So Who's Afraid Of The Indian States?

Mindpsyche, I'm delighted to welcome another collector of the 'Uglies'! I quite agree with you: they certainly do have their own special charm. And being of the Hyderabad royal family, of course you must focus on Hyderabad particularly.

Hyderabad had the second longest stamp-issuing history, and produced some of the most attractive designs. SG 1 is a true beauty:



and here is a printer's proof, in a different colour, of the stamp:



There's also so much scope to study in Hyderabad, too. Some of the commonest, and cheapest, Hyderabad stamps are among the most interesting. The 1931 1 Anna showing the Char Minar







can be found in around a dozen different shades - none of them listed in any of the catalogues.

And if you decide to extend beyond Hyderabad ... Just today I received this lovely cover from Poonch:





Truly Ugly, but I find it irresistible.

So do post any questions you have, and any finds you make. I'll be happy to try (and I stress, try) to help where I can.

Hey thanks Tony, you flatter me with the whole "Royal Family" thing but honestly I have never believed in that crap. The family stopped being "Royal" before I was born hahaha...

Your absolutely right about the Charminar stamp, I have them in all different shades in my old collection.

Where do you source your stuff from if you don't mind me asking? I just went down to a dealer in Toronto, and all he had was bucket loads of Canadian stamps.....

I will begin with any Indian state to be honest, whichever I can get my hands on.

And that postcard is anything but ugly ...so much history!Could you imagine how many days / weeks it would have taken to reach its destination?? lol...

By the way, have you ever visited India?

These days, I find the best source of Indian States is ebay. Most of the dealers have very little to offer, and when they do have anything, it's usually wrongly catalogued and/or overpriced. Two dealers I do buy from fairly regularly are Stanley Gibbons and Murray Payne, in the UK. Not cheap, but reliable.

Auctions can also be a good source. That Poonch cover came from a recent Harmer-Schau auction; they occasionally have good things, but again, the Gibbons and Murray Payne auctions usually have better items. If you're not so fussy about condition, Gibbons' Postbid auctions can be a good source of less-than-top-quality items. Otherwise, you just have to watch every auction you can: good material can turn up in the most unlikely places.

Being in North America, you'll have an advantage over the local sellers if you use Gibbons catalogues. (Forget about Scott for the Indian States. Gibbons is the only general catalogue.)

One more thing: If you plan to do the Indian States properly, you really should join the India Study Circle (http://www.indiastudycircle.org/index.html). It also has regular auctions of Indian States stamps, open only to members. You can see the latest auction catalogue on the ISC Web site.

Finally, no, I never have made it to India. My job has taken me all over Asia, East of Singapore, but not West. My partner and I agree we must go to India some day. We just can't agree on when and how: her holidays never come at the right time for me, and vice versa.

Thanks Tony,

What do you think about this auction on ebay.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/INDIAN-STATE...15007wt_1618

It seems generic, but I think a good starting point...do you think it is worth a bid, I am seriously considering it.

Also, thanks for the link, I just signed up, so looking forward to being accepted.

I'd say you could safely bid up to $US120 or so on that lot. There's one quite good stamp, and all the rest are, as you say, pretty generic. They would give you hours of sorting, though!

Good to have you joining the ISC, too. In the bad old days (back in the 1970s) when I first joined, the ISC was dominated by collectors of Classic India, and preferably from the pre-stamp period. All the discussions were about Bombay postmarks from 1820 and that sort of thing. These days, we collectors of the Uglies are taking over, and now we get to bore the others with obscure discussions of the printing stones of Alwar, and all that sort of thing!

Well I just bid like 60 bucks on it, I hope I don't get outbid, as that's the highest ill go. A little tight around the pocket at the moment.

Don't expect any input from me on the discussions, I will be more like a sponge, soaking as much as I can.

Thanks again and ill keep you updated if I win this one.

Yes, do let me know if you get it. We'll just have to hope noone else has spotted the good stamp!

