engraved by G Fairman was issued.
The 1848 plate was re-engraved in 1859 by R Sherwin and was put to use to print the 2d deep blue stamps on
bluish paper. They too are rarities and command prices over £100,000 for unused and £4000 for used. The 1d
was also re-engraved but not put into use. Reprints in black were made in 1877 from both 1d and 2d re-engraved
plates. Coloured autotype illustrations were prepared from these reprints and 600 were included in the Ro yal
Philatelic Society London handbook on British Africa in 1900. Further reprints were made in 1911 after the plates
were presented to the Royal Philatelic Society London and thereafter the plate was defaced.
We have the testimony of J Stuart Brownrigg that the ‘Post Office’ stamps were sold out within a few days
of their being offered for sale, so that their novelty had made them attractive to potential purchasers. Many of
them had been used to frank the invitations to Lady Gomm’s ball and many who would not trouble to preserve
a postage stamp will often treasure an invitation card, together with the envelope which contained it. Again, what
is valued in the first place for novelty’s sake, will if it be preserved; continue to be valued just because it has
survived. In any case, we feel that one may believe that the ‘Post Office’ Mauritius stamps stood a fair chance
of receiving something more than the indifference that stamps usually command, save in the heart of the
philatelist.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Col J Dutta & Dr Anjali Dutta, The Post Office Mauritius Stamps, Army Philatelic Society, Mumbai.
2. Col Jayanta Dutta, Dr Anjali Dutta, Jayoti Dutta & Ananya Dutta, Rare stamps of the World, Army Philatelic Society,
Mumbai.
3. Col J Dutta & Dr Anjali Dutta, The Mauritius “Post Paid” Stamps; BPS News Letter No 82, Apr 2000.
4. Dr Anjali Dutta, The Rarest Philatelic Covers; Deccan Philatelist Vol 4, No 1, 2005.
5. NL Stocken, How I Found the most valuable piece of Copper in the World; Stamp Collecting, September 1930.
6. Rev LS Morton, Post Office in Mauritius; Stamp Collectors’ Fortnightly, January 1925.
7. Hiroyuki Kanai, Classic Mauritius; 1981
8. Peter Ibbotson, Arising from those Bordeaux Letters; Gibbons Stamp Monthly, June 1994.
9. Jayoti Dutta, Mauritius ‘Post Office’ Stamps; JTAPS, Vol 1, No 2, 2003.
~~~~~~
Above article was previously published in our Bulletin No.28 (June 2018). In memory of
Late. Col. Jayant Dutta, we republish once again.
Editor

Book Review
By P. Mohanachandran Nair
Himalayan Birds On Stamps

The Himalayas is the highest mountain range in the
world, and has the world's highest peaks, including
Mount Everest. Himalayan Mountains are the source of
some of Asia's major rivers and also help to regulate
our planet's climate. Tropical, Temperate and Tundra
type of climate which makes it rich in biodiversity of flora
and fauna. Climate change is the major threat as far as
birds are concerned. Avian population which is an
important indicator of the ecological balance. Increasing
temperature, Melting glaciers, erratic and unpredictable
weather conditions and changing rainfall patterns, are
impacting the habitat of birds of the Himalayan region.
The Himalayan countries are a group of countries

that straddle the Himalayas.. Two countries Bhutan and
Nepal are located almost entirely within the range,
which also covers southern Tibet in China, the
Himalayan region of India (13 Indian States/Union
Territories namely Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh,
Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim,
Tripura, Assam and West Bengal) and northern
Pakistan. Himalayan countries (India, Nepal, Bhutan,
China and Pakistan) have issued stamps to showcase
through stamps the importance of Himalayan birds and,
in some cases, the destruction of its habitat and the need for its habitat protection and conservation.
Postage stamps and philatelic products can thus be both a powerful conservation and advocacy tool,
as they circulate widely in the world to create awareness among people, and especially children. Its
increased awareness can help protect and conserve species’ habitats. A Himalayan Bird stamp’s visual
elements of bold printing, appealing coloration, and a charismatic Himalayan bird can inspire positive
responses to the people, especially children.
