INDIAN STATES, Orcha, Poonch and Rajpipla

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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.

Many forgeries exist: see the excellent site http://www.princelystates.com/CurrentIssue/ff-04-01a.shtml for more information.

ORCHA

1900 Arms of Orcha

  1/2 a brown
  1 a violet
  2 a yellow
  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
1/2 a	***	-
1 a	***	-
2 a	***	-
4 a	***	-

These stamps appear to have been prepared by a Swiss jeweller in 1897, but were not accepted by the government of Orcha and were subsequently dumped on the stamp market. They exist cancelled to order with a 'O' cancel in bars.

1914 Arms slightly different type

  1/4 a blue
  1/2 a green (two types)
  1 a red (two types)
  2 a brown
  4 a orange

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
1/4 a	c	c
1/2 a	c	c
1 a	*	*
2 a	*	*
4 a	**	**

Crude forgery:

Forgeries, genuine stamps should have background lines.

For more information on forgeries: http://www.princelystates.com/CurrentIssue/ff-04-01d.shtml

POONCH

Pountch

Poonch issued stamps from 1876 onwards. In 1894 Poonch stopped using its own stamps.

1876 Native text

  1 p red
  1 p black (official stamp)
  6 p red

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
1 p red	**	*
1 p black	**	***
6 p red	RRR	RR

Modern forgeries

1879 Native text

1/2 a, 1 a, 2 a and 4 a

  1/2 a red
  1/2 a black (official stamp)
  1 a red
  1 a black (official stamp)
  2 a red
  2 a black (official stamp)
  4 a red
  4 a black (official stamp)

These stamps were printed on a variety of coloured papers.

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
1/2 a red	**	***
1/2 a black	***	***
1 a red	**	***
1 a black	***	***
2 a red	***	***
2 a black	***	***
4 a red	***	***
4 a black	***	***

A very dubious item.

Modern forgeries.

After 1894 this country no longer issued its own stamps.

RAJPIPLA

Rajpeepla

1880 Arms of Rajpipla

  1 p blue
  2 a green
  4 a brown

I've been told that there are 64 varieties of the 1 p (a sheet of 1 p stamps contains 8x8 stamps). The two other values are printed in sheets of 20 (4 rows of 5 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
1 p	**	***
2 a	***	R
4 a	***	R

Very primitive forgeries, produced in the 1980's(?). See: Indian States, modern forgeries for more information. The 4 a is imperforate and the lines behind the sword have almost entirely disappeared. Next to it some 1 p imperforate forgeries, most likely from the same source. I've also seen an imperforate 1 p stamp in the color lilac.

Strange item with printed perforation?

This might be a forgery, according to http://www.rajpiplapost.com/, the cancel 'R' in bars does not exist for Rajpipla. Genuine cancels have native script in the bars. Also the margins of this stamp appear too large. A similar 1 p blue forgery is shown there with too wide margins and a break in the outer frameline in the upper right corner. The pair of 1 p blue forgeries is this forgery type as well. Lastly, two more forgeries, most likely from the same workshop.