September 26, 2013

Finest Hour 104, Autumn 1999

Page 40

Pages 289-94: FURTHER APPENDICES

Catalogue numbers are from Gerald Rosen, A Catalogue of British Local Stamps, published 1975. A slash mark (/) indicates a set with a common design from which any value is usable. Carus and Minkus catalogue numbers, when mentioned, are identified by name.

ANYBODY who wants to stump U.S. presidential candidates with the names of holes-in-the-wall and out-of-the-way places has only to turn to the issuers of “locals,” those “stamps” purportedly produced to cover the cost of transporting mail to the nearest regular post office. Four of the six represented here are British islands, but except for Herm, the use of these labels for genuine postal purposes is doubtful. A lot of these “governments” also seemed to share the same stamp artists, which will become apparent as we sift through the list.

289. Calf of Man is a 1 1/2×1 mile islet off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man, and the Manx government did authorize the issuance of carriage labels. But the Calf people took advantage and produced hundreds of different varieties and overprints, and also used an odd currency. The “Murrey” (24 to an English shilling) was named for John Murrey, who issued the first Manx coinage in 1668. Shown are rosen CA36-39.

290. Travel down the Argyll peninsula and you’ll find the isle of Davaar, which issued a few Churchill overprints starting in 1965 like most everybody else… Rosen D19-22 and D22a are shown.

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291. Dhufar is altogether too far, but the irony here is that it was a leftist province of Muscat and Oman which declared independence from the Sultan—and immediately issued “stamps” honoring Western leaders and space technology. Go figure.

292. Lindisfarne or Holy Island produced unholy bogus locals picturing Scottish soldiers, some with Churchill overprints.

293. Herm Island, off Guernsey, had a thriving local post service, mostly for the tourists who flocked to the place after it had been revived and built up as a sunny summertime attraction by the Tenant of Herm, Major Wood. The Major worked hard on his stamp operation, commissioning many original designs, all of which hold their own with the stamps of independent countries. Herm’s May 1965 issue of five values (Rosen H86-91) marked Churchill’s death; the same stamps were overprinted on the first anniversary of his passing, 24th January 1966 (Rosen H92-97).

294. One of the few issuers of European locals outside the British Isles, Iso is a Swedish offshore island which did have a mail service ferrying the post to the mainland. Churchill was the first of their four famous statesmen issue of 1970, joining Kennedy, Hammarskjold and Adenauer.

(To be continued)