The book “Himalayan Birds on Stamps” focuses on how different philatelic materials issued by
Himalayan countries India, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Pakistan, can narrate the story of different
species of Himalayan Birds. Different available philatelic materials like stamps, stamp blocks, FDC,
Miniature Sheets, Maxim Cards, Postcards etc. are included. This book explains different bird stamps
released by Himalayan countries and their conservation status and conservation efforts. Almost all bird
stamps released by Nepal and Bhutan are related to Himalayan birds. China has released some bird
stamps of the Himalayas. India has released some stamps of birds of Himalayas and Pakistan too
released a few stamps. Many migratory birds’ stamps of Himalayas were released by all countries.
The book contains seven chapters namely 1. Himalayan birds on stamps and Save Himalayan
birds 2. Birds of Himalayas of India 3. Birds of Himalayas of Nepal, 4. Birds of Bhutan Himalayas 5.
Birds of China Himalayas 6. Birds of Himalayas of Pakistan and 7. Conservation of Himalayan Birds.
Bibliography and annexure of conservation status of the birds are given at the end. Foreword for the

book written by: Sri S. Rajendra Kumar IPOS, CPMG Karnataka Circle, Bangalore. The book is a must
read for all stakeholders, bird watchers, environmentalists, foresters, philatelists, students etc.
This 150 page A4 size paperback book is printed in high quality glossy paper with 512 colour
images of philatelic materials used. The cover of the book is designed by Vani Chandra. The publisher
of the book is The Write Order Publication, Bangalore with the ISBN: 978-93-95563-94-9. The MRP
printed on the book is Rs.1599/-
About the Author
The author of the book is Mr. Lokeswara Rao, IFS (Retd.) was the Principal Chief Conservator of
Forests and Head of Forest Force in Nagaland. His hobbies are Painting and Philately. He exhibited
his painting “The Buddha Great” in various parts of the country. He
received a number of awards in National and International Philatelic
Exhibitions for his exhibits Orchids, Buddhism, Buddhist Mudras,
Post Office postal cancellation on Penny Red, Lady Slipper Orchids
and Buddhist Dances. He authored different research papers and
authored books “Plant Diversity of World”, “Conservation through
Forest Conservation Act” and “Buddhism on Stamps” which won
many awards under philatelic literature class. His articles on
philately appeared in National and International Magazines and
Newspapers.
He may be contacted at Mobile: 9436215175 and email:

[email protected]

India Abroad
In connection with the celebration of 75 years of India’s independence, Serbia issued on 29
November 2022 a sheetlet containing eight postage stamps of 100 Dinar depicting our slogan Azadi
Ka Amrit Mahotsav with tri colour flag.
The FDC features India’s Map in tri colour with flying doves and the cancellation depicts Ashoka Chakra

New Special Cancellations
Amritpex2023 National Mathematics Day
Digambar Muni Vidyasagar Sanskriti Merry Christmas

Shasanacharya - Golden Jubilee Year
Permanent Pictorial Cancellation of Mahesh-1 S. O.

Stamp of the Month
By Nisarg Sutaria, Ahmedabad
Ceres Series -
The First Postage Stamp Series of France
The Ceres series was the first postage stamp series of France,
issued in 6 different values from 1849 to 1850 as a representation of
the French Republic. The series bore the effigy of Ceres, goddess of
growing plants in Roman mythology. Jacques-Jean Barre did the
initial drawing and gravure. Anatole Hulot was in charge of the
printing of the Ceres series done in Paris in the 19th century. As first
series of France, these stamps appeared regularly on
commemorative stamps for philatelic anniversaries and exhibitions,
and on the logo of many philatelic organizations and firms.
Article Reference : https://dbpedia.org/page/Ceres_series_(France)

Knowledge Bank
Value of old postage stamps

Learn how to find the price and value of old stamps
You have found a box filled with old postage stamps in your attic. You are not so sure how to
identify old postage stamps but you have a gut feeling that you have found your grandfather's
old stamp collection that dates back to the 19th century.
Then you become curious and ask “how can find the value of old stamps? When does the cost
of old stamps increase?”
Postage stamps have their own corresponding values. Old postage stamps, especially the rare
stamps, are worth more than the newer stamps.
