The ⅛a Plate
There were no Jammu printings with this implement because this plate was not among
the original set introduced in 1878. The theme color is, so to speak, yellow. It appeared
only in 1883 to serve for the half-rate provision
allowed visitors using the ¼a British India postcard.
These stamps command a good premium on card or cover, where they are also found as
pairs making up the ½-anna amount. Unfortunately,
the greater number of these stamps on late covers are concoctions for the collector.
A ⅛a black on thin white wove paper can be seen on Staal Plate 11.
It is a unique item overprinted CANCELLED in a reddish pigment. There were no issued
officials in the ⅛a, as this was the visitors’ rate on postcards. The
same overprint (perhaps) is seen on the 1a Kashmir plate reprint strips.
The ⅛a yellow-brown gummed and clean perforate 12 on thin wove paper, date unknown,
but others of its type in the ½a orange-red and 1a greens are said to have
been produced, perhaps by official sanction, in 1890 or 1891. None of these perforated
items is mentioned in Séfi & Mortimer.
The staining and blurring is from turmeric, a mild disinfectant. It is best to keep these stamps separated from others to prevent more staining. While this ingredient was eliminated from the pigment by 1886, some covers of the post-1886 period are seen bearing these ‘mustard muddies’. On account of the late appearance of the plate and its infrequent use, no repairs were made to the plate.
Above: Here a couple of nice British postmarks from Srinagar and area. Gulmarg was a popular tourist destination outside Srinagar, higher and cooler in the summer.
Above: Obliteration with a implement from the native post office, dated 23 “bhādro” ~ 6 September, probably 1887. This is a remarkably clear strike showing the name ‘Srinagar’ at the top, which usually appears as a blob. Early collectors, even Masson, assumed it to be a marking of Jammu.
A mustard muddy in the post-1891 period, always and forever Srinagar. Oops, the stamp is upside-down. Well, let’s imagine that it’s the oh-so-lovely postmark that is being showcased.
Post-tumeric fare. These examples also show the paper contrast between the white and the fine toned thin woves. Coarser toned woves are also seen. Something of the range in color is seen here, from a near orange to a dull yellow.
Above: The Partap Singh issue on thin horizontally laid paper. This issue is very scarce postally used. An image of the full sheet can be seen in Staal.
Appendix: Séfi & Mortimer on the ⅛a New Colours
“The ⅛a plate. The yellow stamps of this new denomination were printed on all the three varieties of thin wove paper, coarse toned, fined toned, and pure white. All of them are common unused, but scarce in used condition, particularly with postmarks of earlier types than those of the unified series of December 1890. The explanation, no doubt, lies in the fact that a single stamp was insufficient for any normal postal rate, and could only have been used on a postcard in prepayment of the half-rate privilege accorded to visitors.
It is curious to find Masson alluding to the rarity of the unused stamp, but we think this may be explained by the unattractive appearance of the earlier turmeric-stained printings leading to a very small demand from dealers and collectors. This, coupled with the similarly small demand for postal purposes, would account for the very large quantity of sheets that are known to have been included in the remainder stock, and thus, for the present commonness of the unused stamp. Most of the earlier turmeric printings were in shades varying from yellow-brown to buff, on rather coarse thin wove. In 1886 the turmeric ingredient was discarded, and a new shade of dull yellow appeared on the same paper. The latter shade was continued with the pure white paper of 1889. Some of this colour was largely fugitive, and stamps printed from it fade to a pale yellow-grey:
Evans described some stamps that he received in November 1886 as having been on white wove, but this must have been a pale toned paper; and he subsequently wrote that he first saw the pure white variety towards the end of 1889, a date that coincides with that which we have assigned for its first appearance. Present catalogues, following Evans, give two shades for the stamps printed on the thin laid paper, namely “yellow” and “brownish-yellow.” These appear to be neither constant, nor to possess any chronological significance. This value alone was never issued in black for official purposes, though it is known in this colour as a proof. There was, moreover, no change ever made from the original plate-state, a circumstance which may be considered very natural, since this plate, alone, had never been sent to Jammu.”
A Staal-Sharma reprint of the defaced plate. Seven such were produced from in purple ink in 1981 (none in black in this case). Reference: Staal pp 148-59.