The first stamps appeared in 1871. They were round in shape, imperforate, and printed in black, with a crude lion's head, surrounded by Arabic script specifying one of three denominations. The lion, sher, represented the head of state, Sher Ali Khan, as he had been named for the bravery of a lion.[1] Many catalogues and early collectors incorrectly referred to these as "tiger" heads.[2]Cancellation was accomplished by cutting or tearing off a piece of the stamp. Cancellation by postmark was not introduced until 1891.[1] Initially somewhat large, subsequent issues kept the same basic design but were smaller each year, with the last appearing in 1878. Starting in 1876, the stamps were printed in different colors, each color corresponding to one of the main post offices on the Peshawar-Kabul-Khulm route.[3] Each design in a sheet was individually engraved, so the stamps vary considerably in appearance. Many of the Sher Ali issues are readily available, while some sell for hundreds of US$.
1-abasi stamp of 1892.
The defeat of Sher Ali by the British brought Abdur Rahman Khan to the throne in 1880, and the following year brought new stamps, still round, but with inscriptions in the middle instead of the lion's head. The era of round designs ended in 1891 with rectangular issues for the "Kingdom of Afghanistan". The three designs consisted entirely Arabic script, and were printed in a slate blue color. The 1892 issue featured the national seal consisting of a mosque gate and crossed cannons; it was printed in black on colored paper; at least 10 colors of paper were used, and there are many shades as well, even though all the colors had the same value. In 1894 simplified versions of this design were printed on green paper. The 1898 issues of the national seal on a variety of colored paper were not regularly issued.[4]
1 abasi, 1909.
In 1907 the first rouletted stamps were issued, along with imperforate varieties, depicting a whole mosque, with various surrounding ornamentation. In the 1909 issue the mosque was displayed inside an eight-pointed star pattern.[4]
Independence
15-poul imperf stamp of 1927, first use of Roman letters.
The first issue after independence came out on 24 August 1920, a design featuring the royal star of King Amanullah. The three denominations were also the first to use Latin script for the numerals as well as Arabic. Beginning in 1924, each year at least one stamp was issued in February to commemorate independence, a pattern that held steady, with few omissions, until the 1960s.
Parliament House on the 15p of 1939.
Afghanistan joined the Universal Postal Union in 1928; previously international mail required stamps of British India. In 1927, the first Roman letters had appeared on an Afghan stamp, the inscription reading "AFGHAN POSTAGE". This changed to the French "POSTES AFGHANES" in 1928, and remained in that form (with some deviations, as in the 1939 issue) until 1989.
The Afghan stamps of the 1930s and 1940s are rather plain affairs, mostly typographed, with large blank spaces in the design. The definitive series of 1951 was finely engraved by Waterlow and Sons, several featuring portraits of Mohammed Zahir Shah.
A large number of Afghan stamps appeared in the 1960s. Since the Afghan Postal Authority issued some stamps well below the minimal amount of postage, this was considered to be a scheme for making money from stamp collectors. The issues from 1960 on are not especially notable. During this time, a number of politically aligned stamps were produced demonstrating support for Pashtunistan, a political issue that cut relations with Pakistan for several years that decade.
Starting in the mid-1980s, many of the issues were clearly produced to sell to Western stamp collectors; for instance, the ship series of 1986 is not especially relevant in a landlocked country.
Civil war and after
The disruption of governance in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to civil war and the rise of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led to stopping of stamp issues from 1989 to 2001, although the postal service continued to exist it functioned only haphazardly using existing stamp supplies. There are only a few postal items known from the 1996 to 2001 period.[5][6] During this interim period, many unofficial stamps were printed and distributed, which were disavowed by the Afghanistan postal service in 2000 under the Taliban, and subsequently in 2003 by the Karzai government.[7]
Stamp production resumed when the Taliban regime was overthrown and the Afghan Postal Authority reconstituted.[8] The first issue of a postage stamp after the hiatus was the May 2002 stamp showing Ahmad Shah Massoud, a military general and national hero who defended Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 1980s and later led a resistance movement against the Taliban.[9]
During the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan period from 2004 to 2021, the postal service as Afghan Post managed to recreate a network of post offices and services although this speeded up after 2017 as Ahmad Wahid Wais became the new company director. Until then the core activities remained the transport of mail and parcels. By early 2020s there were around 3000 postal points for the public to access those services: one or two post offices per province, one postal agent or agency at least per district. Wais extended the activities to freight and e-commerce.[10]
Postage issues were irregular between 2001 and 2017, with only three stamps from 2008 to 2017.[10] However the wish to issue more stamps was limited by local possibilities. President Ashraf Ghani wished governmental documents be printed in Afghanistan, but in 2017 Suhuk, the state printer, did not have machines usable for stamp printing and perforating. Former philatelic chief Walid Saviz testified to philatelist Peter Hornung that the Shafiq, Saffron of Afghanistan and President Mohammad Daoud Khan stamps presented at ceremonies in 2018 were printed in low quality and little numbers or on paper inadequate for stamps (on photographic paper for the 2018 Abu Rayhan al-Biruni stamp).[10]
