George VI Era Cochin - Mostly Used

The 1 Anna wasn't overprinted, but the 1 Anna 3 Pies, which didn't appear in the ordinary set was issued, SG O88:



The 1 Anna 9 Pies, SG O89, was another value that didn't appear in the ordinary set:



The 2 Annas, SG O90, was common to both sets



But the top value of the Service set was a 2¼ Anna, which, again, wasn't issued without the overprint, SG O91



The 1 Anna 9 Pies was included in the rash of surcharging in 1949, as Cochin was coming to an end. However, I don't yet have a copy ...

The Sixth Raja, Maharaja Kerala Varma III, ascended in 1946 and died in 1948 - before the end of Cochin's philatelic life - but he was the last of the brothers to appear on a Cochin stamp.

Most of his set of definitives appeared in 1948; the top, 3 Annas 4 Pies, value appeared in 1950, at the very end. It may have lacked the complexities of the Third and Fourth Raja sets, but it still offers lots of interest ...

Beginning with the lowest value, the 2 Pies, SG 109, which exists in two dies:



Die II (SG 109b) at left and Die I at right: the differences are rather subtle, but the Raja's head in the Die II version is slightly smaller, and there's more white space between the tip of the turban and the frame of the portrait.

Here is a pair of Die Is used on a rather nice advertising cover



The 3 Pies, SG 110, like several other values, has some rather good (uncatalogued shades)



The paler shades seem to be more common. And an intermediate shade on cover:



The 4 Pies, SG 111, is less common used than any other value except the 3 Annas 4 Pies. It still offers dark and light shades, but they're less pronounced than for other values.

The 6 Pies, SG 112, also exists with good shade differences:



The right hand stamp is a P perfin as well. And a pair of the paler shade on cover:



The 9 Pies, SG 113, exists in pronounced shades once again:



There's also a nice variant on stamp 1 of the sheet, with the English 9 distinctly larger than the other 47 stamps on the sheet. Here are stamps 1 and 2, taken from a (mint unhinged) sheet of SG 126 - a stamp I will come back to later.



There was no 1 Anna value, and the 2 Anna, SG 114 offers little shade variation - maybe being black reduced the scope. Here it is on a (surely!) non-philatelic registered cover, showing the post office clearing out the bottom drawer. In addition to the SG 114, it has a 9 Pies, SG 105 from 1946, and an SG 74a, from 1939



There isn't a legible year visible, but it must have been late in the piece.

The 3 Annas, SG 115, not only exists in some nice shades:



(Right hand stamp is a P perfin again)

but it has a really nice flaw, which surely deserves catalogue status:



the stem of a hookah coming out of the Maharaja's mouth, on Row 2 stamp 2. And here it is used on a postal stationery card, paying the registration fee:



I can't show the 3 Annas 4 Pies here, but I do have it with the Service overprint, which I'll show in its proper place.

The 9 Pies value was selected for surcharging in the final burst of revaluations.

It was surcharged THREE PIES in black (SG 124)



and in smaller Malayalam letters (16½ mm long instead of 20 mm)



It was also surcharged in red, SG 125. This surcharge also included the incorrect first letter of second Malayalam word, found on SG 119a (the first of the Fifth Raja type 1 Anna 3 Pies)



and the whole stamp on cover



SG 125a - and a perfect bit of serendipity. Bought on ebay as a nice example of SG 125 - it wasn't until I received it, and had a good look at it, that I realized it was the error. That transformed it from a £2.75 stamp to a £27 one.

finally a cover that I like or should I say something I like from cochin do you have unused ones too for our viewing pleasure?

The Service overprints (seem to) include the shade variations of the ordinary stamps, a value not issued without the overprint (the 2¼ Anna) and some rather nice overprint errors. The 2 Pies wasn't overprinted.

The 3 Pies, SG O92



with the 9 Pies SG O95, also has the overprint error 'On C C S' for 'On C G S' at Row 1 Stamp 4, and next door to it, the error 'flat back to C'. This occurs twice on the sheet; the other position (Row 2/8) is better.



4 Pies, SG O93



6 Pies, SG O94



And for the 9 Pies, SG O95, please go back to the cover at the top of this post

2 Annas, SG O96



and the better of the two versions of the flat back to C



As they occur twice per sheet of 48, and Gibbons mention them but don't price them, I guess they're of curiosity value only. Still, interesting, I think.

The 2¼ Anna, SG O97, wasn't issued without the overprint. It's the second best stamp of the set (at £3.75 mint, but £7 used) and commands the highest premium for used. (Even the most expensive stamp, the 3 Annas 4 Pies, is rated £48 either way).



The 3 Annas, SG O98



also has the Maharaja smoking a hookah flaw, of course.

The 3 Annas 4 Pies, SG O99, exists in two dies. I'm afraid I can't show the scarce Die II, but I can show the listed 'tail to turban' flaw, SG O99b



The nasty yellowish smear is the remains of one of those horrible Arricator things some past vandal stuck to the block from which this stamp comes.

what its not a phaser burn?

really we should get to see the whole block to admire the beauty since it looks mint :)

The official overprints were also surcharged in the last days.

The 6 Pies on 3 Pies includes the first letter in second Malayalam word error again, as SG O103d:



The 9 Pies on 4 Pies surcharge comes in two lengths:

18 mm, SG O104



and 22 mm, SG O104b



which also occurs with the Malayalam spelling error in the surcharge, and the On C C S overprint error - though mercifully, you can't both of these on the same stamp

The very last Cochin official was overprinted SERVICE rather than On C G S, reflecting the fact that these were now, strictly speaking, Travancore-Cochin State government officials:



SG O105

Cochin's last unoverprinted issue was a small taste of what might have been: two quite attractive pictorials, after the near 40 years of the Maharaja's head types.

The 2 Anna, SG 117, is (in my experience) rather easier than its companion, despite Gibbons prices (£5.50 mint and £9 used)



Here it is used with more old stock, SG 91, on the reverse of a 6 Pies postal stationery envelope.

There are plenty of perforation errors listed for Cochin, but unlike next-door Travancore, they're all scarce to rare. Here is my offering:



SG 117a

And finally, and I do regret having to end this survey with a mint stamp,



SG 118

It would have been nicer if the sender of the cover with the 2 Anna had used this stamp instead - but you can't have everything.

Which seems a suitable note on which to end

come now spill the beans you were missing me and hence the mint stamp :)

Hi to all! Had joined the forum about a week back. Was following this topic ardently since Cochin was one of the stamps I collect. And, thanks a lot to "tonymacg" for the extremely well studied and informative series on "Cochin" stamps. Though staying in Mumbai, I am a "native" of Kerala and started on Cochin collection recently and the series by tonymacg has given me a good lot of information on these. Hope to keep on learning more from the veterans. Thanks and Regards
Thomas

Welcome Thomas, a man from Kerala! yay!
I collect Travancore, and may I say, I think
your part of the world, is amongst some of the most beautiful
on the blue planet.
Hope you enjoy your stay.

(admins - sorry for the goof up. I wanted to post in this thread but seems that I started a new topic. So pls delete it there. I am posting it here again in this thread).

Hi to all - specially to tonymacg

Had bought a small lot of Cochin stamps. Got this stamp in the lot.
could this be O67 or O67a .....
(using the software 'perfomaster' - the measurement shows perf 11)
Thanks in advance for your comments.

Thomas