India Cochin State 1 Anna Service Overprint

Help please! I have read everything I could find about Cochin 1 Anna stamps, including old threads in this forum, but I'm still not sure of this particular stamp's Scott and SG numbers.

To my inexperienced eye, there are multiple numbers which could apply to it.

It believe it's a litho print, and it's perf 11x11. I haven't tested it for a watermark.

Any details regarding this stamp would be most welcome.

There are more qualified Indian specialists aboard,
but my Guess
SG # O52 (Round "O" and serifs on "N")

Can anyone identify "C17" postmark?

Scott (Steiner Page 46)

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This is an SG O52 - a very common stamp. Sorry I don't have a Scott number, but Scott is not for serious collectors of the Indian States.

The differences between Gibbons Types O9 and O10 overprints are obvious when you put them side by side. Here is a comparison of SG O52 and the later 1 Anna with the Type O10 overprint:

The C17 postmark appears to be a Pai Type 6A of Narakkal. Most likely genuine: Gibbons (under-)rates the mint at £1, but is generous with the used at 10p.

If anyone wishes to follow up the question of Cochin postmarks, the go-to book is Cochin Postmarks and Cancellations by G.B. Pai, published by Robson Lowe, 1974

Thanks! SG 052 wasn't even on my list of possible numbers, so I never would have figured that out by myself.

Some of my ancestors had business or professional ties to India, and one of my grandmothers saved everything, so the collection also includes 28 covers with affixed or imprinted Indian postage, all but one with cancels. Some have what appear to me to be interesting postmarks from the early-mid 1900's, so maybe I'll post some of them in the appropriate forums later.

In case anyone's wondering...I'm not going to try to market any of this collection by myself; there's no way I could ever acquire the expertise necessary to do it properly! I'm enjoying learning a bit about the stamps and covers as I sort through it, though.

Pai type 6A barred circular obliterators of Kochchi State Post with alphanumeral inserts have diameter of 25mm.

The size of alphabet C (C denotes the initial of the Anglicized version of Kochchi, the state's actual name) varies with different Anchal Offices (Anchal means Post).

The C17 code was allotted to Narakkal AO (10.0416°N 76.2189°E), now in Ernakulam district of Keralam, which also used this code in Pai type 5A barred circular killers.

Here for this code the dimensions are,
C (5mm×4mm)
17 (6mm×60m)

It must be mentioned that both Pai and Peter Röver incorrectly record the date of establishment of Narakkal AO, which was opened by May 1893.

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopi...661#p4031661

Ref. Cochin Postmarks and Cancellations.
Guna Balachandra Pai.
Robson Lowe Limited, London, England 1974
Chapter IV: Barred Obliterators; p.19
Appendix 1: Anchal Offices in Kochchi State; p.80

Thanks for the details pertaining to the cancel.
Here are some photos showing the dimensions of the 17.

Fabulous in depth information. Thanks.

Possibly a false assumption, but the 1 Anna on my page, sports a "C16"
postmark, which would locate close by?

Pai doesn't mention C16 - but don't get your hopes up, Rod. His was a pioneering work, and so had a number of holes in it. (He mentions - in this Type 6A - a C5, C12, C18 and C20 amongst others, but not a C16.)

Salutations Tony,
I'll get the page out, and check, perhaps the optics are no longer 20/20.

Are the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, for athletes with outstanding vision?

Confirmation 8 bar, C16 Postmark.

For the record, I have for Kochi...
A4
C5
C8
C16
and a 5 ring CDS possibly Trikkunnapuzha.

The A4 appears to be easy enough (Pai only lists one type of barred numeral A): Ayilur.

The 'C's are more difficult. Pai recognises a flat backed C, and a round-backed C (as well as other types, which don't appear germane). For the flat-backed C he has
C8 = Nemmara
C16 = Enammakkal
And for the round-backed 'C':
C5 = Irinjalakuda

As an aside, the overprints and surcharges on the 3rd and 4th Raja stamps (you have a nice assembly of some of the 3rd Raja stamps) necessitated by the final death of Perkins, Bacon, who had been printing the Cochin stamps in recess, the change-over from single watermarked to sheet watermarked stamps, the Second World War starting in 1939, and the brief accession of the 4th Raja in 1941, all made for a distinctly messy period in Cochin's philatelic history.

