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The Egypt Study Circle

Frames 27-28. The 1923 Crown overprints.

On March 15, 1922, the independence of Egypt was proclaimed. To mark the event, on October 10, 1923, the then-current set of definitive stamps was issued overprinted with the likeness of the Crown of Egypt and in Arabic the works "The Kingdom of Egypt" on a first line and "15 March 1922" on a second line.

The overprint was produced in four Types: Type I lithographed and Types II and III typographed, all in Cairo; Type IV was electrographed in London. Each of the four types has its own characteristics, settings and transfers.

This exhibit shows an in-depth study of the four types with their settings and transfers, and also watermarks, overprint varieties and errors, and postal and non-postal uses.

Crown overprintFrame 27 - Type I overprint on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, 100 and 200 millièmes values:

Frame 28: Types II, III & IV

Type II on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 15 millièmes values include: 1st, 2nd settings and transfers (sheets 13-15); booklet pane of 6 of the 5 millièmes value showing the characteristics and positions of each stamp (one of only four booklet panes recorded) (sheet 16).

Type III on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 15 millièmes values: overprint à cheval on 1 millième & block of four of 1 millième showing varieties 90 & 100 (sheet 17); 1st & 2nd settings (sheets 18-19); overprint à cheval on 15 millièmes block of four, plus 15 millièmes value on taxed cover from Cairo to France (sheet 20).

Type IV (London Type) on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 50 millièmes: rare block of four of 1 millième value showing varieties 90 & 100 (sheet 21); Proof of the Crown Overprint in red on 1 and 15 millièmes values (sheet 22); taxed postcard to Scotland (sheet 23); use of the 20 millièmes Type IV on cover (sheet 24).

Ibrahim Shoukry, Egypt (ESC 423)

Frames 29-30. The First Fuad Issue, 1923-1926.

This issue was important because it was the first printed by photogravure, apart from a small issue of Bavaria in 1914. Harrison and Sons of London were the printers, although they sub-contracted a lot of the work to a company in the Netherlands.

The display shows how the design and process evolved through various proofs and essays. There follow a number of sheets showing the flaws and retouches for which the issue is notorious. This was a new process, and some of the repairs seem to have been rather hurried and executed by inexperienced hands. Finally, a sheet is devoted to the booklet of the 5-millièmes value (the only one issued based on stamps of this set), and one to the unsuccessful experiment in the production of coils for use in automatic dispensers.

This was a short-lived issue; the UPU did not approve of the country name "Egypt" appearing only in Arabic, and the issue of 1927 was printed in Cairo by the Survey Department, again by the photogravure process. It proved to be a much more accurate operation, there being few errors for correction.

John Sears, FRPSL, United Kingdom (ESC 188)

Frames 31-32. The Second Fuad Issue.

Frame 31 deals with booklets of the issue: after two years of experiment the Survey Department of Egypt printed the first booklet stamps produced in Egypt. The make-up of the booklet sheets was 240 stamps in four panes of 60 (6x10). Each pane was divided by a "gutter margin", having three rows with the King's head in an upright position and three rows with the head inverted.

The first booklet contained 24x5 millième stamps priced at 120 millièmes, and this was followed by a composite booklet in 1930 which contained 12 at 5 millièmes, 6 at 10 millièmes and 6 15-millièmes stamps, together priced at 210 millièmes.

The display includes two unique examples of proofs with control numbers, which provide evidence that two Die Negatives (Type V and Type III) were printed from the same cylinder and that when cut up for insertion in the booklets Die Negative Type III can not exist with a control number.

Also included are several examples of both types of booklet, illustrating normal and inverted watermarks together with rare watermark examples caused by feeding a small quantity of paper in the wrong way round.

Frame 32 covers postal stationery to carry letters, embossed with the King's head. The embossed die was prepared by the British Royal Mint in 1928 and was used on two sizes of envelope, a letter sheet and the registered envelope.

De La Rue of London prepared the envelopes and letter sheets but Harrison & Sons Ltd printed the first of the registered envelopes in 1929. From 1930 onwards, however, the Survey Department in Cairo was responsible for the navy blue and plum 15 millièmes registered envelopes.

In addition to variations in the shades of envelopes the positioning of the embossed vignette causes further varieties.

Keith Pogson, United Kingdom (ESC 130)

Frames 33-34. The Boy King issue: A study of the stamps and their usages during a time of increasing postage and airmail rates.

