CLASSIC CINDERELLA MYSTERIES - BIKANER ONE AHHA!
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Topic: CLASSIC CINDERELLA MYSTERIES - BIKANER ONE AHHA!
Posted By: ambrofos
Subject: CLASSIC CINDERELLA MYSTERIES - BIKANER ONE AHHA!
Date Posted: 31 March 2010 at 22:30
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The Indian State of Bikaner issued revenue stamps in 1880-1886 that are among my favorites. I have quite a collection of them and from time to time a novelty appears. Among them is this one which has an error of spelling which is most striking. I have a theory that the ENO AHHA appears first, then was reengraved to form ENO ANNA and then finally ONE ANNA. Here are the images which lead me to this conclusion. I am interested in producing a monograph on these stamps would anyone care to contribute any information or images? http://www.freeimagehosting.net/z2j64">  http://www.freeimagehosting.net/">  The normal stamps (with different dies) look like this http://www.freeimagehosting.net/">
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Replies:
Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 01 April 2010 at 07:03
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that AHHA is an interesting error. Though I can't add anything to these particular stamps you have got me studying my small collection of Indian revenues, and appreciating them more. My own Bikaner stamps are limited to a couple of Receipt Stamps. It would be quite a task to identify similar errors on any non-English text, but it is likely that these were due to unfamilarity with English characters. Is that your assessment? ------------- https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look! |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 01 April 2010 at 13:18
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Yes, the engraver was no doubt unfamiliar with English and made mistakes. There are also varieties in the Hindi scripts on these stamps. Anyway I like the style of printing and graphic design.
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Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 01 April 2010 at 13:35
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Here is another denomination so you can see how the graphic design developed. This stamp was used on a HUNDI which is a bill of exchange. HUNDIs remain a major means of transferring money today. You will note that EIGHT is spelled EICHT and that ANNAS are spelled ANAS. Note as well how the letters in STAMPRAJBIKANIR all run together. This layout is typical of the Hindi script and shows how that style has simply been transferred to the English. http://www.freeimagehosting.net/">  ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 11:52
I got 2 quite unusual denominations recently, a 2 anna and a 1 rupee red and black.   Also found were these fractional denominations of a quarter anna and half anna, red and black.     ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 11:57
This is a neat item. Normally we find these stamps on large format court documents, but here it is on a smaller document with a nice seal. ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 12:05
And here is a photo of the place where these stamps would have been used ------------- AMB |
Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 01 November 2011 at 12:10
I think you are correct. Simple transliteration of the words. But that and the spelling implies that both parties to the printing were familiar enough with the sounds of the individual letters in most cases they were unfamilar with the written words themselves. Could they speak but not write English? There is much that can be inferred from thedevelopment of these stamps. ------------- https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look! |
ambrofos wrote:Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 02 November 2011 at 00:25
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These stamps are fascinating. I have quite a collection of Indian Revenues and for a wide range of subjects such as theatre and musical performances, equally beautiful and far more ornate than they ever needed to be. Some of these were sent to me as printers' samples when I was researching having stamps printed in India for a publishing client. I will see if I can find them and scan a few. ------------- My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - Check regularly for updates and special offers... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately . |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 25 December 2011 at 05:17
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Hi, one wanders into all kinds of unusual things as one searches to add to ones collection. It used to be said that no one forged Indian Revenue stamps, but in my experience I have found that this is not absolutely true. There is a forgery of the famous Bhor revenue inverted frame error and a number of forgeries of other states. However, today I saw this stamp and looking at the color, design, printing, and lettering, it appears to me to be a forgery. While there is a uni-color example listed, I have not seen it and it would have seemed to me to have had a different design from this stamp, and it would have had a definite "watercolor" printing appearance. An original stamp is shown to the right for comparison. You can see that it is the basis of the design of the forgery because these stamps contain a date in the die that shows when it was produced. In this case, the date is 1879. The characters look like, [forgiving the limitations of the type face!] a "1^" in the left corner (18), and "v9" (79) in the right corner. Also look especially at the color, and design differences. It appeared that the person making the die did not properly understand the construction of the letters. Look especially at the character in the middle of the bottom inscription. Click on the picture below to enlarge. http://www.freeimagehosting.net/0ced3 -  ------------- AMB |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 09 January 2012 at 04:51