The value of old postage stamps depends on the availability of similar stamp specimens. This
means that the rarer your old postage stamp is, the more valuable it will be.
How much is an old stamp worth?
Keep in mind that aside from the stamp’s age, the stamp condition, grade, and rarity also
counts.
Used postage stamps that dates back a century ago command a high price not only because of
their age but because such stamp specimens are hard to find.
There are many ways to determine the price of postage stamps.

You can either contact a stamp dealer or you can estimate the stamp value by yourself.
There are many stamp dealers who do professional stamp appraisal services. Ask around from
other philatelist about the right stamp dealer who can give you an unbiased value for your old
postage stamps. Be wary of fake stamp dealers or those who might trick you into an unfair
bargain.
If you do not want to shell out a sum for a stamp dealer’s fee, you can opt to find the value of
your old postage stamp by yourself. The following steps will help you determine your old
stamps worth.
How to find the value of old stamps?
Identify the old postage stamp. Stamp identification is crucial in knowing the value of old
postage stamps. Look up your old stamps in a stamp catalogue.
The Scott Specialized stamp catalog is widely read by American philatelists while the Stanley
Gibbons catalogue is used in Great Britain. There you will find photographs and postage stamp
prices sorted by the date of stamp issue. You can also refer to an old stamp price guide that is
usually sold at philatelic shops.
Determine the centering. Centering is the first step in determining the stamp grade. Here you
can see if the old postal stamp’s design is balanced in relation to the other parts of the
stamp such as the margin and the vignette. Centering is a factor that determines the stamp
grade.
There is no established system for grading the stamp’s center, so naturally it is done through
eyeballing, a technique to see if stamp is centered by turning it upside down. When you look

at the stamp in an inverted manner, your eyes will only focus on the stamp’s main design. As a
result, you can impartially asses the stamp’s centering.
Study the condition or grade. The stamp condition or grade is one of the most important factors
in determining the value of your old stamp. As mentioned earlier, the stamp grade refers to
the how the stamp design was centered inside the stamp margin. Postage stamps are graded
as extremely fine, very fine, fine, good, average, fair, and below average.
Meanwhile, stamp condition is the general appearance of the stamp. The old stamp value
decreases when there is a missing or short perforation teeth, tears and creases on the stamp
paper, faded stamp design, and so on.
Give attention to gum. The stamp gum is the glue found on the backside of a stamp. An
extremely fine or mint postage stamps has a perfect gum that is still original and intact. The
stamp does not have gum skips or heavy natural gum creases.
Stamp collectors pay a high price for old postage stamps with a mint gum. However, if the old
postage stamp is unused but it was affixed onto a stamp album using a stamp hinge, its value
will still decrease. Stamp hinges damage the stamp gum. Philatelists classify the gum of old
stamps as used, unused, and used, never hinged.
Note the degree of cancellation. Stamp cancellation is a method of applying a marking on a

stamp to indicate it is already used.
Old canceled stamps can either be lightly cancelled, wherein the main design of the stamp is
visible and moderately cancelled; or heavily cancelled, the main design is barely visible and the

cancel is dark. Heavy cancellation marks lessens the value of old postage stamps compared to
stamps with light cancel marks.
Determine the perforation condition. Stamp perforations are circular holes punched onto a
printed stamp to facilitate its separation from other surrounding stamps on a sheet. Perfs vary
in size and number, but all should have full teeth and clean holes. Stamp perforations are
measured using a stamp perforation gauge.
Ascertain the rarity. The rarity of the stamp is based on its
visibility in the market. In determining the value of old rare stamps, rarity may surpass
condition or grade in importance because some stamp collectors would rather have a rare
postage stamp or not have it at all. Actual and online stamp auctions are reliable sources in
knowing the rarity and value of old postage stamps.
But some stamps with design flaws are considered valuable old rare stamps. These stamps are
called error stamps and they command high premiums in the old stamp price guide. Most error
stamps, as long as the imperfection is limited to the design, are considered rare stamps.
Know the stamp age and material. Every collector loves a stamp with a colorful history. The
origin of the old postage stamp can simply tell what period the stamp was produced, where it
was manufactured, and the type of material used.