Hi tony,
I am say beginning Indian States. Though I am collecting since
1955, I never paid attaintion to Indian Satates. for me question is from where to get those stamps. I know many are very small number as well as scares. But to procure from Indian dealer I ma am very much
concern say afraid speacially these states stamps. Lot and lots of forgeries. Please believe me I am from India,Gujarat state. I have personal exxperiences.

@mindpsyche ... I hope you know Urdu. Basically for history Wilson,
Durante etc are good refrences. Again here there are bioses. A history written by the historian during the time e.g. Mirate-e-Siqandari, Mirat-e-Ahmadi etc. you get much more deatil also you can pin point difference of opinion. Now these book are available in English too..
Hydrabad musieum have original mauscript and letters,books etc. Also hydrabad,mysore,Travankore and other States etc have rich history.
I wish I will be able to get some states. Have some of Suatrastra,Dhargandra,Wadasinor,Ider,Dungarpur,Junagadh etc. just arranging. Also checking for genuneness.

I follow tony's scans etc on other site too. It is nice collection and not UGLY at All.

cheers
tikithindi

Unfortunately, forgeries of the Indian States are common everywhere now. They seem to be particularly bad in Continental Europe: be very careful buying from dealers in the Netherlands and Germany amongst others. On the other hand, several of the Indian dealers are completely honest, and I buy from them regularly.

Still, in the meantime, it's always best to buy from dealers or sellers you know, and to remember that genuine bargains are pretty rare.

And speaking of rare, a copy of Idar SG F1



used on cover, and said to be one of only two covers with SG F1 known, sold for £6000 last month in London. The Gujarat states are hot!

A couple of other items that came in the same lot as the Poonch cover.

First, Bhopal:





SG 44 - the 1895 ¼ Anna, all stamps in the sheet lettered 'EEGAM'

And a particularly rich-coloured Kashmir ½ Anna






with a mystery British Indian UNPAID/SORTING cachet. A member of the India Study Circle enquired about it back in the 1960s, and no further information has come to light as to where and why it was used. (The cover seems to be fully and properly franked for passage from Kashmir to Amritsar. It did come out of Kashmir via Murree, rather than the more usual via Sialkot, but still ...)

Hi Tony I am a new member joined forum today. But for the last few days(few years) I am studying your cochin survey and your collection. It is really fascinating to read the articles and your comments on others collection. Pardong me for asking you at the begining whether you received used SG 118 for your collection?

First of all, welcome to SCF, kolarshenoy! I'm delighted to hear you found my posts on Cochin of interest. I wouldn't claim to have a first-class collection of Cochin - definitely not of exhibition standard - but I do have one or two nice things.

Now, SG 118: for those who can't recall it offhand, it's the Sixth Raja 2¼ Anna pictorial of 1949:



As you can see, I have it mint, and in the imperf between pair ... but I'm still waiting for a nice used copy I even have two covers of the 2 Anna, but that 2¼ Anna remains elusive. I'm not saying it's rare than the imperf between, but I do think it's underpriced in Gibbons at £13.

Hello tony, kolarshenoy again. Thanks for the welcome. I hv some queries/question regarding cochin early 1 putan stamps watermarks. can I upload a few pictures in this regard? Will it be out of way for you to answer my quiries, as at present you are discussing other state stamp issues.Same time pl provide me with your email ID as a friend from India wants to surprise you on SG 118 used.

Of course you can post any scans here, though I have to admit that I'm not too familiar with the earlier issues. Still, I'll do what I can.

My email address is tony at sign [all one word - no spaces between the words:] asia technical translation dot com dot au.

Hello Tony, Kolarshenoy here

Pl view the enclosed image One puthan full sheet of 24 stamps .This picture shows backside view of the sheet so that watermark is prominently displayed. This scan was taken and sent to SG for their comments if any as the scan clearly shows 20 small umbrellas for 24 stamps.My queiry to them was according their catalogue one small umbrella on each stamp. Hence there should be 24 umbrellas. May I have your comments on this image so that I can place my arguments before u