INDIA 1866-1902, QUEEN VICTORIA

Return To Catalogue - 1854 issue - 1855-1865 issues - 1902-1935 issues - Indian states: Alwar, Bamra, Bhor, Bhopal part 1 - Indian States: part 2 - Indian States: part 3 - Indian States part 4 - Chamba - Nabha - Faridkot - Gwalior - Jhind - Patiala (Puttialla) - Miscellaneous

Currency: 12 Pies = 1 Anna; 16 Annas = 1 Rupie

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
contact me if you want to purchase them: evert@klaseboer.com.

For issues of issued before 1866 click here.

1866 Queen Victoria, inscription "EAST INDIA POSTAGE" various frames

9 p violet 6 a brown 6 a 8 p grey 12 a brown 1 R grey

  9 p violet
  4 a green
  6 a brown
  6 a 8 p grey
  12 a brown
  1 R grey

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
9 p	***	***
4 a	R	*
6 a	***	*
6 a 8 p	RR	R
12 a	R	***
1 R	RR	***

Official stamps; overprinted 'Service' (1866)

  4 a green ('Service' small)
  4 a green ('Service' large)
  6 a 8 p grey ('Service' large)

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
4 a	RRR	RR	'Service' small
4 a	***	*	'Service' large
6 a 8 p	RRR	-	Non issued?

Official stamp; overprinted 'On H.M.S.'

  4 a green

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
4 a	***	*

For the specialist: all these stamps have watermark 'Elephant Head' and perforation 14.

I've seen the values 4 a and 6 a 8 p with 'CANCELLED' overprint similar to the 1855 issue of India.

6 a 8 p grey 1 R grey
(Typical cancels, reduced views)

1882 Queen Victoria, inscription "INDIA POSTAGE"

3 p red 3 p grey 9 p red 1/2 a green 1 a brown 1 a red 2 a blue 2 a violet 2 a 6 p blue 3 a orange 4 a olive 4 a 6 p green 8 a lilac 12 a lilac on red 1 R grey

4 a 6 p green
(Typical cancel)

  3 p red
  3 p grey
  9 p red
  1/2 a green
  1 a red
  1 a brown
  1 a 6 p brown
  2 a blue
  2 a violet
  2 a 6 p green
  2 a 6 p blue
  3 a orange
  4 a olive
  4 a 6 p green
  8 a lilac
  12 a lilac on red
  1 R grey
  1 R red and green

Surcharged

1/4 a on 1/2 a green 2 1/2 a on 4 a 6 p green

  '1/4' on 1/2 a green (1898)
  '2 1/2 As' on 4 a 6 p green (1889)

The watermark on all these stamps is 'Star', the perforation is 14.

(Watermark 'Star')

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
3 p red	c	c
3 p grey	c	*
9 p	*	*
1/2 a	*	vc	Issued in yellowish green in 1900
1 a brown	*	c
1 a red	*	c
1 a 6 p	**	*
2 a blue	***	c
2 a violet	***	c
2 a 6 p green	**	c
2 a 6 p blue	***	*
3 a	**	*
4 a	**	*
4 a 6 p	***	**
8 a	***	*
12 a	***	**
1 R grey	***	*
1 R red and green	***	*
Surcharged
1/4 on 1/2 a	*	*
2 1/2 a on 4 a 6 p	**	*

Official stamps; overprinted 'On H.M.S.'

  3 p red
  1/2 a green
  1 a brown
  1 a red
  2 a blue
  2 a violet
  4 a olive
  8 a lilac
  1 R red and green

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
3 p	*	*
1/2 a	*	c
1 a brown	*	vc
1 a red	*	c
2 a blue	**	c
2 a violet	***	c
4 a	**	c
8 a	***	c
1 R	***	*

Stamps with overprint 'POSTAL SERVICE' are fiscal stamps.

Forgeries

14 1 R postal forgeries of 1888, images obtained thanks to Mark Rowe. A genuine 1 a stamp was also used on this part of an envelope. A zoom-in of one of the stamps is also shown. This forgery is described in Leslie Fletcher's book 'Postal Forgeries of the World' as postal forgery #1. The eye is very badly done (too white and too large).

Postal forgery type #2 of Fletcher's book has the 'PO' of 'POSTAGE' too small and the 'O' is badly done. In front of the chin there is a background line partly missing.