Aside from an excellent stamp and grade, the value of old postage stamps will greatly increase
if the stamps have a traceable history. These factors make vintage stamps highly desirable to
stamp collectors. That is why there are philatelists who specialize in sea mail collecting
because most of these old stamps have exciting stories to tell.
Courtesy: 2 clicks stamps.com

New Issues from Other Countries
ISLE OF MAN
Shipwrecks
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA FRANCE
History of Aviation - Amelia Earhart Dewoitine 01
Issued on 17.11.2022 Issued on 7.11.2022
Courtesy: Wopa+
Mind Blowing Joint Issues - 19
By Sreejesh Krishnan
On Traditional gastronomy in the Mediterranean a parallel issue of commemorative stamp released

by Croatia - Cyprus - France - Greece (- Lebanon - Malta - Morocco - Portugal - Slovenia - Spain –
Tunisia – Turkey.
Croatia : Rab cake Cyprus : Kolokasi France : fish soup Spain : skewered
sardines
Greece : Green pie, Octopus, Lamb, Moussaka
Lebanon : Hummus, Kibbeh, Tabbouleh, Manousheh
Malta : Biskuttini tar-Rahal or Rustic Biscuits, Qaghaq tal-Gunglien or Biscuit rings with sesame
seeds, Pasta Roza bil-Gewz tal-Indi or Coconut Lamington

Morocco : Bissara, Tagra Tajine Portugal : Citrus and Orange
Slovenia : Olive Oil, Istrian Jota Tunisia : Chakchuka, Borzguene Gulf, Refosco, Malvasia
Turkey : Tea, Buns and Coffee

New Special Covers
CHENNAI : 25 April 2022 CHENNAI : 19 May 2022

Nadhaswara Kalanidhi Karukurichi P. Arunachalam CSIR - Central Leather Research Institute India
UDHAGAMANDALAM : 30 June 2022 UDUMALPET : 16 July 2022

All India Conference of AIAIASP Sainik School, Amaravathinagar Diamond Jubilee
CHENNAI : 31 July 2022 CHENNAI : 06 August 2022

President’s Colour to Tamilnadu Police State Human Rights Commission, Tamilnadu
RAIPUR : 11 August 2022 TUTICORIN : 27 September 2022

Revered Mini Mata Ji All India Chamber of Commerce & Industries
CHENNAI : 05 October 2022 CHENNAI : 06 October 2022

Vallalar Bicentenary Celebrations Madras School of Social Work

FARIDABAD N.I.T. H.O : 11 October 2022 : 11 October 2022
ODOP Soft Rice (Kumal Chaul)
BHUBANESWAR : 18 October 2022 RAIPUR : 20 October 2022

Gadajat Gandhi Sarangadhar Das National Tribal Dance Festival
BHUBANESWAR : 25 October 2022 MUSHEERABAD S.O. : 26 October 2022

Harekrushna Mahtab State Library Sardar Sarvayi Papanna Goud
VANASTALIPURAM : 28 October 2022 MAHESH 1 : 24 November 2022

Acharya Konda Laxman Bapuji Rathayatra of Mahesh
KIRLOSKARVADI S.O. : 24 November 2022 VISAKHAPATNAM : 25 November 2022

Sangli-Pump Spares XIII Andhra Pradesh Philatelic Exhibition Appex-2022

PATNA : 30 November 2022 NEW DELHI : 01 December 2022
26th All India Postal Carrom Tournament Shri Khartargachha Sahastrabdi Mahotav Samiti
SADA : 01 December 2022 MUMBAI : 03 December 2022

Bharati-India Antarctic Research Station Maniben Nanavati Women’s College
GUWAHATI : 11 December 2022 RANGPO : 13 December 2022

36th All India Postal Chess Tournament The First Ranji Trophy Match in Sikkim
PATNA : 17 December 2022 NAGPUR : 24 December 2022

St. Xavier’s Alumni Association, Patna Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology
MORADABAD : 29 December 2022 KOHIMA : 01 December 2022

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar U.P. Police Academy Hornbill Festival
Courtesy: Sreejesh Krishnan

Forthcoming Events
TAIPEI 2023
Taipei2022 has been postponed and rescheduled to 2023. The new

date will be announced shortly. Mr. Rajan Jayakar has been appointed as
Indian National Commissioner for the Taipei 2023, 40th FIAP Asian
International Stamp Exhibition, Taipei.
