I must say, I'm surprised Rod222 hasn't leaped on this before. Travancore is his special love.
Anyway, these all look perfectly OK. Various different (conch-shell watermarked) papers were used over the years: the three large format stamps should show the third type nicely.
The differences in overprint are also quite OK. The letters stand for On S(tate) S(ervice), or government use. There were eight different versions of the overprint, varying in font and/or spacing.
Your first looks like SG O32, the 1¼ Chuckram Type 2 overprint of 1926-30, 30p in the 2011 Gibbons. There is also a sideways watermark known, £13 used.
Your second is probably an SG O45, the Type 6 overprint on ¾ Chuckram of 1930-39. Perf 12, it's 10p; perf 12½, it's 50p and perf compound 12 and 12½, £2.75.
The remaining three are the three low values of the 1937 Temple Entry commemoratives. And here, it gets a little complicated, because they're also known with the three perf variations.
6 Cash: Perf 12, £3, perf 12½ £2.75, perf compound 12 and 12½ £55
12 Cash: Perf 12 £3.75, perf 12½ £4.75, perf compound 12 and 12½ £80
1½ Chuckram: Perf 12 £1.50, perf 12½ £30, perf compound 12 and 12½ unpriced
Although it's not the same, I could let you have a used copy of the missing 3 Chuckram stamp for free. Just email me your address.
These commemoratives were issued to mark the Maharaja of Travancore ordering that all the Hindu temples in the State were now to be opened to the Dalits or Untouchables. This was a very progressive and enlightened act, and well ahead of British India at the time. The stamps depict various important temples in the State. |
Posted 05/06/2011 9:03 pm