In 2019 quality increased thank to printing in foreign printing plants. The stamp for the centenary of the independence of Afghanistan, picturing King Amanullah Khan, was printed in China and promoted by the Chinese embassy in Kabul. The 150th anniversary of Gandhi stamp and the Indo-Afghna Friendship stamp were made by the Indian state's Security Printing Press in Hyderabad, with the help of the Indian embassy in Kabul, but still in low numbers as the others (around 5000).[10] The last stamp issued before the Taliban retook power was in January 2021 honoring Japanese humanitarian Tetsu Nakamura who was killed in Jalalabad in 2019. It was printed by Suhuk, offered to many visiting foreign dignitaries and in Japan.[10] In 2021 the philatelic service was working on a website on the history of Afghan stamps and an online shop.[10]
The Talibans took Kabul in August 2021. Talib Maulana Rahmatullah Maki was named president of Afghan Post. Until Autumn 2022 the company had prioritised postal operations. No stamp from the previous period was allowed to be sold. Autumn 2022 sales of these stamps were finally allowed to collectors, but they can not be used on mail.[10]
The lack of available stamps (either their printed numbers or their prohibition since 2021) implies that mail in Afghanistan hasn't bore stamps since at least mid-2010s. Afghan Post employees sell blank envelopes and check the contents after the sender has prepared his correspondence; then the employee prints a bill for the postage. Sender has to pay this bill to a counter of the state bank Bank-e-Millie Afghan and had to come back with a bank receipt. Then his mail is accepted as paid in cash. The procedure is to avoid postal employees' corruption.[10]
As of January 2023 Afghan Post deputy director Hamed Naseri was preparing stamp issues: on the new Qosh Tepa Canal, the departure of the last U.S. soldier, and on production of saffron. Possibly a reissue of the 2019 Gandhi stamp could happen. Problems were to find a printing plant abroad and to open a web shop whereas the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is facing international sanctions, especially on financial transfers.[10]
↑ The picture was referred to as "sher", which is generic Indo-Aryan for large wildcat, but which in Afghan Dari means "lion", and in Hindi means "tiger".
↑ An input by the UN office for Afghanistan in Islamabad for the UN Secretary-General's report on the anti-Taleban sanctions stated in June 2001 that the flight ban for the state-own Ariana airline also disrupted the activities of the Afghan Postal Services, which had been gradually restored and extended over the past three years.Ruttig, Thomas (29 March 2015). "Post Runners, Aerogrammes and the Big E-Mail Challenge: Scenes from 135 years of Afghan postal service". Archived from the original on 19 April 2015.
F. E. Patterson III, Afghanistan: Its Twentieth Century Postal IssuesThe Collectors Club, 1964
Cecil H. Uyehara and Horst G. Dietrich, "Afghan Philately 1871-1989" George Alevizos, Santa Monica, CA USA, 1995
John M. Wilkins RFD, "Afghanistan 1840-2002 Postal History Handbook, Revised Edition", The Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria (Australia), 2002.
Wilkins and Divall, "Afghanistan Revisted, Postal Stationery-Revenues-Forgeries", The Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria (Australia), 2005.
Robert Jack, "The Revenue Stamps and Printed Paper of Afghanistan", Robert Jack, ISBN978-0-9562630-0-1, 2009
Peter Hornung, "La philatélie au pays des Talibans" (Philately in the land of Talibans), Timbres magazine, April 2023 , p.24-29. Sources are listed as interviews with former and current postal officers in 2022-2023, Afghan Post's Facebook page, and the author's personal experience in Kabul, January 2023.
Published in English: Peter Hornung, "Afghanistan: Philately in the Taliban era", Gibbons Stamp Monthly, July 2023, pages 46-51.
Patterson, Frank E. III (1964). Afghanistan: Its Twentieth Century Postal Issues. Collectors Club Handbook No. 18. New York: The Collectors Club (Theodore E. Steinway Memorial Publication Fund). OCLC248304581.
Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums.
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage. Then the stamp is affixed to the face or address-side of any item of mail—an envelope or other postal cover —which they wish to send. The item is then processed by the postal system, where a postmark or cancellation mark—in modern usage indicating date and point of origin of mailing—is applied to the stamp and its left and right sides to prevent its reuse. Next the item is delivered to its addressee.
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth century with the rapid growth of the postal service, as a stream of new stamps was produced by countries that sought to advertise their distinctiveness through their stamps.
Indian postal systems for efficient military and governmental communications had developed long before the arrival of Europeans. When the Portuguese, Dutch, French, Danish and British conquered the Marathas who had already defeated the Mughals, their postal systems existed alongside those of many somewhat independent states. The British East India Company gradually annexed the other powers on the sub-continent and brought into existence a British administrative system over most of modern-day India, with a need to establish and maintain both official and commercial mail systems.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Switzerland.
