The Royal Collection : Kg5 ~ Some Notes.

March 1, 1936.

The Royal Collection ~ Some Notes

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS the Royal Collection was enriched by gifts which His Late
Majesty was pleased to accept. He was presented with a selection of rare stamps by the
Philatelic Society, London, at the time of his marriage, and on his Empire tour in 1907 he
accepted stamps from the Maharajah of Kashmir, from philatelists in Sydney and Malta,
and from the Commonwealth Government. The Maharajah of Nepaul and the Canadian
Government also presented him with attractive collections of Canadian and Nepaulese
stamps.

Among the rarities in the Royal Collection are copies of the Id. and 2d. "Post Office"
Mauritius stamps. His Majesty acquired the latter, which is unused, at Messrs. Puttick and
Simpson's auction in London during 1904 for £1,450.
The collection of Fijian stamps formed by Mr. C. J. Phillips, and used as a basis for his
book. "The Postage Stamps of the Fiji Islands," was purchased by the King, and
incorporated with the fine collection he already possessed. A few rare items from the
Ferrari collection were added later. This is perhaps the finest Fijian collection in the
world, a unique item being the only known proofs on yellow paper of the "Fiji Times"
stamps. There are also several reconstructed sheets of this issue.

Tonga.
Included in the Royal Collection is the only known specimen of the id. carmine of 1886,
perf. 12.5 x 10, and the Id. bright ultramarine with surcharge ( 1/2d.) omitted. There is
also a mint copy of the 7.1/2d. of 1897 with centre inverted.
The Royal Collection is particularly strong in early Australian States issues. The
Victorian "Half-lengths" are plated; there are several mint and used copies of the 6d.
orange Beaded Oval, and also many other valuable items.

The show piece of the Western Australians is a splendid copy of the 4d. blue with frame
inverted, and there is a very representative array of the other transfer varieties of the same
stamp.
At the International Philatelic Exhibition, London, in 1906, King George displayed his
Hong Kong, Mauritius, Trinidad, and also his Edwardian stamps of the Empire. He
gained a silver medal for the Hong Kong collection. He also displayed the Edwardians at
the "Walthamstow exhibition" in 1910.

The first Curator of the Royal Collection was Mr. J. A. Tilleard, who was associated with
the King's philatelic activities from 1893 to 1913. He was in his time a well-known
philatelist, a Fellow and former Hon. Secretary of the Royal Philatelic Society, London.
Following his death, Mr. Edward Denny Bacon was appointed to this office. Mr., Bacon
has been a collector since 1870, and has written numerous well-known reference books
and articles, a very large number of the latter appearing in the "London Philatelist." He
and Mr. F. H. Napier wrote the standard handbooks on the stamps of Barbados, Grenada
and St. Vincent.
He became Sir Edward Bacon in 1932, being created a Knight Commander of the
Victorian Order. Sir Edward is a Past President of the Royal Philatelic Society, London,
and was elected a member of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921.

A great piece Rod.
Anyone wishing to know more details about the Philatelic life of a King 1910-1936 I suggest to get a copy of this book, showed elsewhere but just as appropriate here.

https://goscf.com/t/3290&whichpage=6



You can read too about Sir Edward Bacon who, as keeper of the Royal Collection, was as cut-throat as they come when it came to stamps.

Fascinating.

Londonbus1....not fascinating at all

I'd love to know what the Maharajah of Kashmir gave him. Some of these?

here I thought you were going to show us some bank notes but sadly that is not the case


the story si svery nice though :)

Nice scans gentlemen,
I have been coveting that book since you posted it elsewhere Lb
I'll pick it up in an auction here cheaply in about 50 years time.

Not sure about the Kashmiri Tony,
looks like a potato stamp.

no no that is a rubber stamp god alone knows what it has to do with philately ? :)