Horamkhet, I'm afraid the first is a forgery of this stamp
which was reissued with imitation perforations drawn in as
In this case, the forger seems to have been undecided which he wanted to forge, and so had a bit both ways. Naturally enough, the end result is a bit of a mongrel.
The second, 3 Pies, stamp is quite OK. These were lithoed by Waterlow. There are two types, varying according to the positions of the dots on either side of 'THREE PIES'. Yours is a Type A - the better one - and catalogues £2.50 this year. Of course, that's for a stamp in perfect condition, and yours looks a little the worse for wear.
The two elephants are the low values of a set of eight values up to 1 Rupee, recess printed by Waterlows. Gibbons, for reasons best known to themselves, value the 3 Pies at £5 (my own valuation: 50p) and the 6 Pies at £1.50. Again, of course, the prices are for stamps in perfect condition.
Sirmoor State was notorious among stamp collectors for making the State postmen retrieve the used State stamps from every letter they delivered. The result was that used stamps, of the lower values at least, are quite common - and covers are howling rarities (think four figures Sterling).
Posted 01/27/2012 05:52 am
