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THE
FIRST STAMPS USED IN ADEN
In April 1854
the Government of Bombay received from Calcutta a letter
stating that 3,000 sheets of ½ Anna stamps had been
printed and that each sheet was of 360 stamps. This was
estimated to be sufficient for six months use by all
Post Offices under the control of the Indian Postmaster
General. It was added that as it was proposed to
introduce the new postal system on 1 June, it did not
permit any delay in the distribution of stamps.
Bombay did its
sums and then informed the Political Agent at Aden, that
Aden’s allocation for one month was 2,567 stamps.
Presumably this slightly odd number was arrived at by
dividing the six month allocation for Aden, which was to
be 15,552 stamps, by six. Or in other words 162 sheets
as the ½ Anna sheets ended up being 96 and not 360
stamps to a sheet.
The first 81
sheets were despatched from the Bombay General Stamp
Office on 6 June, with the remaining 81 following on the
30th. The Stamp Office also sent 50 sheets of 1 Anna
stamps (also at 96 stamps to a sheet, a total of 4,800
stamps) on 30 August. This completed the initial issue,
indents being required for further supplies. Postage
stamps went into use on 1 October and not 1 June as had
been originally intended.
Although Aden was administratively
part of India it was to be some years later before it
was agreed that mail to and from Aden and India could be
sent at Indian Inland Rates of 1 Anna per ½ ounce. The
rate meanwhile was 4 Annas per ½ ounce, whilst the rate
to England at that time was 8 Annas (quite soon to be
reduced to 4). The intended use of the lower
denominations was for Indian Inland Rates (to which, as
has been said, Aden was not entitled) and for Soldiers
Sepoys and Seamen’s letters for which the rate was ½
Anna.
At this stage it was not compulsory
to put stamps on letters and certainly until the 2 and 4
Anna stamps arrived in December 1854 it would not have
been very convenient to have used the lower
denominations on mail to the UK. Bearing in mind the
postal rates mentioned in the previous paragraph there
was little call for 2 Anna stamps once 4 Anna stamps
were available. In fact only 50 sheets of 2 Anna stamps
(at 80 stamps to the sheet) were ever sent to Aden, of
which only 28 sheets were issued to the two outlets, the
Post office in Camp and the one licenced vendor. This
amount to only just over a thousand stamps and makes it
quite easily the rarest of the imperforate stamps used
in Aden.
Where the vendor was located is not
clear but it may have been in Tawahi as the very great
majority of 4 Anna stamps sold were sold by him and not
by the post office. Some 1 Anna stamps would have been
used to pay Ship Letter charges, that is for mail
carried on ships that were not designated mail steamers.
Thus both 1 as well as the 2 Anna stamps of this first
imperforated issue of postage labels (as they were also
referred to) are also very rare used in Aden.
From April to November 1855 about
1,200 of the 4 Anna stamps/labels were being used at
Aden each month. They were issued in sheets of only 12
stamps to a sheet. Aden had also indented twice for 8
Anna stamps, but these were never sent, as no stamp of
this denomination was ever printed imperforate.
This photo of the
Crescent in the early 1930's shows the Manackjee shop,
no doubt now run by sons or grandsons.
Both the
Post office and the vendor, who was named
Eduljee Maneckjee, were paid commission on sales of
stamps. In 1857 it would appear that the discount was ½
Anna in each Rupee, or in other words
3.125%. Initially, back in 1854-55 it was probably only
2.75% - but even so this would have been a ‘nice little
earner’ for the vendor.
During 1855 from March to July
inclusive only 4 Anna stamps were issued from the
Treasury to the two outlets. The first and only indent
for the year 1855-56 was on the 2 July for 500 sheets of
4 Anna stamps. The total quantity of 4 Anna stamps that
arrived in Aden up until mid-August 1855 less than
20,000 stamps,
Perforated stamps were issued in
India October 1855 and these would have arrived from
India the following month. Residual stocks of
imperforated stamps were being sold until some time in
1858, when any remaining stocks were withdrawn. Although
a total of 31,104 of the ½ Anna imperforated stamps had
been sent to Aden, not more than half had been used by
1858. The reason for this was that until 1884
Sepoys serving off mainland India were not yet entitled
to the ½ Anna concessionary rate. They had to pay the
full rate but were then reimbursed the difference from
regimental funds, regiments submitting an annual bill to
the Indian Post Office.’ Thus the ½ and the 4 Anna stamps of this first
issue are of more or less equal rarity. The number of 1d
Blacks issued in the UK was 60 million! (But how many
philatelists collect ‘India used in Aden’?!)
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