The Printing Implements

Fifteen carved-brass handprinting plates and dies were used in all, split between an early period (1866-1878) and a new (1878-1894). Four of the plates are called “composite,” which in this context means that two different denominations are accomodated on each. No two subjects are exactly alike because each was carved into the metal separately, and rather freely, by hand. Counting all these design subtypes as different, there are 45 for the early period and 101 for the new. The descriptions below simply collect the headers from the pertinent stamp pages. While no new information has been added, it might be that something accrues from having the separate stories mingling in the same room:

Old Period

The ½-anna circular die is one of two brass handstamps that came into use at Jammu in March 1866. A third followed on their heels quickly, but possibly not in March itself. All were used with watercolor pigments during the 1866-1877 period and in oilcolors for about a year in 1877-78. Essays or proofs are not attested for any of the three circular dies (nor for the little Jammu plate, which is to say, for any of the Jammu implements). It may be that the known die cutter of the Srinagar implements, a certain Rahat Ju, was not the engraver of the Jammu implements. That claim was made for the circular dies alone by Capt. Godfrey, who had come into possession of Rahat Ju’s workbook. The circular dies remained available for many years beyond 1878 for the prolific production of reprints for collectors, and were finally defaced in 1898, some years after the closing of the native posts in November 1894. The currency symbols that appear at the center of the circular stamps are discussed on the Inscriptions page. Our letter code for this die is A.

The 1a is the middle partner of the triplet of circular dies that came into postal use at Jammu in the spring of 1866. Care is needed with the older literature because there was a widespread misconception that this die was meant to serve the 4-anna function, and that the third circular die was the real 1a. The matter was controversial in certain circles for more than a century. The engaging history and resolution of the matter is given Staal’s text, pp 61-85. The Scott listing was corrected in the 1940s on account of the influence of Harrison Haverbeck and Winthrop Boggs on the American scene. The switch to the correct identifications was made in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue in the mid-1980s. Even up to recent years (perhaps even still?) Michel had the Katalog illustrations reversed though the stamp listing itself is correct—hardly the happy compromise. Our letter code for this die is B.

We do not have a date for the earliest attestation of the 4a circular die, but it may have come onto the scene even weeks after the introduction of the two lower-denomination circulars in March 1866. It was used for the regular registration rate. Again, care is needed with the earlier literature because most early commentators took this die to be the 1-anna denomination. Our letter code for this die is C.

The first Kashmir die. The advent month of this implement is not known. Masson gives 3 Oct 1866 as an early sighting, but that cover (shown on the stamp page) is better dated to 23 September 1866. Reports of an anomalously early June 1866 advent may have been inspired from the piece displayed on Staal Plate 8, but the dating lines should read 1283 shahr-e 29 jomādi ol-avval ~ 9 October 1866, which happens now to be the earliest date cited so far of a plate black (next entry). The older literature erroneously reports the advent for the latter as occuring the following spring. Our letter code for the first Kashmir die is D.

The first Kashmir composite plate consists of twenty half-anna subjects in the upper four rows, and a strip of five one-anna subjects along the bottom. After the initial print-runs in black for the entire plate, the ½a section was printed for many years in shades of blue and the lower 1a strip in a range of oranges. The older literature erroneously cites a spring 1867 advent (and demise) for the plate issues in black. At least three covers bearing a ½a plate-black in the October 1866 to February 1867 period have now been reported, though none yet in the 1a over this period. With the ongoing use of the ½a single-die black and the ½a circular black, we have the picture of three different half-blacks sharing postal duty over that first autumn and winter. Our letter codes for this plate are E for upper sector and F for lower strip.

The second Kashmir plate appeared in the summer of 1867, possibly as early as June. It consists of two strips of five, the upper being of ¼-anna and the lower of 2-annas. These values served for the special half-rate provision on regular and registered letters that was accorded visiting Europeans to Srinagar, provided that such mail also carried the requisite British postage for crossing the border. The ¼a is found in black watercolor only, and is quite a common stamp unused. The 2a was done in shades of yellow, and are scarce on cover. Oil reprinting was done later with the plate in a repaired state. Four rivets were driven into the plate along the central line. Our letter codes for this plate are G for upper strip and H for the lower.

The Jammu plate. Starting in the late summer of 1867, this composite plate became the primary production implement for Jammu, largely supplanting circulars except of course for the 4a function. The lower-left position in the block is 1a; the other three positions are ½a. As with the circulars, no essays or proofs of the Jammu plate are known; likewise the printing was done exclusively in watercolors on native paper to the summer of 1877, thenceforth in oilcolors on both native and European papers to May 1878. Stamps produced from this plate are generally scarcer in unused condition than they are in used. Reference: Tim Eames India Post 29 42 (1995). Our letter code for this plate (both denominations together) is J.

This, the second Kashmir single die, came into use in autumn 1867, quite possibly October, taking over the role of the 4a ultramarine circular at Srinagar for the registration function. No essays or proofs of this die are attested. After the first sharp printings in rare shades of green (myrtle and sage) this die had long employment in an arsenic-laced emerald-green. Reprinting in oils followed, including an odious ochre and a perfect purple. Our letter code for this die is K.

This was the third of the Kashmir single dies, and likely the last-carved of the handprinting implements. Late summer or early autumn 1867 is probably the consensus. This denomination is known only in a range of red watercolors. The handstamp was not found in the Pratap Singh Museum in 1981 by Messrs. Staal & Sharma, though the implement was defaced with the others in 1898. Postally used copies of this high denomination are scarcer than catalogue prices would suggest. Oilcolor reprinting was done in a variety of red-type shades, black, and an ochre. Our letter code for this die is L.

We use tag I to represent the Iron-mine obliterator seal, which was used for the production of what the literature has oft taken to be a Jammu provisional in the late summer of 1877.

New Rectangular Period

New Rectangulars were in use from some unknown day in May 1878 to the end of the Native PO system on 1st November 1894. The geometry of the plates is shown below:

The triplet of 3-wide plates have fractional denomination; the triplet of 4-wide plates have integral denomination. The composite 4a+8a plate, composed by a different artisan, contains a gutter row traversed by simulated perforation holes. The ⅛-anna plate was a late-comer to the party by some five years. Our letter tags for these plates are M = ½a, N = ¼a, P = 1a, Q = 2a, R = 4a (upper sector) and S = 8a (lower sector), and T = ⅛a for the late-comer, meant to fulfill a half-postage privilege on postcards. We have no use for a tag O, which would in any case be likely mistaken for Officials.

The 12-plate

The so-called “unissued” ¼a plate of 12 subjects is traditionally included in the list. This plate, first reported in Europe in November 1886, was created for unknown reasons. The stamps occur in a broad range of paper and pigment; in fact a minor deluge of non-postal production appeared over a number of years, though some of it is scarce. Perhaps the implement entered life with high purpose (check out pp 121-22 in Staal for a couple of the theories) and then it somehow ‘went philatelic’ somewhere along the way. The plate was defaced with the other implements in 1898, a fact that has lent it some tacit legitimacy through association. In a contrary vote, we feel that these productions occupy the philatelic stature of the so-called ‘missing-die’ forgeries (a sentiment we lately discover was shared by Masson). Officials were on the track of the latter dies too for just such defacement. Both types are rumored to have successfully passed in the mails, and both types sometimes bear spurious cancels. Letter code U.

Summary of Printing Implements

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