Post office · Straits Settlements
Singapore
- Handstamps
- 8
- Recorded
- 1829–1855
- Rare
- 8
Singapore has 8 pre-1854 hand-struck postal markings dated 1829–1855 recorded in this census. Each figure links to its covers, rarity and provenance.
Singapore handstamp summary
All recorded markings at a glance — click any row for full details and covers.
Singapore— postal history & markings
Singapore's eight markings, from 1829 to 1855, belong to the Straits Settlements, and every one of its early strikes is rare: FP 1 of 1829, FP 2 of 1840 and FP 7 of 1839 are all elusive. The office worked entirely in black.
As a Straits office administered through Bengal, Singapore lies outside the Hammond Giles catalogue of British India, and its marks are recorded here directly from surviving material. For the collector of the eastern settlements, this compact all-black run — anchored by its rare 1829 opener — documents the post of a port whose commercial importance was only beginning to grow across the years these strikes span.
Frequently asked — Singapore postal history
- What are the pre stamp covers of Singapore?
- Pre stamp (pre philatelic) covers of Singapore are folded letters and envelopes that passed through the Singapore post office before India's first adhesive stamp of 1854, so postage was shown entirely by hand-struck postal markings and manuscript rates. Singapore was a post office of the Straits Settlements, British India, and this census records 8 distinct postal markings used there, dated between 1829 and 1855.
- How many handstamps are recorded for Singapore?
- 8 hand-struck postal markings are recorded for Singapore in this census, of which 8 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 Singapore 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 Singapore 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 Singapore were struck, catalogued and graded for rarity.
Also searched as: Singapore, Singapore handstruck stamps, Singapore pre stamp covers, Singapore postal history.
How to cite
“Singapore, Straits Settlements — pre-1854 handstruck stamps & covers,” Hand Struck Stamps, https://handstruckstampsindia.com/straits-settlements/singapore (accessed 8 September 2026).
Updated: 8 Sept 2026
An unrecorded mark from Singapore?
If you hold a cover or strike from Singapore 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 Straits Settlements
Explore the pre-1854 postal history of other Straits Settlements post offices — each page lists its recorded handstruck markings, dates and surviving covers.