Contact information:
Rajan Motiram Jayakar Email: [email protected]
Flat No.2, Court View, Phone: +91-22-22820570, +91-22-22820572,
126, Maharshi Karve Road, (M) +919821072417
Churchgate, Mumbai 400 020
IBRA 2023
IBRA 2023 and 33st International Stamp Fair will be held at Hall 1 and 2, Messe
Essen, Germany from 25 to 28 May, 2023.
Mr. Madhukar Jhingan has been appointed as Indian National Commissioner for
the IBRA 2023.
Contact information: Madhukar Jhingan, Email: [email protected]

49-D/BG-5 Paschim Vihar (M) +91-9811160965
NEW DELHI-11006
NZ 2023
NZ 2023 is organized by the NZ2020 Stamp Exhibition Inc under the auspices
of the New Zealand Philatelic Federation Inc and under the patronage of the
Federation of Inter-Asian Philately (FIAP) from May 4 to 7, 2023 at the Ellerslie
Event Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.
NZ 2023 is the first International Stamp exhibition held after 33 years in the
New Zealand, with participation open in all Classes - FIAP Championship,
Traditional, Postal History, Postal Stationery, Aerophilately, Astrophilately,
Thematic, Maximaphily, Revenues, Modern Philately, Open Philately, Picture Postcards, One Frame,
and Youth.
The detailed rules of exhibition (IREX) are available at https://nz2023.nz/exhibitors/regulations-irex/
The Exhibit Application forms are available for download at https://nz2023.nz/exhibitors/forms/
The duly filled Forms along with a copy of the first page of the exhibit should be submitted to the
National Commissioner for India, Madhukar Jhingan by Nov 26, 2022.
Contact information: Madhukar Jhingan

16 Park Drive, First Floor, Email: [email protected]
Malibu Towne, Sector 47, (M) +91-9811160965
Gurugram 122018

NATIONAL PHILATELIC EXHIBITION - AMRITPEX 2023
The next National Philatelic Exhibition AMRITPEX 2023 is proposed to

conduct at Hall No.2 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 11 to 15 February, 2023
with the active support of Philatelic Congress of India. There will be more
than 1500 frames. A Special Section dedicated to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
will be an attraction. There will also be extensive plan for digital engagement,
youth engagement and philatelists’ participation.
The participation fees will be as follows:
Youth and School Classes Rs.200/- per frame

National Championship Class Rs.3000/- per frame
Competitive Class Rs.1500/- per frame
One Frame Exhibit Class Rs.2000/- per frame
Literature Class Rs.2000/- per entry
On receipt of the allotment letter, the participation fee should be paid in full on or before 05.01.2023
by the exhibitor. Payment should be made through ePost Office (link: https://www.epostoffice.gov.in)
Three types of dealers’ booths are arranged. The Rent for the booths for the full duration of the
exhibition is:
Standard Booth Rs.25000/-

Deluxe Booth Rs.50000/-
Premium Booth Rs.75000/-
Dealers’ booth applications are accepted from 25.11.2022 and allotment will be made after
payment of the rent in full on first-cum-first-served basis. The payment should be made on ePost
Office, or through eMO along with the application.
The important dates in respect of Amritpex2023 is given below:
Last date for receipt of application for entries 15.12.2022

Date of Allotment 25.12.2022
Last date of payment of participation fees 05.01.2023
Last date of ispatch of exhibit envelopes by DoP 10.01.2023
Commencement date of dealer booth applications 25.11.2022
Last date of application for dealer booth 25.12.2022
Last date of receipt of exhibit 10.02.2023
Return of exhibit by 17.02.2023
To celebrate the 75 years of independence, a special AKAM Pavillion will be dedicated to the
achievement of India@75 in cooperation with Ministry of Culture, depicting the following themes.
