The Story of
Ceylon Stamps – Vimal Dias
The first Ceylon stamp was issued on 1st April 1857 and
is listed as SG # 1 in Staley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue. It was issued 17 years
after Britain issued the first postage stamp in the world in 1840. SG 1 of
Ceylon was a 6d stamp, whereas the first postage stamp of Britain was the Penny
Black, 1d in value. Why the Colonial
Government of Ceylon decided to issue a 6d stamp as the first stamp is unknown.
However, Ceylon got a One Penny 1d. a blue colored stamp a few months later in
1857.
A. Stamps
Issued During the Reign of Queen Victoria
Postage stamps issued during the reign of Queen Victoria
spanned a period of 46 years, from 1857 to
1903. Postage stamps bearing Queen Victoria, basically fall in to 3 key
categories. These are;
1.) Stamps
denominated in Pence and Shillings Issued in imperforated form, where
individual stamps had to be cut from sheets using a pair of scissors. Stamps
with clear margins on all 4 sides are quite rare and they usually carry a
premium. The number of stamps issued during this period is limited and spans
from SG 1 to SG 17.
2.) In
year 1858, Ceylon stamps denominated in Pence and Shillings were issued in
perforated form which made it easier to tear off individual stamps from sheets.
However, perforations of those days were very rough, because the number of
perforations per inch were very low compared with modern stamps. Hence, stamps
of this era often had missing perforations, because they couldn’t be cleanly torn from a sheet. This
is normal for stamps of this age.
3.) The
third era is characterized by stamps issued in Rupees and Cents. This era
started in 1872 and continued until the death of Queen Victoria. Stamps in this era starts from SG 121 to
264. Since a lot of stamps were printed and used during this period, many
stamps from this period are still quite common and inexpensive compared to
stamps issued during first and second eras.
Stamps issued during the first and second eras (in Pence
and Shillings) are extremely rare and very expensive, as these stamps are now
well over 160 years old. Value of stamps like any other item depends on supply
and demand. However, the supply of these stamps have dwindled considerably over
time, due to destruction and loss of stamps over the years. Only a few currently
remain among a handful of collectors and dealers who have taken the trouble to
preserve these valuable stamps. Since most of the Ceylon stamps have been held
in Sri Lanka under hot and humid conditions, it has also become very difficult
to find stamps in good condition.
It is also interesting to note that all stamps issued
during era 1 and 2 were printed in a single color. Perhaps printing technology
at that time didn’t support multiple color printing. However, in era 3 (Queen
Victoria stamps issued in Rupees and Cents) stamps were printed in 2 colors,
making them nicer but still depicting
the face of Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria stamps issued in era 3 were often
overprinted to change the value of a stamp. Perhaps they were out of stock of
given denomination and therefore stamps having high stock levels were
overprinted in black with a new denomination. As per Stanley Gibbons Catalogue,
they were overprinted locally at the Government Printers in Colombo. Some of
these overprinted stamps are very rare, but one needs to be careful about fakes
too.
Stamps issued during the 19th century in Ceylon as well
as in most other countries were definitive stamps. The practice of issuing
commemorative stamps came later in Britain during the 20th century and much
later to British Colonies. Definitive stamps were used for a much longer period
of time and hence they usually became very common as large numbers were issued.
On the other hand, commemorative stamps were issued to commemorate a specific
event and lasted only for a short period and hence numbers issued were much
smaller.
Victorian stamps of Ceylon have to be carefully studied
as there are many varieties of a given stamp based on the following key factors
that influence its value.
- Type
of paper on which it is printed. eg. On normal, bluish, yellowish or on chalky
paper etc. All these variations are listed in the SG catalogue.
- Water
mark. eg. No water mark, inverted water mark & sideways etc.
- Imperforated
or perforated. It was very common for a given stamp to come with different
perforation counts, making some very rare. Hence, it pays to always check the
perforations of a given stamp using a perforation guide.
- Number
of perforations per inch on the horizontal and vertical sides of the stamp.
- Mint
or used. Mint stamps in unhinged form is very difficult to find as almost all
collectors up to around 40 years ago used hinges to stick stamps in their
albums. Only later did stock books and mounts replace hinges. So finding
unhinged mint stamps from these times would be very difficult.
- Some
stamps were printed using more than one die and hence stamps were printed using
2 or 3 dies. It may be that dies had to be changed after a while because they
got worn off. However, the die 1 and die 2 were often not identical as there
were slight differences. These differences are listed in the SG catalogue and
are easy to identify once you know what they are. Prices quoted vary widely
depending on the type of die.
- The
color of the stamps. It is very common for a given stamp of this era to have
been issued in many shades of the same color or in different colors. Correctly
identifying the color of a stamp using the Stanley Gibbons Color Guide is
therefore most important, as prices could vary so much based on its color.
As you can see, collecting Ceylon stamps of this era
would be quite interesting and also challenging in many ways. If you are going
to invest in good stamps, you really need to know what you are buying. Buying
stamps in good condition at a discounted catalogue price would be a challenge.
For this, the best place to buy these stamps would be in US where the demand
for Ceylon stamps would be rather low and it will also be easier to find stamps
in good condition due to favorable climatic conditions.
B. Stamps
Issued During the Reign of King Edward the 7th
The reign of Edward the 7th was relatively short lived,
starting from 1903 to 1911, a period of only 8 years. Some of the stamps issued
during this era were printed in 2 colors.
C.
Stamps Issued During the Reign of King George the 5th
This period spanned from 1912 to 1935. Early issues of
this period mostly depicted the face of King George the 5th , printed in a
single color or in 2 colors. There was no significant change in the way stamps
were designed and printed compared to the 3rd era of Queen Victoria. However,
in 1935 there was a great departure from this tradition of portraying only the
head of the king or queen. For the first time, common and key scenic views of
the country were portrayed in the form of pictorial stamps in 2 colors. They
had the face of the king printed on the top right hand side of these pictorial
stamps. This was a refreshing change and these stamps are very beautiful and
say a lot about the life and times in Ceylon at that time. In fact, not much of
the scenes depicted in here have changed even today.
D. Stamps
Issued During the Reign of King George the 6th
This period spanned from 1935 to 1948.There were no
significant changes worth mentioning in the design and printing of Ceylon
stamps during this time. The pictorial stamps of Ceylon issued during the reign
of King George the 5th were more or less used with the head of King George the
6th replacing that of KG the 5th.
However, the design and colors of some stamps were changed, notably the
addition of the tea plucker on 6c stamp and a change of color on the 5c stamps depicted
palm trees and the sea. The reign of King George the 6 suddenly ended in 1952,
while his daughter the present Queen of Britain was on safari at Tree Tops in
Kenya. He was rather a weak king and a sickling.
E. Stamps
Issued During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd
Queen Elizabeth the 2nd became the Queen of England in
1952. So we didn’t have any stamps under her rule as Ceylon became independent
in 1948.
F. Stamps Issued During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth the
2nd
After independence, the Government of Ceylon started
issuing postage stamps both definitive and commemoratives under the name of
Ceylon. However, from 1972 onwards, the name of the nation was changed from
Ceylon to Sri Lanka and this change was reflected in stamps as well. During
this time, the frequency of issuing stamps increased and stamps were issued to
honor many local hearos. A stamp Bureau was also established under the Post
Office to serve local and foreign philatelists. Due to the high rate of issuing
stamps during this era, it is rather difficult to maintain a complete
collection of stamps of this period. Hence, it would be better to focus on the
early issues of Ceylon under the British period.