Some types are very rare (it is thought that less than a full sheet of SG 92c (the 1 Anna 3 Pies on 1 Anna Ordinary) survived), while others are fairly plentiful. There's no rhyme or reason to it: without seeing the catalogue, which of the following surcharges on the (redundant) 1 Anna 8 Pies 3rd Raja is scarcest?





Of course, the block of 3 Pies is the difficult one; the 1 Anna 3 Pies - the highest face value - is the easiest.

And, of course, if you come across this stamp



without the ON C G S (Service) overprint ... Gibbons rates the stamp I show at 10p, but without the overprint at £7500.

Fabulous. Thanks Tony.

"COCHIN POSTMARKS & CANCELLATIONS" by G.B.PAI. Printed in New Delhi, published by Robson Lowe Ltd., London, 1974, price £5. Available from Peter Roake, price £5.00 (post free U.K. only).
This book is very well produced - probably the best got-up philatelic work ever to come out of India, with a lay-out flatteringly imitating the style des igned by our President for his book on Burma. It impressed the judges at Indipex who gave it a silver-gilt award. Certainly it is the first to have plates in full colour illustrating covers and adhesives, but whether these have any place in a postmark study is questionable; black postmarks are still black in a colour plate, and they are reproduced again in some cases in black and white photos or blocks.
The author, having chosen his title, forgot it temporarily, and the first chapters deal with the adhesive stamps and postal stationery, and the political history. Pre-adhesive handstamps for some reason come before chapter 1, as part of the introduction - but why does the table of contents call this the pre-Anchal period? With chapter 3 we reach the postmarks proper, and the first point of note is the excellence of the line drawings, with each type illustrated in the margin alongside the classification. Some of these blocks are puzzling at first glance, resembling snow-flakes or flower petals, until it is realised they represent enlargements of the fleurons which are the only differences between many "types" apart from the actual office name.
There are in fact too many "types" distinguished on this basis, with sub types differing only by 1 mm. in diameter, each of which comprise only one post office. It almost seems that the postal authorities varied the diameter or the shape of the fleurons with each datestamp ordered, to render them the better distinguishable?
The six chapters on office datestamps are followed by many interesting other types, some in Malayalam, including Too Late, postage due, TPOs, express and registered, and hundi datestamps. Finally, in four appendices, are an alphabetical list of offices with dates of opening, the same list repeated showing types of postmarks used at each, and repeated again subdivided into the six talukas (civil administration districts). Why? It is nota classified list as it does not show the chain of command, or even that offices were administered by districts.
The last appendix undertakes what very few authors would attempt: a priced catalogue, with values in sterling, of each postmark type, in three columns. These are for puttan currency covers/stationery, "raja" ditto, and for loose stamps. The cheapest price is 25 pence, the dearest a breath-taking £50 off cover for each of the first TPO marks, C.S. IN and C.S. OUT in plain circle. Would anyone really buy any common stamp at such a price to obtain a postmark, however rare, not on cover? With diligence they can still be found in packets...
To summarise, this is a fine glossy prestige work, and a great deal of concentrated study has been expended on the contents; but the non-essentials have added to the price but not the value, so far as the student is concerned. Even so, after reading the review copy, we have bought our own.
added by PeterLeevers | editIndia Post, D Parsons (Jun 24, 1974)

Very interesting discussion! I've learned a lot.
I haven't found another Cochin stamp in the estate collection through which I'm plowing, but I did find others about which I have questions. The first one (to be posted in a separate thread) supposedly is from Chamba.

Tony / members.

I found this catalogue as *.pdf for $40
How do you find the price? acceptable? par for the course?
Thanks
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/INDIA-Cochin...em51e94128f3

It is always ehbahia who sells soft copies of philatelic literatures at exorbitant prices.

I bought my copy (almost mint) back in 2008 from Vera Trinder at £15.

If there is interest, I can send relevant pages provided I get huge thanks.