Old India "On Hms" Overprint

I assume it means "On Her Majesty Ship" indicating being en route. Any way to tell which ship? Were the overstamps made on land and then given to ships or the overstamp made on board?

I believe it is "On His (or Her) Majesty's Service" meaning official Govt business. This is the expression Ian Fleming parodied when he wrote the James Bond novel "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

They are indeed 'On Her Majesty's Service'. They were followed by a large number of plain 'SERVICE' overprints, throughout the British period.

Here are two for Nabha State, from George VI

And what exactly does it mean? India was already under the Crown, and these were Indian stamps, so anything done within India was sanctioned by the Crown.

They were for use by government officials, not by the general public.

I don't collect India, just the Indian States, but this Cochin Service cover demonstrates the principles:



The stamps are overprinted On C(ochin) G(overnment) S(ervice)and the cover has the additional imprint 'On C.G.S. only', was sent from the Cochin Government Press, in Ernakulam, the capital, and the use of the Service stamps has been authorised by the illegible signature of the Clerk, at bottom left.

Service stamps were usually on sale to the general public, but could only be used by government.

Some of the Indian States allowed government mail to be carried free. This Barwani State Service cover (made from a recycled US newspaper)



was charged postage due, because the government official who sent it forgot to sign it and include his position. (The Postage Due mark is the oblong box at the centre of the cover.)

Tony was there a specific reason the public could buy these? Or was it just to appease collectors? It seems rather odd since they could not be postally used by the public.

It was mainly to keep the collectors happy.

Some of the Indian States produced Service stamps purely for collectors. These Bundi ('Sacred Cows') Service stamps



were entirely redundant, because government mail travelled free at the time. Bundi did issue proper Service stamps later



which were required for use on government mail. Properly used, they're quite scarce.

Occasionally, Service stamps were not supposed to be sold to the general public. In the last days of Soruth State, supplies of Service stamps were running very low and the State Post Office called in and surcharged where necessary just about everything, to try to keep up supplies. That included revaluing this 1 Rupee high value down to the basic letter rate:



('Sarkari' = Service). Mint, this stamp (SG O19) is catalogued at £1400; used at £75. Some local officials even resorted to handwriting SERVICE or SARKARI onto ordinary postage stamps, when supplies ran out



Needless to say, these weren't for sale to the general public either, and you should only buy them with a BPA Certificate (which this pair has).

Fascinating! I naively thought they were issued strictly for government use.

Service stamps may have been strictly for use by government employees, but stamp collectors will be stamp collectors ... and if the stamps exist, collectors simply have to have them.

The Bundi Service overprints on the Sacred Cows types were never needed for official use, because government mails were carried free, but that didn't stop the Bundi Post Office. Not only could collectors buy the Service overprints, the obliging postal officials would apply the overprint in any position the Sahibs desired:



(I have grave doubts about the cancellations. They're probably faked.) Not surprisingly, there's no premium for overprints in odd positions.

Thanks for the additional info. Those Bundi stamps are so ugly though - I guess it's a case of having a face only a mother could love LOL!