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So there I was again, sitting in an auction at my local philatelic society, twiddling my thumbs. The chances of completing my run of plated C5s were incredibly slim and it looked like it would be a quiet night. I watched with interest as shoeboxes filled with world on and off paper made a few quid, whilst recent first day covers wouldn't sell for 20p. Then came that little lot of Victoria – Edward India that I had seen earlier. In a moment of madness I put my bidding card in the air for the reserve price of £3. No one else was interested. I was doomed.
Children’s Day – 1961, depicting a boy working at a lathe! Philately can show how society develops over the years and, with the addition of some appropriate protective equipment, perhaps also shows us what we should be getting back to.*
*No, not child labour! Teaching practical skills. I recently worked in a factory and they were having real problems finding any new starters with a practical background.
Said lot was taken home and arranged in a Hagner page in what I thought may be the right chronology. A couple of months later and another batch came home from the club, this one with more officials in the mix. These were duly added to the Hagner. Curiosity and the wish to get it right led me online to purchase a second hand SG India catalogue. Flicking idly through the tome, I started to become vaguely aware of said doom.
1929 8 anna airmail issue. Not a great stamp, but that ‘British Cavalry’ postmark started the casual internet surfing.
Yet another local auction later and some George V were added, some with interesting postmarks like ‘British Cavalry’ and the like. I started to read up the history of India and buying stamps from ‘feudatory states’. I know, right. By this time I knew I had a real problem and was Googling ‘Philatelists Anonymous’ and wondering were to hide this stuff so the wife did not find it.
1895 ½ anna black of Bhopal. English was not the first language of the workmen, and spelling errors are common.
The plus side (or alternatively ‘desperately seeking justification’)
It would do me no harm at all if I were to expand my philatelic knowledge base. I am a self confessed specialist and suffer from all the handicaps which that brings.
I am pretty good at penny reds and I have a good understanding of the intaglio method of printing as practised by Perkins Bacon. But I know nothing much about typography and even less about lithography. What I do know about typography has been picked up from the surface printed issues of GB Victoria and have also been trying to catch up on the theory by doing some background reading. It seems similar in some ways to Intaglio, though with different considerations and results. Lithography is still next door to black magic. It would not do me any harm to diversify a little.
1889 ¼ anna Orange of Indore. Beautifully printed by my old friends Perkins Bacon. If you would like to see a larger image click here.
[Ha! If proof were needed that I am new to India, this stamp was actually printed by Waterlow. PB printed the stamps following this issue. As an aside, I think the Waterlow work here is of better quality than Perkins Bacon's.]
Also, the colours man – the colours! Green is foreign to me. I think I know what blue-green or yellow-green looks like. But can I tell the difference between Light green, Bright green and Emerald as per the catalogue? No I can’t. Looking at the stamps that should fall into one of those three pigeon holes I can find yellow green. But that is not on the list. I am ignorant. I also know from experience that Stanley Gibbons may also be in ignorance and they, when pressed, can start to get a little evasive.
However, there is information hidden in colour, it is part of the story of the stamps and when used in conjunction with other factors can help to complete their timeline. I do not collect penny reds by colour, but I do use the colour as a clue to where the stamp fits. In regard to India, my basic level of knowledge means that I have to have a starting point, so I will be making use of the SG colour types, but reserve the right to abandon them at a later date.
1854 2 anna green. Pretty!
Paper. Penny reds are easy, by and large paper is paper. Once in the territory of India, let alone feudatory states, there is more than one type! I have a challenge ahead but have already found that a little knowledge can help spot a good’un.
India is huge and it’s population is massive. Therefore there are lots of stamps available. Therefore they are cheap. Apart from one or two stamps, the money I have paid has been pocket money levels. OK, condition is mixed, and I may not get back what I have paid, but you should only pay hard cash when you know what you are doing. The only way to get that knowledge is by handling the stamps. When dealing with Indian stamps this is important as there are many common copies and forgeries. The status of some of these stamps is an interesting point, as most were used for postage, but there were many reprints made, officially and unofficially and copies and forgeries of many kinds are to be found. The best defence is to know your stuff.
1903 King Edward VII 3 anna with a Patiala overprint. Patiala was a generally pro British state in the Punjab area which signed a postal convention with the British Raj. Is the overprint original? It's not an expensive stamp, so probably.
Philately is a pastime. I am enjoying starting a new area, even if I never get beyond an average level of knowledge. It is nice to be a complete beginner sometimes as the pleasure of discovery is very nearly constant.
There. I sound like a travel program.
AP
May 2020
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