Post office · Madras Presidency
CoimbatorePostal Covers & Pre-1854 Postal History
Coimbatore postal covers and handstruck postal markings of pre-1854 British India, recorded in an open census: 4 Coimbatore handstamps recorded between 1840 and 1856, Madras Presidency, with 9 Coimbatore covers traced to them.
- Handstamps
- 4
- Recorded
- 1840–1856
Coimbatore is situated 11 oN and 76°58' E, on the left bank of the Noyil River, 305 miles from Madras. In the 16th century it was occupied and lost several times by the British, but finall y possessed after the fall of Seringapatam in 1799.
Coimbatore has 4 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1840–1856 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Coimbatore handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Coimbatore— postal history & markings
Coimbatore's four handstamps, from 1840 to 1856, are worked in red and black and are all in common use. A town on the Noyil River that had changed hands several times in the sixteenth century before passing to the British, its post served a growing inland centre of the Madras Presidency. There is no rarity here to single out; the record is the ordinary output of a district office. For the collector, Coimbatore is a clean, complete run rather than a source of scarce strikes — its value in filling the map of the southern presidency.
Frequently asked — Coimbatore postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Coimbatore?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Coimbatore are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Coimbatore post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Coimbatore was a post office of the Madras Presidency, British India, and this census records 4 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1840 and 1856.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Coimbatore?
- 4 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Coimbatore in this census. 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 Coimbatore 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 Coimbatore 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 Coimbatore were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Coimbatore, Kovai, Coimbatore HG 1, Coimbatore handstruck stamps, Coimbatore pre stamp covers, Coimbatore postal history.
How to cite
“Coimbatore, Madras Presidency — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/madras/coimbatore (accessed 24 September 2026).
Updated: 24 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Coimbatore?
If you hold a cover or strike from Coimbatore 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 Madras Presidency
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other Madras Presidency post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.