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Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s was proud to present Part 3 of The Academic Collection on 9 August 2024. As part of this 690-lot auction included three lots featuring a rare Muscat hand stamp: two covers and a large piece. Lot 583 is notable. Consisting of a tired and untidy oblong commercial cover sent from Muscat on 22 March 1948 to a Bank, this carried an estimate of £500 to £600. However, the hammer ultimately fell at £14,000, selling for £16,800, including fees. This is certainly an impressive figure for a Pakistan item and a record price for the UK, becoming the second most valuable Pakistan philatelic item ever sold.
“The item in question is a registered cover posted from Muscat to Bombay in 1948. The postage rate of 6½a was paid with Indian ½a purple and 2a vermilion (3) stamps which had been provisionally handstamped 'PAKISTAN' by the postmaster in Muscat. The main point of interest is that Muscat is the only post office outside of mainland Pakistan to have created and used these provisional stamps. Neil Donaldson, writing in 1975, stated that only six covers bearing these provisional stamps were known to have survived.” - Rob Smith, Commonwealth Specialist
Even during the chaos and upheaval of the partition of British India, the post had to carry on. At the stroke of midnight on 14 August 1947, Pakistan came into being. Initially, Indian stamps were overprinted "PAKISTAN" at the old national security printers at Nasik, external to Pakistan. However, demand soon exceeded supply and the decision was taken to locally make imitation plates at Lahore and Karachi to overprint full sheets.
Instructions were also sent out to singly overprint the stocks of postal stationery held at offices around the country by locally procuring a suitable die. Thus, philatelists eventually identified hundreds of different dies (metal and rubber) making it a rich and rewarding field for the specialist. The small Post Office at Muscat (under the administration of Pakistan) was one of several who misconstrued instructions to handstamp postal stationery and applied it to its meagre counter stock of Imperial India postage stamps. According to Donaldson (the authority on Gulf stamps) these overprints were placed on sale on 20 December 1947. They were sold for 9 days but remained valid for use until 31 March the following year. This handstamp has the distinction of being the only one "used abroad" and Donaldson states they are exceedingly rare with less than six covers known to have survived.
Lot 583 is an extraordinary item – bearing four examples of the Muscat handstamp, a 1/2a and 3 x 2as, it paid the registered letter rate to Bombay. It also came with a BPA Certificate and was one of only two illustrated by Neil Donaldson in his authoritative publication. The other cover illustrated by Donaldson was auctioned 10 years ago at the 'Alan Parsons' sale in Hong Kong and sold for HK$ 240,000 (about £24,000), so perhaps Lot 583 was a bargain!
Lot 583 detail
According to Dickon Pollard of Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s, the sale of Lot 583 indicates as much about the wider Middle East market as the localised Pakistan market. The Pakistan market, though performing well, is not a mature one, largely due to its exceptional complexity. At its low end, therefore, it remains very niche, putting off all but the most committed and historically or culturally motivated individuals and wealth also plays a role. Despite an emerging middle class, Pakistan, unlike India, still boasts less disposable income, resulting in lower demand and prices.
However, collectors from the Middle East are having a demonstrable impact on prices realised for postal history items. It has been noted that, as with many other collectable categories and items of historic and cultural significance, there is an emerging trend for wealthy Middle Eastern collectors to 'almost repatriate’ material.
Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s is excited to be bringing to auction another collection from the region, The George Rab Collection of Bahawalpur, which has been formed over a forty-year period with Rab recognised as a leading authority for much of that time. His collection is full of stamps and covers of the highest rarity and importance, with an amazing array of the handstamps. The cachet 'ex Rab' will be considered as impeccable provenance for decades to come. The George Rab Collection of Bahawalpur will take place at 399 Strand on 13 November 2024.
For more information, please visit www.sgbaldwins.com
