Story of the First Gandhi Stamps
Mahatma
Gandhi was a great leader of Indian freedom movement. India got freedom
from British rule on 15th of August 1947. On 30th January 1948, Gandhi
was killed by a madman.
On the first anniversary of India's freedom, the postal department of India issued a set of 4 stamps featuring Mahatma Gandhi. These stamps were in 4 denominations, 1.5, 3.5 & 12 Anaas*, and 10Rupees. These are the first of the Gandhi stamps ever. The set was printed in Switzerland on photo graver machine, as at that time such type of printing machine was not available in India.These stamps have the word Bapu printed on it in Hindi and Urdu, and Mahatma Gandhi in English.
Since then hundreds of postal stamps on Mahatma Gandhi have been issued by various countries in the world, and many of them have become rare.
These stamps are now have become very rare, especially the Rs. 10 stamp. It is said that there are only 18 Rs.10 Gandhi stamps in the world. In a recent auction at Geneva, one of the Rs.10 Gandhi stamps was sold for $ 205,000 (about Rs. 1 Crore Rupees). This stamp was with the overprinted word 'Service'. Such stamps were for the use of Government correspondence.
Many serious stamp collectors like to collect stamps related to a theme. Gandhi stamps is one of the popular themes for many collectors worldwide.
* 1 Anaa = 1/16 Rupaya, i.e. 16 Anaa = 1 Rupaya. This Anaa system was canceled when India adopted decimal system.
On the first anniversary of India's freedom, the postal department of India issued a set of 4 stamps featuring Mahatma Gandhi. These stamps were in 4 denominations, 1.5, 3.5 & 12 Anaas*, and 10Rupees. These are the first of the Gandhi stamps ever. The set was printed in Switzerland on photo graver machine, as at that time such type of printing machine was not available in India.These stamps have the word Bapu printed on it in Hindi and Urdu, and Mahatma Gandhi in English.
Since then hundreds of postal stamps on Mahatma Gandhi have been issued by various countries in the world, and many of them have become rare.
These stamps are now have become very rare, especially the Rs. 10 stamp. It is said that there are only 18 Rs.10 Gandhi stamps in the world. In a recent auction at Geneva, one of the Rs.10 Gandhi stamps was sold for $ 205,000 (about Rs. 1 Crore Rupees). This stamp was with the overprinted word 'Service'. Such stamps were for the use of Government correspondence.
Many serious stamp collectors like to collect stamps related to a theme. Gandhi stamps is one of the popular themes for many collectors worldwide.
* 1 Anaa = 1/16 Rupaya, i.e. 16 Anaa = 1 Rupaya. This Anaa system was canceled when India adopted decimal system.
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