George VI Era Cochin - Mostly Used

That wrong letter error in the surcharge is a nice one, Thomas. They're well worth looking out for: dealers often seem to overlook them. I bought this example on ebay



(SG 125a)

and didn't realise it, until I received it and was examining it.

And talking of ebay, I just received these lovely blocks of Poonch I won on ebay:

The 1 Anna and 4 Anna on ribbed wove bâtonné paper:



(SG 13)



(SG 15)

and the 1 Anna on blue-green wove bâtonné paper:



You can see the pencil lines the printer ruled, to help him place the stamps correctly.

Now why can't Australia Post produce such nice-looking stamps, eh?

Lovely material Tony




Because now we have a democracy vetting stamp design,
A historian, a stamp collector, a director of Australia Post,
and 16 other people who represent a collective who want their
desires represented, oh yes and an accountant.
Hence you will by default, end with a shallow, ill conceived
poorly designed piece of papier mache.
Can you imagine the Kangaroo and Map surviving
through the modern process?
Not on your fat nelly.

Rod, (even) the 'Roo & Map pales beside Poonch SG 15

Just filled another ugly gap:



SG O70

Now all I have to do is save up the £3500 for a mint copy ...

Some handsome perfs there,
A5?
Be patient, I see prices dropping in the near future.

Once prices drop to £3000, I strike!

This thread is an incredible source of information.I'm from Trivandrum (erstwhile Travancore state) and Cochin is around 5 hrs away. I have'nt found anyone out here who could provide so much information as this thread has. Could you suggest some books on stamps, postmarks of Cochin & Travancore and more importantly, from where I can procure them ?

Have you posted any other thread on Cochin stamps prior to Maharaja Rama Varma III ?

Welcome Mallu - it's great to have another member from Kerala in SCF, and particularly from Trivandrum. Rod222 will be most delighted, because one of his interests is Travancore stamps. I'll leave comments on Travancore to him.

For Cochin, the best source is still the Gibbons catalogues: either the Commonwealth & British Empire 1840-1970, or the India catalogue. They will give you a great deal of information, and they should be sufficient until you reach quite an advanced stage with your collection. There are two books that deal with Cochin that I can suggest:
Stamps of Cochin by Stanley P. Luiz, privately published, 1972, and
Cochin Postmarks and Cancellations by G.B. Pai, published by Robson Lowe, London, 1974
As you can see, both books are long out of print. Neither is easy to find these days, but they do appear for sale occasionally on ebay. Some other places you could try are Vera Trinder Books (http://www.vtrinder.co.uk/) and Leonard Hartmann (http://pbbooks.com/).

I also discussed the stamps of Cochin from the George V era here: https://goscf.com/t/8478, but I don't have enough useful material to go back further. There have been some very detailed studies of these earlier Cochin stamps published in the journal of the India Study Circle. You can find it at http://www.indiastudycircle.org/index.html. It's well worthwhile looking into if you collect these stamps seriously.

Hi mallu

welcome to SCf, im too a collector from kerala collecting on,y cochin, travancore and T.C state.pls discuss your collection interests here.

George

I forgot to add this one:



SG 123a, and the biggest fish in my small Cochin pond. Bought from the Trowbridge auction a little while ago. This surcharge is normally red:



SG 123

Hi Tony & George. I managed to track down GB Pai on Amazon. Looking out for the other one.I also purchased an SG India & states(2006 3rd edition,i think) on ebay. So i'm all set to make the plunge into Cochin's waters(murky ?).

George, Good to see another mallu !! I really couldn't find anyone in trivandrum who could guide me on collecting Cochin & Travancore. How unfortunate !

I have a small collection of Cochin stamps which I'd discontinued some years back . I'll restart all over again. I collect used stamps of cochin & travancore.

Dilip

Tony

the 123a is a superb copy i've ever seen which I believe to be Ex.Trowbridge, you really can be proud of this item
George

Dilip

i could guide you to some extend provided my time permits, I think there were 2-3 good collectors of Cochin and travancore in trivandrum side. I can mail you their names.Do mail me at george dot kochupura at gmail dot com
george

Hi Tonny

Your new addition, SG 123a is really a good bargain. Good

Thomas Paul