King FarukThe so-called Boy King issue of definitive stamps was issued on the occasion of the investiture of the young King after the death of his father, King Fuad; they became available to the public on July 29, 1937, with nine values; followed on October 20 by a 6-millièmes value, to pay the increased inland letter rate; and the 20 millièmes value, initially blue, was reissued in 1943 in a changed colour, grey.

The design incorporates a portrait of the King not dissimilar to that on the postcard illustrated, from a 1936 essay by Ouvre of Paris.

The exhibit examines the uses of each value with the postage stamps prevailing from November 1, 1931, until some at least were increased on August 15, 1940. These include imprimé or printed paper rates, inland, Empire, and foreign postcard and letter rates, registration, and one case each of the Express and Advice of Reception (AR) services.

Some rates rose again on July 13, 1943, while airmail surcharges - which applied over and above the surface postal rates - depended on weight, distance to destination, how far flown before reverting to surface mail, and which airline flew the item in question.

John R Davis, United Kingdom (ESC 213)

Frames 35-36. Commemoratives to 1942.

Egypt's first issued commemorative was for the Geographical Congress, in 1925 (the 1922 Proclamation of Monarchy stamps were more in the way of a regular set). They were the first stamps of Egypt printed by the Survey of Egypt. This issue is noted for the first case of skewed perforations, which were accidental. King Fuad expressed interest in the error, and subsequent issues always included one proof sheet of skewed perforations to please the King. Special Congress cancellations came into use with this issue.

The second commemorative was issued for the Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition of 1926. It was the beginning of the practice of preparing one sheet of proofs on card stock imprinted "Cancelled" on the back.

The year 1926 also saw the issue of the 50 piastre King's Birthday stamp, the only commemorative of the monarchy printed abroad (Netherlands). It was subsequently overprinted PORT FOUAD. Some interesting essays are shown.

Various commemorative sets followed with regularity, mostly for international congresses or exhibitions. The Birthday issue for Prince Farouk was a rare exception.

In this display, an attempt is made to show examples of the many facets of these issues. In most cases, essays for the design are shown. Some representative examples of the imperforate proofs and skewed perforations are included. Where important plate flaws exist, they are also included.

The commemorative issues of Egypt had limited periods of postal validity, usually one or two months. Covers with these stamps needfully used (ie, non-philatelically) are as a consequence quite scarce. A selection of such covers is shown in this display, chosen for their unusual destinations or other features, such as postage due.

Peter A S Smith, FRPSL, United States (ESC 74)

Frames 37-38. Postal stationery, 1879-1916.

On September 15, 1874, a Congress of L'Union Générale des Postes opened in Berne, Switzerland. At the 1878 Congress held in Paris the organisation became the Union Postale Universelle, subsequently to be referred to the world over as the UPU.

As one of the 22 founding members of this authoritative body, the postal affairs of Egypt followed closely the dictates agreed at various times by the UPU, and this is shown particularly in the early postal stationery postcards of Egypt, which were first issued in 1879.

From its beginning the postcard became a popular method of communication, being at once cheap, convenient and with the enormous benefit of allowing one to catalogue briefly one's whereabouts, state of health etc without the necessity of sitting down to write a letter - or, in the case of postal stationery postcards, even of obtaining a stamp! This method arguably reached its heyday during the era of the "Grand Tour".

To be noted in the presentation are:

Peter Andrews, United Kingdom (ESC 122)

Frames 39-40. Travelling Post Offices up to 1914.

The aim of this exhibit is to show various Travelling Post Office and Station cancellations on stamps, Ietters and postcards to, from and within Egypt. Efforts have been made to indicate earliest and latest dates recorded.

Plan of the exhibit: State railways in the Delta, to 1888 and 1914, sheets 1-9; private light railways, Lower Egypt, sheets 10-14; steamer routes, Lower Egypt, sheets 15-16; state railways, Upper Egypt, 17-19; light railways, Fayum area, sheet 20; state railways, Upper Egypt, sheet 21; steamer routes in Upper Egypt and Mediterranean post offices 1865 to 1881, sheets 22-24. Highlighted items are marked: probably unique, red dot; 1-3 items known, red half-dot; 4-10 items known, yellow half-dot.

The earliest railway system was the Cairo-Alexandria line of 1854, but sorting facilities and TPO markings appeared first in 1875. The next TPO route was Damiata-Tanta in 1882, followed by Cairo-Assiout and Desuk-Tanta in 1883. Station transit cancellations often appear on mail where changes were made to another line.

At first TPO markings were spelled in Italian, as the Egyptian Post Office was operated largely by Italians. This situation gradually changed between 1877 and 1884 and gave way to French and Arabic spelling of names.

