When India won her Independence, the Indian government had to deal with a lot of problems; Starting with the refugees, to handling peoples mails. The postal system was already in place, the stamps though had to be designed and printed by the Indian Government.
The tri-coloured Indian flag, featured on Independent India's first stamp. It was printed on 21 Nov. 1947 at Indian Security Press in Nasik. It features the words "Jai Hind" and cost 3.5 annas. This was the cost of an International mail.
The next stamp features the Ashoka capital and cost 1.5 annas. That was the cost of a local mail and 22.7 million of these were printed. Guess people wrote a lot those days, considering the poor rate of literacy.
The next two stamps were printed in Dec 1947, and are thus the second stamps of Independent India.
The final stamp released that year cost a whopping 12 annas. It was meant for International mail sent via air. Hence it aptly features a Douglas DC-4. Despite the cost, 2.4 million of these were printed.
Though I mostly collect cancelled stamps, i.e. stamps that have been used in postage, at some stage of their life- Being the first 3 stamps of India, I was truly delighted when I came across three un-cancelled stamps and decided to make them an exception.
The tri-coloured Indian flag, featured on Independent India's first stamp. It was printed on 21 Nov. 1947 at Indian Security Press in Nasik. It features the words "Jai Hind" and cost 3.5 annas. This was the cost of an International mail.
The next stamp features the Ashoka capital and cost 1.5 annas. That was the cost of a local mail and 22.7 million of these were printed. Guess people wrote a lot those days, considering the poor rate of literacy.
The next two stamps were printed in Dec 1947, and are thus the second stamps of Independent India.
Though I mostly collect cancelled stamps, i.e. stamps that have been used in postage, at some stage of their life- Being the first 3 stamps of India, I was truly delighted when I came across three un-cancelled stamps and decided to make them an exception.
Your post had taken me back to 1947! Thanks for the awareness!
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure Sindhu. Thank you for the comment.
DeleteThe next two stamps were published on 15th December 1947
ReplyDeleteAnd the first stamp of 3.5 annas denomination was printed 2.3 million in quantity in sheets of 96
and the latter two in sheets of 144 and 160 respectively