Post office · Burma
Akyab
- Handstamps
- 7
- Recorded
- 1853–1860
- Rare
- 6
Akyab has 7 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1853–1860 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Akyab handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Akyab— postal history & markings
Akyab's six markings all belong to British Burma, administered through Bengal in this period, and every one — FP 1 through FP 6 — is rare. The office worked mainly in black, with a single red strike. As a Burmese office, Akyab lies outside the Hammond Giles catalogue of British India, and its marks are recorded here directly from surviving material. A port on the Arakan coast, its small record is made valuable precisely by its scarcity: a complete run of rare handstamps documenting the post of a corner of the eastern empire seldom seen on cover.
Frequently asked — Akyab postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Akyab?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Akyab are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Akyab post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Akyab was a post office of the Burma, British India, and this census records 7 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1853 and 1860.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Akyab?
- 7 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Akyab in this census, of which 6 are graded rare or better. Each mark carries its Hammond Giles catalogue figure number, colour, date range, evidence-based rarity grade, and links to every surviving cover recorded with it.
- How do I identify an Akyab postmark or cover?
- Compare your cover against the reference impressions on this page — each figure shows the mark's design, ink colour and recorded date range. If your Akyab cover bears a mark that matches a figure, open that figure's page to see every recorded example with provenance. If it matches none, it may be unrecorded: submit photographs through the form on this page and the editors will review it for inclusion in the census.
For background on the material itself, see the guides to the handstruck stamps of India, the pre covers of India and the pre stamp covers of India, which explain how marks like those recorded at Akyab were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Akyab, Akyab handstruck stamps, Akyab pre stamp covers, Akyab postal history.
How to cite
“Akyab, Burma — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/burma/akyab (accessed 10 September 2026).
Updated: 10 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Akyab?
If you hold a cover or strike from Akyab that does not match any figure above, submit it below. Approved additions appear here as new entries in the census — every submission is reviewed first.
Same presidency
Other post offices in the Burma
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other Burma post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.