1. Freedom Struggle
2. Ideas @ 75
3. Resolve @ 75
4. Actions @ 75
5. Achievements @ 75
In connection with Amritpex2023 it is proposed to bring out a multi-colour souvenir, which will
contain important articles on various aspects of philately.

Special philatelic issues like, commemorative stamps, special covers & cancellations, picture
postcards and other philatelic ancillaries will be released during the exhibition.
All other details can be obtained from its website www.amritpex2023.in
All communications to be sent to:
Philately Cell,
AMRITPEX2023,
O/o Chief Postmaster General,
Delhi Circle,
Meghdoot Bhawan,
New Delhi-110001
Email: [email protected]
Phone No. 011-20831021
I S JAIN, JAIPUR
We deal in India used stamps
• Used commemorative • Definitive series sets

Year Packs
Themes also available • Service Stamps
100, 200, 500 different
packets • Meghdoot postcards 100
Individual stamps on
different
demand
Contact:
I S JAIN
463, Nemi Sagar Colony, Vashali, Jaipur-302 021
Mobile: 9413975383
WhatsApp: 9079830753

Disclaimer
Philatelic Links This e-bulletin is meant for circulation among
philatelists, free of cost. The contents of this bulletin are
www.sipa.net.in based on the information obtained from reliable sources.
www.phila-art.com Maximum care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of
the contents, however we give no guarantee on reliability
www.indianairmails.com or completeness of the information.
www.bharatexotics.com
www.worldwide-mint.com
http://timbrophily.com Acknowledgement:
www.philamart.com
www.collectorbazar.com Rainbow Stamp News: Vol. XV. No.180 (Dec. 2022)
www.stampsofindia.com Deccan Philatelist: Vol.22 Issue 3/2022
The Hyderabad Philatelists: Vol.60 No.6 & 7 (June &
www.rainbowstampclub.blogspot.com
July. 2022)
www.travancoregallery.blogspot.com Signet: Vol.44 No.2,3 & 4 (April - December 2021)
www.philatelicnews.blogspot.com Vadophil: No.167,168,169 (July- Oct 2021 & Jan 22)
www.indianphilately.net Filacap – online. No.238 (December 2022)
www.exponet.info
www.indiapost.gov.in Articles are invited from readers with illustrations to
http://mbstamps.blogspot.com be published in this bulletin. Please send your writeups
http://itsstampnews.blogspot.com in MS Word only, to our email ID: [email protected].
News and philatelic activities in your locality are also
www.indiastudycircle.org welcome. Philatelic Clubs and Associations may send
www.philcent.com their brief reports on day to day activities.
www.vadophil.org Editor
www.indianphilatelics.com
www.mintageworld.com
Awards won
https://dharaastamps.co.in
http://aerophilatelist.blogspot.com/ BRASILIA 2017: Bronze
https://kumar-omnibus.blogspot.com/ INPEX 2017: Silver Bronze
www.philcent.com KERAPEX: Silver
PWO EXPO 2022: Silver
PWO EXPO 2022: Gold (By Popular Voting)
ANANTHAPURI STAMP BULLETIN

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ANANTHAPURI PHILATELIC ASSOCIATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
RULES AND REGULATIONS

The vision: To promote only philately among public. All other hobbies will not be engaged
in this Association
The mission:
1. To unite all persons who are interested in philately,
2. To provide facilities for exchange of stamps, covers and other philatelic materials,
3. To hold meetings, discussions and classes, to conduct philatelic workshops, philateli
quiz. exhibitions etc. for educating and encouraging the hobby of stamp collecting,
4. To publish lawfully its own newsletters, magazines, blogs and websites,
5. To enrol itself as a member of other Philatelic organizations of repute in and outside of India
MEMBERSHIP FEE:
1. ANNUAL MEMBER: Annual subscription Rs.250/- (Rupees Two Hundred and

Fifty only) payable in one instalment.
For applicants below 18 years of age the annual subscription will be Rs.125/-
(Rupees One Hundred and Twenty Five only).
It will be valid only for the corresponding financial year ie. 1st April to 31st March.