Offered on Ebay in 2009
Postal forgery type #3 of Fletcher's book is only known as a die proof (Madras forgery?). It is rather deceptive, but it has no watermark and no perforation. I've been told that after this forgery was discovered, the stamp was replaced by the 1 R red and green design.

In the Dominion Philatelist Vol.IV. No.41, page 63the following text can be found regarding the above forgeries:
FORGED INDIAN STAMPS.
The report of the Indian Postmaster-General for the past year contains an interesting account of the manner in which a large number of stamps of the value of one rupee each were forged. The forger was a Poona Brahmin, who was formerly in the service of the Trigonometrical Survey. He had prepared a die of the one-rupee stamp in white stone, which was set in wood, and thirty-nine of these dies had been made from time to time before he succeeded in producing a sufficiently accurate representation of the original stamp. This die was thoroughly cleaned with kokam, or mangosteen, and then covered with an oily substance or ink of the colour of the one-rupee stamp, which was carefully spread over it with the finger. A piece of paper was then placed on the die, and rubbed with a shell, and on being removed was found to bear a wonderfully dose representation of the genuine stamp. The stamp so produced was then placed with its face down on a piece of metal, moistened with water, and had a watermark die, that had been separately prepared, gently hammered upon it. It was afterwards put upon a small square of tin, of the same size as the genuine stamp, marked with the correct number of holes for the purpose of perforation, and carefully perforated with a small needle-like instrument. The whole process occupied about ten minutes. The number of counterfeit stamps successfully passed by the forger and his accomplices was about 1,000. The forger and his chief accomplice, a stamp vendor, were prosecuted in the Bombay High Court, and sentenced to ten years' transportation each. A few of the counterfeit stamps found their way into the Bombay Post Office through the complicity of some of the clerks, and one of these committed suicide when the forger was arrested. A new one-rupee stamp, combining two colors, was in consequence introduced. It is interesting to notice that only two frauds connected with the telegraphic money order system are recorded in this year's report, and in one of these the person committing the fraud committed suicide before he could be arrested. ---- From the Times.

Another postal(?) forgery of the 1 R value; the 'S' of 'POSTAGE' is slanting too much to the right. This is postal forgery #4 of Fletcher's book. The forgery next to it with forged "GWALIOR" overprint for Gwalior, "FARIDKOT STATE SERVICE" for Fardikot and "JEEND STATE" for Jhind and "PUTTIALLA STATE" for Puttialla could have been made by the same forger.

Another forgery of the 1 R value with forged 'KARACHI' cancel; probably a philatelic forgery.

Another postal forgery with awkward 'OS' in 'POSTAGE'.

And another postal forgery

The forger Sperati seems to have made forgeries of the 1 R value as well. He printed it on bleached out cheaper valued stamps from the Indian States and printed his forged 1 R design on it. Sperati forgeries are very rare and quite expensive.

Fournier forged '1/4' surcharge (probably used to make forged inverted surcharges) and a forged cancel made by the forger Fournier. Images taken from a 'Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'.

Sperati forgery of the 9 p value, here a imperforate blackprint ('proof').

Primitive forgery of the 2 a value.

1895 Queen Victoria, large size

  2 R brown and red
  3 R green and brown
  5 R violet and blue

For the specialist, the watermark on the 1882 issue is 'Star', example:

(Star watermark on a 3 R stamp)

The perforation is 14 on these stamps.

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
2 R	R	**
3 R	R	***
5 R	RR	R

Stamps with overprint 'POSTAL SERVICE' are fiscal stamps:

1900 Stamps used in China, stamps of 1882 overprinted 'C.E.F' (Chinese Expeditionary Forces)

  3 p red
  1/2 a green
  1 a brown
  1 a red (1902)
  2 a blue
  2 a 6 p green
  3 a orange
  4 a olive
  8 a lilac
  12 a lilac on red
  1 R red and green

Value of the stamps
vc = very common c = common * = not so common ** = uncommon		*** = very uncommon R = rare RR = very rare RRR = extremely rare
Value	Unused	Used	Remarks
3 p	*	*
1/2 a	*	*
1 a brown	*	*
1 a red	***	***
2 a	***	***
2 a 6 p	***	***
3 a	***	***
4 a	***	***
8 a	***	***
12 a	***	***
1 R	***	***

For stamps of India issued from 1902 to 1935, click here.