So Who's Afraid Of The Indian States?

nice find uncle tony

but you will be hard pressed to get 20 bucks for them. you are the only collector left the last of an exotic species. the final indian state ugly collector. the greatest of them. I should get your picture with an autograph of 1000 copies. then I can retire on them


it really is a shame that there are no more like you in your league. I am now feelig bad that I dont collect uglies

oh well I will go start another thread to drown my sorrows

i am proud of you though

live long and prosper

There are a few more of us around. A year or two ago, Gibbons had a small selection of Bhor village postmarks on offer on their Web site, at around £100 each. They also had an example of SG 1a, the tête-bêche pair of the ½ Anna, at full catalogue price (then around £700). Both items lasted about 5 minutes before they were sold. I know: I tried to buy them myself.

So let us not have any rude remarks about Bhor, please

but dear tony I wasnt making any rude remarks about bhor iwas telling you how much I admire you

sigh

I've just joined this forum as a result of finding this thread on a Google search, and what a great thread it is Tony!

Indian States are my main interest also, particularly the "Uglies" like Barwani, Jind, Orchha, Duttia and Poonch, but I also have rather a lot of Cochin, Travancore and Travancore-Cochin

I was a member of the India Study Circle for a number of years,and went up to London for a few meetings (I remember meeting the late Ray Benns and being awestruck by his knowledge of these stamps), but let my membership lapse unfortunately, and spent a few years less involved with my stamps. I do remember your name Tony from some of the old journals, and I probably have a lot to catch up with in the world of Indian States philately.

Unfortunately my collection is a little inaccessible at the moment, but when I dig it out I'll post a few scans. I guess you might be interested to see some of the Barwani particularly, although I don't think I have any rarities.

And don't listen to the doubters - Indian States philately is REAL philately and has something for everyone - but of course you know this already

Peterh, delighted to have another true believer here, especially one who has some Barwani. (Do post them up here: you never do know with Barwani!)

It sounds as if we've followed very similar trajectories. I allowed my ISC membership to lapse after my evil ex made me sell off most of my Uglies. I concealed my Barwani from her, but was forced to go underground. I rejoined the ISC after gaining my freedom, and I've been busy making up for lost time ever since.

I must say, I think your nominations of Jind, Orchha, Duttia and Poonch display the most exquisite taste. It was the illustrations of the first types of Jind and the Jammu & Kashmir Circulars in an old Gibbons Part 1 that sucked me in in the first place. (In fact, I've just received an invoice from Spink for a couple of Jammu & Kashmir items from their auction on the 15th and 16th. Some really breathtaking stuff there, and the cat is going to be on short rations for the forseeable future while I pay for the crumbs I picked up.)

So do show us some of your treasures. There are an awful lot of heathens here to convert!

yes spread the crumbs the conversion will be done to convention and regular india by master spock :)

Noone who could appreciate the true beauty of Jind SG J1+J1a



would ever dream of sullying their album pages with Convention States, to say nothing of Imperial India.

Why do you dislike me, when I am so desirable?

i love you plate flaw :)

now who in their right mind would think that the patiala state is not beautiful.


tony,

arenet you sullying your pages with a lot of convention states. I noticed you post a few :)

Sorry Plateflaw and Spock, Convention States do nothing for me. As far as India is concerned, I would like to have a nice collection of the 1854 issues, but never will. I do have a modest amount of India postal history and also acquired a few years ago modest amounts of Pakistan, including the 1947 provisionals, and Bangladesh provisional overprints, although I have mostly sold these on.

Unfortunately ( )my wife is not an ex and the costs of home and teenage kids pretty much prohibit any spending on stamps at present, but I could probably keep myself occupied with those I have already for the forseeable future.

I got into Indian States collecting in almost a calculated way, but soon became hooked. I had a general Commonwealth collection but didn't just want to follow in my father's footsteps and carry on filling his New Ideal album with less stamps for more money as time went on. I wanted something that was philatelically challenging and with some complexity, but also an area where I could at least afford to build up a fairly large collection for a reasonable outlay, so looked through the Gibbons Red Book for something new.

I was taken by the more locally and primitively produced issues of the world, and I did flirt with the idea of Australian States for a while, but I realised that I could never build up a good enough collection, even though I love things like the NSW Sydney Views (not that I ever had one!), and the Indian States seemed to have all these desirable qualities in spades, so like Topsy, it just growed.

But Convention States - what's the point?

Peterh, you're clearly a man of rare discernment - unlike others I could mention, but won't

Of course, the expense of building up a decent showing of any country is a major concern. No two ways about it. But you can still have a great deal of fun without going too deeply into debt with the Indian States. To pluck an example at random from my collection, plating the ¼ Anna Ranjitsingh types of Barwani



(SG 26 sheet)

needn't inflict too much pain and suffering, and is very satisfying. Much more satisfying than those dreary old overprints on India, where all you've got is the occasional overprint error or inverted watermark

But talking of the unattainable, the Spink (London) auction on the 15 July had an extraordinary selection of Jammu & Kashmir, the best since the Kashmir Blue auction several years ago. Worth downloading the catalogue, just to look and dream. I picked up a couple of lesser items (for which I will be suffering for some time to come), and which I'll post once they arrive.

peterh

i am going to sit and watch as the indian states sink you :). we already have a master of indian states here who cant identify beautiful stamps anymore. he is also a dear friend so I wont ruffle his feathers by naming him. :)

now I have already converted some of the regulars into liking india stamps minus the uglies.

for you all is not lost since you like imperial india but beware the master doesnt like those who like imperial india :)

it is still not too late you can switch sides my current fan club is down to single digits again :) we are actively looking for recruits who collect india or indian states we dont mind if you collect uglies (but you must collect convention or imperial) :)

Dear Tony,

how about changing the title of the thread to who is not yet afraid of the indian states? I think after the 8 point barwani punch in 2 shades there is hardly anyone left standing other than ol spock of course :)

Sorry Spock, I sank without trace into Indian States along time ago. I don't collect Imperial or post-Independence India stamps, but I do collect some postal history and postal stationery.

Now, back to business

Here's something for the Barwani enthusiasts - possibly just me and Tony? Nothing to do with stamps but a lovely bit of ephemera and social history produced by the Ranjit Printing Press.


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