Post office · Goa (Portuguese India)
Bicholim
- Handstamps
- 3
- Recorded
- 1857–1858
- Rare
- 3
Bicholim has 3 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1857–1858 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Bicholim handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Bicholim— postal history & markings
Bicholim's three markings belong to Portuguese Goa and to a very short window, 1857 to 1858 — and every one is rare. Like its Goan neighbours, the office names its functions in a distinct form: FP 1 is a straightline 'Bicholim', FP 2 a red 'P.P.', and FP 3 a 'Livre' handstamp known from a single example. Lying outside the Hammond Giles catalogue of British India, its marks are recorded here directly from surviving material. Every strike being rare, this tiny, tightly-dated record is a valuable window onto the Portuguese post of the northern Goa country.
Frequently asked — Bicholim postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Bicholim?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Bicholim are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Bicholim post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Bicholim was a post office of the Goa (Portuguese India), British India, and this census records 3 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1857 and 1858.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Bicholim?
- 3 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Bicholim in this census, of which 3 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 a Bicholim 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 Bicholim 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 Bicholim were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Bicholim, Bicholim handstruck stamps, Bicholim pre stamp covers, Bicholim postal history.
How to cite
“Bicholim, Goa (Portuguese India) — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/goa/bicholim (accessed 8 September 2026).
Updated: 8 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Bicholim?
If you hold a cover or strike from Bicholim 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 Goa (Portuguese India)
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other Goa (Portuguese India) post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.