2. LIFE MEMBER: Rs.1500/- (Rupees One Thousand Five Hundred only) payable
in one instalment.
For applicants below 18 years of age the onetime subscription will be Rs.750/-
(Rupees Seven Hundred and Fifty only).
Each life member will be provided with Members’ ID Card.
The members below 18 years of age have no voting power till he completes 18
years and paying the full membership fee.
Subscription shall be payable in advance and any annual member who does not pay the
subscription within three months from the due date (1st April) shall cease to be a member.
ADMISSION FEE: All members should have paid an Admission Fee of Rs.50/- at the time of
entrance.
Fees can be deposited in our Savings Bank Account. Account Name: ANANTHAPURI
PHILATELIC ASSOCIATION. Account No: 32270854728 Bank: State Bank of India Branch:
Marakkada Road, Thiruvananthapuram. IFSC Code: SBIN0003826.
MONTHLY MEETING: We meet every first Sunday at 2.30 p.m. in Poorna Hotel, YMCA Road,
Near Government Secretariat, Statue Jn. Thiruvananthapuram. Members attending the monthly
meeting shall pay a sitting fee of Rs.50/- at the venue.
Filled up application may be sent to: P.Mohanachandran Nair (Secretary), NIKUNJAM,

Alummoodu Jn. Neyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram-695121 (Mobile: 9387801948)

Published by R. K. Rajasekharan, President, Ananthapuri Philatelic Association, TC-38/226, Chenthitta,
Choorakkattupalayam, Chalai P.O., Thiruvananthapuram-695036

Bulletin 83 Jan. 2023

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Bulletin 83 Jan. 2023

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VOL: V JANUARY 2023 ISSUE 83

MONTHLY DIGITAL BULLETIN OF ANANTHAPURI PHILATELIC ASSOCIATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

POST OFFICE MAURITIUS

Read article on Page 10

Vol. V Editor & Designer

W New Special Covers 32

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.

4 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Dr. V. Balakrishnan Nair

Our condolences to the bereaved family.

Denomination: Rs.5-00 Souvenir Sheet

125 Years Sardar School, Jodhpur Visamanbapu

NEW MEGHDOOT POSTCARDS

Reserve Bank of India, Ombudsman

NEW BOOK ON PHILATELY RELEASED

PHILATELY AWARENESS PROGRAMME

Mr. Devendra Jain of Hyderabad conducted a Philately Awareness Programme at Bhavan’s

Courtesy: Mahesh Parekh

Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 7

8 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Three awards were given to the outstanding performance of the members.

Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 9

From Royal Philatelic Collection

Sir William Maynard Gomm, KCB Joseph Osmond Barnard

The Royal Philatelic Society’s official description of Barnard’s design is as follows:

Major Edward Benjamin Evans and Thomas Keay Tapling

Ball Cover addressed to Edmond Duvivier Esq, Royal Philatelic Collection

12 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 13

14 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 17

18 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Himalayan Birds On Stamps

The Himalayan countries are a group of countries

20 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

About the Author

He may be contacted at Mobile: 9436215175 and email:

Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 21

22 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Amritpex2023 National Mathematics Day

Digambar Muni Vidyasagar Sanskriti Merry Christmas

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation of Mahesh-1 S. O.

Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 23

Article Reference : https://dbpedia.org/page/Ceres_series_(France)

24 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Value of old postage stamps

How much is an old stamp worth?

There are many ways to determine the price of postage stamps.

How to find the value of old stamps?

26 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

Note the degree of cancellation. Stamp cancellation is a method of applying a marking on a

Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023 27

Ascertain the rarity. The rarity of the stamp is based on its

Courtesy: 2 clicks stamps.com

28 Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin/Vol. V/Issue No.83/January 2023

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA FRANCE

History of Aviation - Amelia Earhart Dewoitine 01

Issued on 17.11.2022 Issued on 7.11.2022

On Traditional gastronomy in the Mediterranean a parallel issue of commemorative stamp released

Greece : Green pie, Octopus, Lamb, Moussaka