Apart from the state railways, which were built to standard gauge and to connect cities, Egypt has an extensive system of agricultural light railways in narrow gauge, built and operated by private companies to carry goods and communications to a great number of farm villages; they also carried TPOs.

The railway built and operated from 1892 by the Suez Canal Company between Port Said and lsmailia was also narrow gauge, but it did not carry a TPO, as the service was handled by state steamers on the same stretch of the Suez Canal. State railways took over this narrow rail line from the Company in 1902 and soon relaid it to standard gauge. Postal steamers operated on parts of the Nile, on two internal canals and on part of the Canal from 1881.

Expansion of the State Railways network in the Delta area began in 1888. The most important extensions include the Kafr el Sheikh-Sherbin connection completed in 1898 and the Alexandria-Port Said link via Desuk, Zifta and Zagazig, in use from 1904. Virtually all the private light railways were constructed and carried TPOs during this period.

Train numbers are found on cancels from 1905; earlier the final indicator on the cancel's duty line showed only the number of the shift handling the mail, for example, T II, T VIII, team 2 and 8 etc. These may also indicate how many trains are carrying mail in each 24-hour period; the same factors apply to Station postmarks. TPO datestamps often use separate cancels for the two directions of a route, but some areas also used a cancel with the direction indicated by "A" (aller in French), "R" (retour) or "& V.V." (vice versa).

Anatole Ott, Sweden (ESC 261)

Frames 41-42. British Forces in Egypt Stamps issued 1932-1936.

By agreement with the Egyptian Government, British forces serving in Egypt were allowed to send their letters to the British Isles using special seals sold at NAAFI institutes. This arrangement ran from November 1, 1932, to February 29, 1936. The seals replaced Egyptian stamps and were affixed at the back of envelopes and cancelled by a "retta" obliterator. Covers were postmarked on the front with a crown handstamp bearing a number and inscribed "Egypt Postage Prepaid" as well as a datestamp showing the name or the post number of the camp from which they were sent. Franking was at reduced rates of 1 piastre for a letter and 3 millièmes for Xmas greetings in an opened envelope.

From March 1,1936, the seals were replaced by Egyptian stamps inscribed "Army Post"; these were affixed to the front of covers and cancelled with datestamps as above, but neither retta nor crown handstamps were used.

This specialised exhibit illustrates all the seals and stamps issued for use by the British forces in Egypt from November 1932 to March 1936 on and off cover. Varieties and proofs are also shown. The frames show all the Seals issued from 1932 till the end of concession in 1936, mostly as full panes with an example of each on cover.

Highlights are:

Hisham Bassyouny, President, Philatelic Society of Egypt (ESC 391)

Frames 43-44. Post Coding Explained.

The National Postal Organisation of Egypt introduced Post Coding around 1984. The information about the system was obtained by translating from Arabic "The Guide to Postal Coding 1984, Part Two". This booklet contained a listing of some 3,000 main post offices and over 17,000 sub-post offices attached to them (by 1997 an Egyptian Government website shows 5,834 main offices).

Each main post office was allotted a five-digit number. A list, in numerical order, was prepared, which helped to identify how the numbering system was applied across the nation.

The "Guide" explains why the zero is not used: its use could cause confusion because in Arabic zero is written as a dot. Unlike the script, numbers in Arabic are read from left to right.

The first of the five digits determines the governorate or major city to which a postal item is to be delivered. The country is divided into eight regions, illustrated by sketch maps in the display. Within these divisions are sub-divisions indicated by the second digit of the five-digit code.

The examples on display demonstrate the National Postal Organisation's attempt to educate the public by franking mail with a rectangular cachet showing the sender's home district and its post code. This method was intended to encourage the receiver to use that code when returning mail to the sender.

Progress of post coding in Egypt has been slow, though newly erected street name-signs contain the post code. The huge growth of population (now 75 million) has made the task of introducing a new post handling system in Egypt a daunting challenge.

Ted Fraser-Smith, United Kingdom (ESC 238)

Frames 45-46. Air Mails - the Pioneers.

This display covers the early days of flight to and from Egypt, commencing with the Air Show in Heliopolis in 1910, and the first carriage of mail by air in Africa by Marc Pourpe to and from Khartoum in 1914, and going on to the Air Mail service organised by the RAF in 1919 during the disturbances, and to the establishment of the Cairo-Baghdad route in 1922. The RAF also undertook the survey flight from Cairo to West Africa in 1925.

By 1927, Imperial Airways had taken over the Baghdad route, extending the service to Basra, but it was not until 1929 that mail was carried by air from London to Karachi, and even then part of the journey was by rail.

