PESHAWAR STAMP SOCIETY
PAKISTAN
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PESHAWAR STAMP SOCIETY PAKISTAN |
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The Stamps of Palestine -
Part One By Mr. Nathan Zankel, New Jersey
When The British Egyptian Expeditionary Force
occupied the southern half of Palestine (Jaffa fell on November 16,
1917 and Jerusalem was occupied December 9, 1917) they realized the
civilian population had an urgent need to communicate with relatives,
friends, business contacts, and financial supporters abroad.&nabs;
The British allowed civilians to use the military post offices. &nabs; The
fascinating postal history of this period is described in my article on
the civilian use of the military post in the August 2000 issue of
"The Israel Philatelist."
Figure 1. Palestine's first two stamps issues February 10, 1918 and February 16, 1918 respectively.
The British authorized the printing of E.E.F. (Egyptian
Expeditionary Force) stamps. Two values were initially printed: a
one piastre stamp for the foreign letter rate, and a 5 milliemes overprint
on the same design for the post card and domestic rate (Figure
1). The design included E.E.F., postage paid, and one
piastre (Egyptian currency) in English and Arabic. The stamps
were printed on ungummed paper by the Egyptian Survey Office.
Imperforate plate proofs (Figure 2) of one piastre,
and specimens of both values (Figure 3) were printed.
The specimens and printed stamps were rouletted.
The first stamp, the one piastre dark blue was issued
on February 10, 1918, and first day covers (Figure 4) are
available. The&nabs; stamps were printed in panes of 120
stamps with an A18 control number on the lower left corner of
the pane. A total of 209,760 of the first stamp was issued
and it is listed as #1 in the Scott, Gibbons and Bale catalogs. The second stamp was issued on February 16, 1918 in
a lighter blue called cobalt blue with a 5 milliemes black overprint
printed over the one piastre value tablets on the sides of the stamps. No
first day covers are known. A total of 51,280 of these were
printed in panes of 120 stamps which have a b18 control number in the
lower left corner (Figure 5). This stamp is
number 3a in Scott, and number two in Gibbons and Bale. I
will use the Bale catalog numbers in the rest of this article. Gibbons
catalog numbers are similar to Bale catalog numbers. The ungummed
paper has tiny quartz-like particles imbedded in the paper.
A major overprinting error occurred on position 10
of some of the sheets No. 2. The English overprint reads
MILLILMES (Figure 6).
Additional one piastre stamps were printed in a
light ultramarine color on gummed paper. The control number
was changed to C18 (Figure 7) and 338,880 stamps were
printed. These are
The first printing had control number C 18 B, and D
18 C was used on the second printing (Figure 9).
A total of 109,680 of these were issued.
The Arabic on position 11 was damaged when the Milliemes error on position 10 was corrected. This created another variety called Arabic Partly Missing (Figure 10). Numbers 3 and 4 were issued on March 5, 1918. First Day covers of both are known but are scarce.
There are several significant plate and overprint varieties on the Blues. A noticeable plate variety is the PAID variety in position 52 (Figure 11). Overprint verities in addition to the milliemes and Arabic Partly Missing include an "open 5" in position 97 (Figure 12) and L-shaped guide markers in all four corners of the sheets (Figure 13).
Number 2, being scarcer, has a much greater catalog value
than number 4. The catalog describes the color of No.2 as cobalt
An unused stamp with gum or no quartz particles is a No. 4. To prove a used stamp is a No. 2 it must be cancelled between its issue date, February 16, and March 4, 1918 (Figure 14). No. 4 was issued on March 5 and 5 milliemes stamps cancelled that day or later are usually considered to be No. 4. It is theoretically possible to find a stamp with an overprint variety from overprint plate A1 which was used on No. 2 but not on No. 4. I know only several instances where an expertise has been able to give certificates based on this method.
Additional information about these stamps can be
found in two very good Palestine catalogs. Both were published in
2001, so they are current. The "Stamps and Postal
Stationery of the Palestine Mandate 1918-1948" by
Palestine expert David Dorfman lists watermarks, perforation and paper
varieties, major plate and important overprint varieties of each set of
Palestine stamps. In addition, there is a section on postal
stationery and another on Palestine Revenues. The other catalog is "The
Stamps and Postal History of Palestine Mandate 2001" published
by Chariot Global Marketing (in Israel). The editor is Palestine
expert Jacques Kaufman of Amsterdam. It includes many of the elements
described above in Dorman's catalog and he has added the first attempt to
price Palestine stamps on cover. He details more varieties. A new
Palestine collector will learn a lot from both catalogs. If you have any news, question or want to share your experience, comments or have a article about Palestine's stamps >>>>>>>>>>>>>> please contact : peshawar@stampsociety.c
Peshawar Stamp Society P O Box 1293 Peshawar Cantt-25000 Pakistan Phone number: 92-91-584-5327 E-mail: peshawar@stampsociety.com
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