| Where do you find your stamps ambrofos? Any tips? |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 01 March 2012 at 01:22
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Here is another one of these stamps with a special seal tab at the bottom.  ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 01 March 2012 at 01:36
There are other kinds of court stamps - called Tulbana - used for process service fee   These have a lot of charm ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 01 March 2012 at 01:38
Printed stamp papers are also fun to collect. They have quite complicated and gorgeous heraldry. ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 01 March 2012 at 01:39
Sometimes we can find both stamp paper with extra stamps applied ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 01 March 2012 at 01:52
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There are different dies of stamps that show distinctive spelling differences. Here are some striking examples where FOUR has been spelled EOUR. The FOUR variety is actually scarcer. These dies also show the SAMBAT year of issue (1939). To get the date anno domini, subtract 57 years and one sees that it is from 1882 A.D.  and this is from 1944 (1887 A.D.)  ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 04 March 2013 at 01:12
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Hi - Here is an old-time collection of unusual values, designs, and shades that I did not have previously. Sometimes good things come to those who wait. Some of these have "cancels". I have seen the "B" once before, but not the circular mark on the black quarter anna. I have never seen any of the low denominations on document. Has anyone else?  and  ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 09 March 2013 at 08:25
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I got this collection of Bikaner stamps in the mail today. All the papers are thin. The stamp with the "B" cancel is on yellowish thin paper. It also has a tilted offset impression of another one anna stamp on its reverse. The "gray shades" in two cases really appear to be ink of a different color rather than just a small amount of black ink. The deep black shades have a shininess to the black ink - as if a lot of binder had been added to the ink. If this glossiness is due to binder, its probably gum tragancanth which is put into watercolors to help the ink spread evenly and attach itself to the paper. ------------- AMB |
Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 09 March 2013 at 08:53
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A bit of a diversion, but these latest stamps appear to be quite crude by any standards. Normally there is some sort of security regarding the printing of stamps, or measures to prevent employees stealing those stams used for postage (eg perfins). What could prevent copies of these stamps being printed, employees taking the cash and pocketting it? Were these for government documents, receipts, licences or what? ------------- https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look! |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 09 March 2013 at 09:04
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Hi Steve - The stamps of Bikaner have quite a bit of security associated with them to prevent their reuse - more in fact than most stamps. The stamps are printed on extremely thin paper, highly porous, and in watercolor. Therefore, any attempt to wash them off the paper will result in total loss of the image. Also, in Bikaner, a document (court, deed, hundi etc...) is not legal unless it has the stamp upon it. Typically, this stamp is required to be cancelled by some device, and this usually is a hole punch or a seal. Most used stamps are punched, and are on the whole document, or at least part of the document on which they were used. Unused stamps, which are ungummed (or they would curl up completely) and also off paper, do not have holes. Adhesive stamps are on very thin paper. "Stamps" on thick paper are cut-outs from revenue stamped paper. There are two types of paper on revenue stamped paper - a thick, soft, yellowish wove paper and grayish hard, strongly laid, semi-translucent paper. Sometimes stamped paper is uprated with an adhesive thin-paper stamp, as illustrated on this site. The stamp papers here which are not punch cancelled are more difficult to come by than those which have holes. ------------- AMB |
Posted By: Bas S Warwick
Date Posted: 09 March 2013 at 09:24
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No known errors here but I thought they might be of interest. Not knowing what they were I bought them for their 'Cinderella' like appearance - but apparently the are quite legitimate 're-strikes' and valuable.