In 1928 John Carberry, flying a Dutch 'plane, carried mail from Amsterdam to Cairo (anticipating KLM?): letters and postcards were picked up there and flown to Kenya. There were Zeppelin flights which included Egypt in 1929 and 1931.

Also in 1931 the Imperial Airways mail service was extended to East Africa, and in 1932 to Cape Town. In the meantime KLM was flying mail to Europe and by 1932 as far as the East Indies - two years in advance of Imperial Airways.
1933 saw the issue of the famous "'plane over the Pyramids" set of Air Mail stamps.

John Sears, FRPSL, United Kingdom (ESC 188)

Frames 47-48. Rural Postal Service.

When, on January 2, 1865, the Egyptian Government took over the Posta Europea, the postal monopoly formed by the Italian Carlo Meratti, it served only the main centres of population.

But Egypt comprised - then as now - mainly agricultural villages spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. So the Rural Service (Bareed Tawaaf) was inaugurated to serve the far-flung community which had no access to main postal services. The Director-General of Posts, Sir Youssef Saba Pasha, proposed, according to a notice in the Postal Bulletin dated October 6, 1887, to open the service on January 1, 1888; but for reasons unknown it seems not to have got under way for a further 12 months.

The principle was simple - to give the small villages access to a daily postal service (except Monday, the rural postman's day off!) in receipt and delivery without the overheads of supplying and staffing a village post office. The rural "stations" consist - a version of the service continues today, with well over 2,000 stations - merely of a postbox, to which only the rural postman has the key. Each day he travels, on foot or by donkey if he can afford one, a set route delivering basic letter and parcel mails to the villages, where he will also sell stamps, and collecting mails from the box for onward despatch through the "parent" post office on which he is based.

The basic village postmark - known as a "cartouche" because its long oval shape resembles the "cartouche" hieroglyphic design in which the Ancient Egyptian pharaohs had their name written - was stored inside the village postbox, and used only as required when the rural postman removed mail from the box; incoming mail bears no village cartouche. The postman carried with him the circular datestamp bearing indication of the termini of his route and applied it to mails collected before returning to his parent office, where the local town handstamp was then applied.

This display shows examples of mail carried via this service, including various basic tenets - mail dispatched, mail in arrival, registered mail, Avis de Reception mail, mail for and from overseas - and concludes with examples of some more recent markings.

Mike Murphy, United Kingdom (ESC 240)

Frames 49-50. Modern Printing Methods and Varieties.

Sheets 1-4 comprise an examination of the Printing Experiment, the first production of the Egyptian Postal Authority Press.

The majority of Egyptian stamps issued from April 1925 to July 1961 were printed by the Survey Department in Cairo. In 1959 printing experiments were carried out by the Printing House of the Postal Authority Press, also in Cairo. The subject for the experiment was the proposed issue commemorating the first anniversary of the proclamation of the United Arab States (the U.A.R. with Yemen). Despite the efforts of the new printers, the issued stamp was finally printed by the Survey Department, as before, and issued on March 8, 1959. It was not until July 26, 1961, that a stamp printed by the Postal Authority Press was accepted for issue.

The four sheets include trials in various single colours, without face value and inscribed "Printing Experiment" in place of the date on the stamp as issued.

Sheets 5-12 show unaccepted original hand-painted designs of 1965-1990 by designers of the Postal Authority Press, Cairo. These are shown together with the issued stamps. Artwork of two designers, Lydia Farid and Mahmoud Roushdy, are included for the Cairo Book Fair of January 1982. The latter designer's entry was accepted only after the indicated modifications were made by him.

The display contained in Frame 50 illustrates a selection of issues from 1954 to 1993 indicating some of the varieties that occurred, including misplaced perforations, missing inscriptions, missing colours and design shifts. Some examples included are:

Cyril Defriez, United Kingdom (ESC 172)

Frames 51-52. Thematic display - Water in Egypt.

The life-blood of Egypt throughout time has been water. Many facets of this are illustrated in these two frames, offering you an insight into the navigation around the country by River or by Canal; the agriculture which resonates back to 5,000 BC with the shadouf; then tourism and the hotels, the main modern industry of Egypt, still dependent upon the River; and much else.

All for your delectation. Observe and enjoy.

Betty Watterson, FRPSL, United Kingdom (ESC 409)

Information

For further information about the Egypt Study Circle, contact the Hon Secretary, Dr Sami Sadek, at The Oaks, 19 Sinah Lane, Hayling Island, Hants PO11 0EY (02392-357 121 or egyptstudycircle@hotmail.com), who will be delighted to answer any query.

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