Rare stamps of Egypt

By Hobby Shobbys

The stamps of Egypt in my collection date back to 1884 - the two stamps in the left column from the bottom showing the Sphinx were issued in 1884 and onwards.This makes them one of the oldest stamps of my collection.

The stamps bearing head of King Fouad, called the Second Portrait Issue (above bottom right four stamps) were issued between 1927-1937. The top left stamp in this group of four stamps was issued in 1953 with the abolishing of the kingship with three three horizontal bars unceremoniously overprinted till new stamps were issued.

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The stamps with head of Young King Farouk (Investiture) Issue, above left column two stamps, were issued between 1937-1946.

The second stamp from the left in top row is that of Farouk I, issued during the 1940s.

The Service Stamp, second from the left in bottom row, was issued in 1951.

Related: The Kingdom of Egypt 122-1953

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A page from my stamp album - Jordan

This page from my stamp album shows some of the rare stamps of Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan issued in the in 1950s.

Two stamps at the bottom left corner of the page is in fact is part of the set of eight stamps bearing the photo of Temple of Artemis, Jerash. The set was issued on 19th October 1954.

The stamp bearing the portrait of King Hussein on the top left corner was issued on 14th July 1954. The two stamps under the first stamp are part of the definitive stamps of o a set of 32 which were issued on 6 June 1959.

The four stamps in the second column from the left bearing the Al Aqsa Mosque / Dome of Rock, which were issued on 26th March 1954.

The only stamp in the third column from the left bears the Al Aqsa Mosque and is part of a set of four stamps issued on 19th October 1954. The stamp adjacent to it shows Treasury of Petra issued on 2nd September 1954 and is a part of set of three stamps.

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A page from my stamp album - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The present day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was once known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najed in the early 1920s. Hejaz was under the greater Ottoman Empire and was under the direst control of the Turks since 1845. The Turks laid a railway system between the city of Medina and Damascus known as the Hejaz Railway and issued a number of railway stamps. The Turks also opened post offices in the cities of Abha, El Ula, Jeddah, Mecca, Taif, Tabouk, Yanbo and many other places. Before the Turks, an Egyptian post office functioned at the port city of Jeddah between 1865-1881.

The first stamp of Hejaz was issued in October 1916. The stamps continued till 1925, when Najed took control of the Kingdom of Hejaz. And from then on, stamps were issued under the Kingdom of Najed. On 8 January 1926, Abdul Aziz Ibn-e-Saud, the king of Nejd was crowned as the King of Hejaz in the Grand Mosque of Mecca. He also assumed the title of the King of Nejd. The first stamp of the new kingdom was issued in February 1926.

However, upon renaming of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd as Kingdom of Suaida Arabia in 1930s, the first stamp bearing the description “Saudi Arabia” was issued on 1 January 1934.

The four stamps after the first stamp in the top left column from my stamp album above were issued in the 1930s. The first stamp (aeroplane in blue) was issued in 1949 as a part of a set of two stamps (the other stamp was in red colour).

The remaining stamps were generally issued in the 1960s.

Related reading:

Stamps and history of Hijaz

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A page from my stamp album - Iran (visiting Pakistani Presidents)

Iran and Pakistan have long friendly ties since independence of Pakistan in 1947. Iran was the first country to recognize the independent status of Pakistan upon its independence from the British India in 1947. The then Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pehalvi, was among the first few heads of the states to have visited Pakistan.

These friendly gestures were also reciprocated by the Pakistan presidents. Sikander Mirza, who ws the president of Pakistan in 1956 paid an official visit to Iran in 1956. The Iran Post issued a commemorative stamp (left) priced at 1 Riyal. In 1959, when President Muhammad Ayub Khan visited Iran, a commemorative stamp of 6 Riyal was issued (right).

Both stamps are from my stamp album.

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A page from my stamp album - Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Soon after the successful Islamic Revolution in Iran and with the exodus of the Shah of Iran, the former monarch of the Imperial Iran, there were no stamps readily available to reflect the aspirations of the new government. 

Therefore the old stamps of Imperial Iran bearing the portrait of Raza Shah Pehalvi, the Shah of Iran, were obliterated with dark vertical black lines (left column from the page from my stamp album above) and the stamps over printed with “Islamic Revolution ("Inqelab-e-Islami in Persian).”

On the first anniversary of the Islamic revolution many stamps were issued, especially stamps 2-4 in the second column from the left and stamps 2-3 in the third column from the left.

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A page from my stamp album - Iran (2)

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A page from my stamp album - Iraq

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A page from my stamp album - Iran

Some of the rare stamps of Iran

These are some of the oldest stamps of Iran that I have. The Ahmad Shah Qajar definitives date back to 1911-14, while others bearing overprint show the year of issue as 1926. This means the stamp are something around 95 years old. Another few years from hence these would be 100 years old.

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Coronation of Reza Shah Pehalvi – 1967

It seems history now – but this stamp of Paisa 50 denomination was issued by Pakistan Post on 26^th October 1967 on the coronation of the (then) Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pehalvi, and his wife, princess Farah Deeba.

Related Video:
Coronation of Pehalvi Ocktober 1967 Tehran-Iran

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Three Portraits – Three Countries (RCD Anniversary 1976)

Like all previous years, the commemorative stamps issued by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey (the member countries of the RCD) issued stamps to mark the anniversary of the RCD (Regional Cooperation for Development). However, since the year coincided with the birth centenary celebrations of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, the theme for the common stamps of the three countries was the portrait of founders of their respective countries / dynasties.

The above stamps were issued by Iran. Besides Jinnah (top centre), the stamps also bore the portrait of Reza Shah Kabir (top left), the founder of Pehalvi kingdom of Iran (the kingdom finally came to an end in 1979) and Mustafa Kemal Pasha, commonly known as Ata Turk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Related Stamps/Reading:

Birth Centenary Celebrations of Jinnah – Part-I

Birth Centenary Celebrations of Jinnah – Part-II

RCD

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