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Hand Struck Stamps

COV-378

1830 Calcutta HG 20 Cover

Back to census|Calcutta HG 20 · 3 covers recorded
1830 Calcutta HG 20 pre stamp cover — COV-378
front
Calcutta HG 20 pre stamp cover — back (COV-378)
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Scan or Photo Courtesy of Siegel Auction Galleries

Date

1830

Description

India, Calcutta, 1835, "G.P.O./Ht Pt Pd/18__" Octagonal Handstamp (Giles 20). Clear and mostly complete strike with manuscript "1 June (18) 35" date and "2" (annas) rate added on back of small native cover to Berhampoor, cover with overall wear and affected by insect holes (which just affect portions of the strike), Very Fine, noted as "Rare" by Giles as this was only used between June and November 1835, only three examples thought to exist, this example believed to be the earliest, according to the Jan. 1, 1830 Regulations (Clause X), "natives have the option of paying only half the amount of postage leviable on at letter when it is delivered at a Post Office for despatch, the remaining half to be collected from the person addressed, on delivery, expect letters to Ganjam, Madras, Hyderabad, Poonah & Bombay, which must always be a full post paid..."

Auction

Dilip Shah, Lot 10, (Oct. 2001)

Sale 9042, Lot 10038, The Magnolia Collection Part 6

Provenance

"Magnolia" Dilip Shah

Same office

Other recorded marks at Calcutta

182 marks

182 other pre-1854 postal markings of Calcutta are recorded in the census. Compare their figure numbers, dates and colours to identify the mark on your cover.

View all Calcutta marks and postal history →

About this record

This 1830 pre stamp cover of British India bears the Calcutta HG 20 handstamp of the Bengal Presidency, a mark graded “Rare” in this census — one of 3 surviving covers with this mark recorded. It has appeared at auction with Spink, Dilip Shah, lot 10, (Oct. 2001); Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Sale 9042, lot 10038.