In philately, a cinderella stamp is a label that resembles a postage stamp, but which is not issued for postal purposes by a government administration. There is a wide variety of cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional use by businesses, churches, political or non-profit groups. The term excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.
In philately, the term cover pertains to the outside of an envelope or package with an address, typically with postage stamps that have been cancelled and is a term generally used among stamp and postal history collectors. The term does not include the contents of the letter or package, although they may add interest to the item if still present. Cover collecting plays an important role in postal history as many covers bear stamps, postmarks and other markings along with names and addresses all of which help to place a cover at a given time and place in history.
The Mauritius "Post Office" stamps were issued by the British Colony Mauritius in September 1847, in two denominations: an orange-red one penny (1d) and a deep blue two pence (2d). Their name comes from the wording on the stamps reading "Post Office", which was soon changed in the next issue to "Post Paid". They are among the rarest postage stamps in the world.
The postage stamps of Ireland are issued by the postal operator of the independent Irish state. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first postage stamps were issued in 1840. These stamps, and all subsequent British issues, were used throughout Ireland until the new Irish Government assumed power in 1922. Beginning on 17 February 1922, existing British stamps were overprinted with Irish text to provide some definitives until separate Irish issues became available within the new Irish Free State. Following the overprints, a regular series of definitive stamps was produced by the new Department of Posts and Telegraphs, using domestic designs. These definitives were issued on 6 December 1922, the day that the Irish Free State officially came into existence; the first was a 2d stamp, depicting a map of Ireland. Since then new images, and additional values as needed, have produced nine definitive series of different designs.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Angola.
The postage stamps and postal history of Israel is a survey of the postage stamps issued by the state of Israel, and its postal history, since independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The first postage stamps were issued two days later on May 16, 1948. Pre-1948 postal history is discussed in postage stamps and postal history of Palestine.
Postage stamps and postal history of Baden refers to the postal history and postage stamps of the German state of Baden from 1851 to 1871.
This article is about the postage stamps and postal history of Hamburg from the medieval messengers until the entry of the Hamburg Postal Administration into the Northern German Postal District in 1868.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Estonia. The stamps of Estonia are issued by the postal administration Eesti Post which is the country's only provider of universal postal services.
Mauritius, a small island in the southwest Indian Ocean, is important to the world of philately for a number of reasons. Its first two postage stamps issued in 1847, called the "Post Office" stamps, are of legendary rarity and value. They were the first stamps issued in any part of the British Empire outside of Great Britain. The unique cover bearing both “Post Office” stamps has been called "la pièce de résistance de toute la philatélie" or "the greatest item in all philately". The cover was sold at auction, in Zurich, on 3 November 1993, for 5.75 million Swiss francs, the equivalent of about $4 million – the highest price ever paid for a single philatelic item up to that time. In addition, Mauritius is well known for the subsequent locally produced issues known as "primitives," also prized by collectors.
Postal history in the territory that now constitutes Latvia began during the 13th century, when the Archbishopric of Riga was included to the area of postal operations of the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights and the Hanseatic League. In 1580 the Hanseatic League issued their first known regulations on courier work and payroll, regulations that also were active in the territory that now constitutes Latvia.
Nepal has a long postal history. The modern form of postal service was started by the Rana Prime minister Ranaudip Singh in 1878. He established the first post office which was named Nepal Hulak Ghar. In 1881, the first postal stamp was issued. As of 2020, about 1367 types of postal stamps have been issued. Currently, the postal service is regulated by the Postal act of Nepal. Nepal Post, locally known as Hulak Sewa(Nepali: हुलाक सेवा विभाग) or Daak Sewa(Nepali: डाँक सेवा) under the Ministry of Information and Communications is responsible for the postal service in Nepal.
Afghan Post is the national mail and courier organization of Afghanistan with its headquarters in Kabul. It has offices in all 34 provinces and 420 or so districts of Afghanistan.
The Halfpenny Yellow is the first postage stamp issued by the Crown Colony of Malta. Depicting Queen Victoria, it was only valid for local postage and it was originally issued on 1 December 1860. It was the only stamp issued by Malta for two and a half decades, and during this period various reprints were made with differences in colour shade, perforation and watermark. When control of Malta's postal service was transferred to the island's colonial government on 1 January 1885, the stamp was withdrawn and it was replaced by a set of definitive stamps.
The U.S. Parcel Post stamps of 1912–13 were the first such stamps issued by the U.S. Post Office Department and consisted of twelve denominations to pay the postage on parcels weighing 16 ounces and more, with each denomination printed in the same color of "carmine-rose". Their border design was similar while each denomination of stamp bore its own distinctive image in the center (vignette). Unlike regular postage items, whose rates were determined by weight in ounces, Parcel Post rates were determined and measured by increments in pounds. The new stamps were soon widely used by industry, farmers and others who lived in rural areas. Partly owing to some confusion involving their usage, their exclusive use as Parcel Post stamps proved short lived, as regular postage stamps were soon allowed to be used to pay parcel postage rates.
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