http://i1256.photobucket.com/albums/ii497/samarkand888/CCF18052012_00003.jpg"> 
  The book The Stamps of Jammu & Kashmir tells of how the author, Frits Staal, and his collaborator, B.P. Sharma, found the old defaced Jammu & Kashmir implements in the museum in Srinagar, and printed off specimens of everything they found there in the purple ink of the scan. (The page reference is to the chapter in the book on reprints and forgeries. The actual story of the 'Five Fruitful Days in Srinagar' is at pages 229-266.) |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 17 March 2013 at 07:27
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Do you know how these stamps were printed? I wonder whether the plate was metal and whether the paper was pressed on top of the inked die and hand-rubbed? I am trying to figure out whether the stamps of Bikaner were printed from a wooden or perhaps a brass handstamp. I have seen a wooden die which inspired this idea and the handstamps shown below are from Raj Bikaner A theory against this is that in some instances the stamps of Bikaner are very heavily printed - almost embossed and this would require some considerable force without use of a press of some kind.   Yet, as the document below shows, there were plenty of large seals applied to documents, with sometimes indifferent results with respect to clarity of impression.  ------------- AMB |
Posted By: Bas S Warwick
Date Posted: 17 March 2013 at 13:28
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ambrofos - it seems the plates were metal and defaced so that they were of no further use. Not sure of the printing method but its probably in the book mentioned below. I appear to have some of the 'impressions' from the 'wounded implements'. As I understand from a specialist these are quite legitimate 're-strikes'. The book The Stamps of Jammu & Kashmir tells of how the author, Frits Staal, and his collaborator, B.P. Sharma, found the old defaced Jammu & Kashmir implements in the museum in Srinagar, and printed off specimens of everything they found there in the purple ink of the scan. (The page reference is to the chapter in the book on reprints and forgeries. The actual story of the 'Five Fruitful Days in Srinagar' is at pages 229-266.) From http://www.kashmirstamps.ca/Overview.html - http://www.kashmirstamps.ca/Overview.html The wounded implements came to rest at the Sri Pratap Singh Museum in Srinagar. A few impressions of each in purple and black ink were made in August 1981 by Drs Frits Staal and B.P. Sharma in a wonderful summer adventure. The story is recounted in their essay, “Five Fruitful Days in Srinagar” in Staal’s text, The Stamps of Jammu and Kashmir (1983), a must for any J&K collector. A scan is of the ½a+1a Jammu Composite Plate is shown above. Five such reprints were produced from this implement. Reference: Staal pp 148-59 126
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Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 17 March 2013 at 20:45
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Great web article http://www.kashmirstamps.ca/Overview.html - http://www.kashmirstamps.ca/Overview.html - thanks for letting me know. ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 16 June 2013 at 08:41
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I have been reorganizing and examining my collection and have come to the conclusion that there are at least 18 distinctly different die types of the one anna stamp. I have also found two dies of the red two anna, and 2 inner value dies for the bi-colored eight anna stamp. There are 2 dies at least of the red and green four anna stamp, and 2 distinctly different green frame dies for this as well. There are 3 colors which vary from green, green-blue, to blue-green. Of the adhesive stamps there is one die for each major type. In the case of the one anna, it too is found on stamp paper. The authors of the catalog that I use, write that they had assumed that all dies exist as both adhesive revenue stamps and stamp papers, but I have not found this to be the case in my survey. The revenue stamped papers show significantly greater diversity in design than the stamps. Here is some other information I have received. The black seal on 4 annas Talbana (court summons) stamp reads 'MEHKAME HISAB, RAJ SHRI BIKANER SA...) where the "SA..." means to introduce the Sambat year which, in this example, is not visible). In english the inscription means 'ACCOUNTS OFFICE, BIKANER STATE'. ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 22 June 2013 at 07:06
Here is a better copy of the "EOUR" spelling of the 4 anna stamp paper. The seal at the right of the stamp is a clear example of the "accounts office" seal I mentioned in the post above.
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Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 08 November 2013 at 23:14
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Hi - I happened to find in Melville's Phantom Stamps: the following with notes added by me in brackets [] Six stamps are included in the Catalog for Advanced Collectors as postage stamps of this Rajputana state and Moens included two of these, regarding the balance as fiscals. This state has never had its own postage stamps. Sir Charles Stewart Wilson [who founded of the Philatelic Society of India in 1897] inquired into the status of these stamps and learnt through the British Resident at Bikaner that the two stamps illustrated [which are the quarter anna (black horizontal oblong) and half anna (red vertical oblong)] are "Essays prepared some seventeen years ago [1880] for the then Maharaja Sirdar Singh, who intended to introduce a postal system. This project however was never carried out, and the stamps were never issued at all." The other stamps of Bikaner are all fiscals ------------- AMB |
Posted By: ambrofos
Date Posted: 22 March 2014 at 02:22
Here are a number of different die types - see if you can spot the differences in size and shapes of the top and bottom medallions and the differences in fonts, and positions of the circular ornaments at the right of the stamps       ------------- AMB |
Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 24 March 2014 at 05:35
That is quite a range of die variations there. Some are perhaps easier to spot than others. I presume that you are attempting to catalogue or list these, and that would seem to be quite a task. Firstly actually desribing each in words would be difficult. So you are left in a situation where you call them types i, ii etc. To make this logical you not only have discover a chronology for these, and also make sure that you have no gaps. Is a particular font always matched with a particular medallion type? ------------- https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look! |
Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 24 March 2014 at 06:25
I don't think it is a Font as such - all of the lettering - like the illustrative elements - looks individually hand-cut rather than mechanically produced. ------------- My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - Check regularly for updates and special offers... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately . |