So Who's Afraid Of The Indian States?

As it's late on Saturday afternoon, and the cat is sitting on my next job, I might as well finish off the Cochin story now.

The Fifth Raja died in 1946, and was succeeded by his brother Maharaja Kerala Varma III, who lasted only until 1948, but was the last ruler to appear on Cochin stamps.

A set in the usual format appeared for him in 1948, from 2 Pies to 3 Annas 4 Pies (this value is rather scarce, though perhaps not as scarce as Gibbons make out). Here is the 2 Pies on a nice advertising card



Gibbons lists second dies for the 2 Pies and 3 Annas 4 Pies, but there are sufficiently different types in other values to justify them being classed as 'types' as well - IMHO.

These stamps were also overprinted for official use, with the old Type 7 heavy overprint. There was a good error in one position on the sheet of the overprint 'C' for 'G':



(Row 1 stamp 4 - SG O98a)

In 1949, Cochin finally got around to issuing two pictorial values. I don't know if they had plans for more values, but these are quite pleasant. This is my greatest Cochin treasure: the 2 Anna of the pair, imperf vertically



(SG 117a)

India achieved independence in 1947, and in 1949, Cochin and the larger neighbouring State of Travancore were merged into the United State of Travancore-Cochin. Rather than print new stamps that would have had a very short life, Cochin fell back on surcharging stocks of all its old stamps in the three most needed values, 3 Pies, 9 Pies and 1 Anna. Here is an example of the 1 Anna surcharge on an old Fifth Raja official stamp, SG O100



There were a few spelling mistakes in the local (Malayalam) inscriptions. These aren't hugely rare, and they sometimes slip past the eagle eyes of the dealers. I picked up this cover of SG 125a on ebay as the non-error stamp



Here is a detail of the erroneous inscription:



The tail of the first letter in the second word should be short, like the second letter. This turned a £2.75 stamp into a £27 stamp.

Lastly, some of the stocks of stamps brought in for surcharging included stamps which had been printed earlier but never released. A few examples escaped without the surcharges, like this one from the Fifth Raja:



Gibbons mentions it, and prices it, in a footnote.

That brings us to the end of Cochin at last. If you were thinking of trying out the Indian States, but find some of the other States rather strong meat, Cochin may be just the thing. Lots of cheap stamps - and some very expensive ones for later - quite easy to find, and very accessible.

I am so happy Tony joined the forum. :)

i can think of a couple of funnies but I will wait till Tony actually goes to Barwani to see with his own eyes :)

I can just think of my second book

The adventures of Tony

A Barwani exploration

I had plans to go to Barwani in December next year, but my Constant Companion put a stop to them. For reasons I can't understand she doesn't seem at all interested.

if barwani turns out to be bhiwani in haryana then you will totally get the shock of your life :)

you should visit bombay on your way back so we can chat over a cup of cofee

I fear the trip is deferred indefinitely. The Constant Companion is suggesting a trip to Japan instead. A tax deductible holiday for me, and (she thinks) I will interpret for her. I won't.

Now, after all the excitement of Cochin, you might think that Dhar would be a blessed relief, since it only issued stamps between 1897 and 1901. From my introduction, you will know that would be quite wrong.

Dhar was a moderate-sized state in Central India, on the northern bank of the Narmada River from ... Barwani. Like Barwani, it had a low literacy rate, and like most of the States, its stamps were only valid for use within the State. So if you combine limited possibilities for usage, with a population of a few tens of thousands who could read and write, with a philatelic life of 4 years - well, you see what I mean.

The 1897 first set of Dhar was type-set in sheets of ten stamps, each stamped with an oval monogram before sale, to certify it as genuine. As an example of the first set, here is my star Dhar exhibit:



A registered cover (no registration markings; they weren't necessary) from the village of Dharampuri to Dhar Town, with a strip of the ½ Pice (= 1½ pies, or one-eighth of an anna - say half a farthing) SG 1 and a single 2 Anna, SG 6.

CTO copies, of the low values at least, are quite common, but commercially used are quite the reverse. Sheets of the lower values are also not too hard to find. Remember that a sheet of SG 1 as a new issue would have cost a bit over a penny Sterling.

There were seven settings, and a couple of sub-settings of these stamps, identifiable by the positions of the little spade-like ornaments in the corners. Not all values exist in all settings - the 2 Anna exists only in the last setting - but trying to assemble sheets, or even singles, covering all the settings is a great challenge.

In 1898, Dhar released a totally different set



Apart from the extreme emaciation of the elephants, this set didn't have terribly much to commend it. It has a few little quirks, but for Dhar specialists, the first set is where all the action is.

As an aside, I've never like cut-squares, and I really hate people who boast about their finds on ebay, but ... recently on ebay I found this postal stationery cut (or tear?) out of the companion envelope to the emaciated elephant set with the postmark of another tiny village, Kanawan:



If only the vandal hadn't removed it from its envelope

you should convice her and get to barwani before it no longer exists and we have to move it to a cindrella issue :)

i know you hate ebay finds but I am sue thats where my dhar set will come from. :)

i love ebay otherwise poor collectors like me would never have a chance at the real goodies the world has to offer.

oh I forgot to mention it but your last image is upside down :)

Yes, I know - but the cancellation isn't

turn it around and let us enjoy the stamp even if it is cancelled :)

its good to not troll around by myself :)

Just for you, Spock, here it is, with the CDS inverted

yes the ugly cancellation came in between a beautiful stamp a true work of art sigh

Dear me. If it gets you that hot and bothered, you may like to see these:



An unused postal stationery envelope, similar to the one the vandal tore that piece from, and some proofs



said to be of rather doubtful status.

just in time Tony :)

i was thinking I should crown myself emperor of barwani but you found a mint so we are good :)

Dungarpur will have to be very short and sweet, because all its stamps are scarce to rare, and I have almost nothing to show of it.

Dungarpur was a small state in Rajputana (now Rajasthan). It began issuing stamps - apparently - in 1933, completely unnoticed by philatelists, and ended its philatelic life in 1948, still unnoticed. The catalogues ignored its existence for many years: my 1984 Gibbons has no mention of it. It was only a series of articles in the India Study Circle journal that demonstrated that Dungarpur had had a functioning postal system that earned it listing.

Unusually for a small Indian State, mint are always more expensive than used. This is understandable, of course, since no collector was buying them at the time. Even the cheapest used stamps, SG 10b and 11, are at £75; a mint copy of SG 2 is priced at £3250. Dungarpur is not for the faint-hearted

Here is two-thirds of my Dungarpur collection

A cover with a mangled copy of SG 10



And nearly a pair of SG 11



(Condition tends to be a regular problem with what little Dungarpur gets out onto the market. Much of the material was rescued from waste paper merchants, which is often the case with covers from the Indian States.)