George VI Era Cochin - Mostly Used

Luckily, I don't have any MUH India.

indian states were in india tony :) even tonyland is in india :)

Let me rephrase, then. 'Luckily I don't have any MUH British or Post-Independence India'.

Now back to the matter in hand.

After the sad demise of Perkins, Bacon, Cochin passed the printing contract to The Amalgamated Printers in Madras, who remained the printers for Cochin for the rest of its philatelic life. The Amalgamated Printers used offset-litho for all their printings, rather than the recess, which Perkins, Bacon had clung stubbornly to.

In 1938, new printings of the five most used values were released, from the new printers.

The 2 Pies, SG 67, was a make-up value



It exists perf 11 and 13x13½ (the example above is the perf 13x13½). The perf 13x13½ printings are scarcer: not by much in the case of the 2 Pies (40p for perf 11 used against 70p for the other). The 6 Pies is another matter altogether: 10p for the perf 11, £3500 for the perf 13x13½ ...

The 4 Pies, SG 68, is also rather nice perf 13x13½. I suppose it goes without saying that this copy on a postcard is perf 11:



And here is the 6 Pies, SG 69, used together with the top value, the 2¼ Annas, SG 71.



Both stamps have ND perfins, for the local State temple administration.

This leaves the 1 Anna, SG 70:



From around this time, changes in postage rates made the 1 Anna stamp largely redundant - as a postage stamp. However it was also widely and heavily used as a revenue stamp. The message is clear: beware cleaned revenue usages. They do turn up with forged postal cancellations.

Tony:

Greart info... thank-you for posting! I'm printing these pages off for reference.

I really like the postmarks, too.

David

Collector of used KGVI-Era.

David, there is a book, Cochin Postmarks and Cancellations, by G.B. Pai, and published by Robson Lowe back in 1974, which gives a good guide to the Cochin postmarks.

I keep on meaning to work through my Cochin, paying more attention to Pai, but other things keep on intruding ...

what you have no mnh from indian states not even Barwani?

ouch

et tu tony

I have hinged all of them, to keep them safe from you, Spock.

what isnt there a law to not hinge indian stamps.


poor jubille I will have to give him another assignment there is no point trying to take your stamps anymore :(

on the flip side you dont have anything to trade for the barwani :)

In 1939, Cochin decided to separate its postage and revenue 1 Anna stamps; previously, they had served both purposes. The postage stamps were overprinted ANCHAL (meaning 'postage' in the local Malayalam language). The decision seems to have been reversed shortly afterwards: when the next 1 Anna definitive appeared in 1943, it was once again inscribed 'ANCHAL & REVENUE'.

It seems Cochin revelled in making the straightforward complex. Two types of ANCHAL overprint were used, large and small, and overprints were applied to both the Perkins, Bacon recess printed stamps and the locally offset-litho stamps, which are found perf 11 and 13x13½

The recess printed stamps only received the large ANCHAL overprint:



SG 72

SG 72 seems to be the only stamp of this Perkins, Bacon set to have had an inverted watermark. At least, it's the only one recorded in Gibbons ...

The offset-litho 1 Anna, in both perforations, received the large ANCHAL overprint. The perf 13x13½ is distinctly scarce - £375 used; this is the perf 11, SG 73, I'm sorry to say:



A smaller ANCHAL overprint was also applied to the offset-litho 1 Anna. SG 74 also comes in both perforations. The used perf 13x13½ is cheapest, and the mint version is most expensive, of the four.



The recess and offset-litho printings are very easy to distinguish. Most of the fine cross-hatching is lost in the latter, particularly on the face.

With the death of Maharaja Rama Varma III in 1941, Wartime conditions, and pending the release of the new definitives, Cochin fell back on surcharging. First up, the redundant 1 Anna 8 Pies stamps were surcharged -but this being Cochin, the printers had to add a twist Two forms of surcharge were used: one consisted of the simple value in words, the other with the word SURCHARGED at top.

The 3 Pies stamp exists with both varieties of surcharge. The first type I can't show (used is cheaper, at £100), but I can show the second type, SG 76



Unusually for Cochin, SG 76 and SG 77 are priced higher used than mint. I've seen forged postmarks on these, so if you were thinking of buying, do so only from a reliable source.

The 6 Pies surcharge, SG 77, exists only in the single-line form:



I'd rather have this on a cover with a less philatelic flavour, but SG 77 is a hard stamp used. (Gibbons rates it at £3.75 mint, but £22 used. Obviously, it didn't see much genuine use.)

The 1 Anna 3 Pies, SG 78, exists only in the two-line form. It's the commonest of the three, but I can't find it on cover This example has a TC perfin at the top of the stamp:



The Victory Stamp Stall and its ilk were probably a little too efficient at collecting and soaking copies off paper.

hahahah Dear Tony :)

These surcharged types were also overprinted for official use.

Only the two line 3 Pies surcharge was overprinted. This is SG O58:



(together with SG O69)

The 6 Pies was not overprinted, but a 9 Pies was substituted. I haven't yet got around to finding one, so we'll move right along to the 1 Anna 3 Pies, which occurs both with and without the 'SURCHARGED'. First SG O60



in company with a recess 2¼ Anna official. This was sent registered and with Acknowledgment of Receipt (the form is still attached to the back) from the Trichur District Court. Apparently the intended recipient was deceased.

And here is SG 61:



Apparently, a small stock of the 1½ Anna official of the previous Maharaja, SG O15 issued in 1921, turned up, and this also received the single-line 9 Pies surcharge. SG O57 is uncommon used (£28) and a real problem mint (£700)

Returning to the surcharges on the ordinary stamps, small numbers of the litho printings were also surcharged in the same way.

The 4 Pies was surcharged 3 Pies in two lines, SG 79



SG 79, with an SG 69 Again, these stamps have the D (State temple administration) perfins.

Both the perf 11 (like the above) and perf 13x13½ were surcharged. Both are worth the same (£4) used, but the perf 13x13½ is about twice as expensive mint - and these two are the cheapest of this series of surcharges.

These surcharges occur spaced 19 mm and 21 mm between the two lines. The two spacings occur together on the sheet, and I have no idea why Gibbons refuses to acknowledge them. They seem perfectly collectable to me

The remaining surcharges were all made on the 1 Anna value, and incorporate the word ANCHAL. None of them are common, and some are hair-raising.

The 6 Pies surcharge with the large ANCHAL overprint is the worst of the lot, and I can't manage it, in any condition.

The same value, with the smaller ANCHAL overprint exists perf 11 (scarcer) and perf 13x13½ (still rather difficult). Here is the perf 13x13½ version, SG 81a:



(Apologies for showing a mint stamp!)

The 9 Pies surcharge with the large ANCHAL overprint is again beyond my means, and so is the small ANCHAL overprint. The best I can do is the small ANCHAL with the word SURCHARGED added, and one of the cheapest of these surcharges:

I do like the cancels on the cover and the last stamp. The bearded rather than hooded type. Although I like those too.

Do you know if there was any specific reason the design of the cancel was used? Does it signify any religious or other belief or just perhaps it was impressive-looking?