Page 5 - Pakistan: Beyond the Catalogue

conversion rate employed). The HARNAI overprint is small and neat. The example on a strip of 1
Anna value is the only example of a handstamp on a Service issue so far recorded. The large
RAWALPINDI overprint is un-remarkable save for the previously un-recorded 7 Paisa / 1 Anna
error. Very small quantities of the BHALWAL and SHAHPUR overprints exist and, for reasons
explained in the write up, are now dealt with as a single issue.

FRAME 11. LADIUN, MIRPUR SAKRO and MIRPUR BATORO are neighbouring towns and used
identical handstamps. They can be distinguished by the colour of ink used in each location. A
cover with a double overprint, one inverted is of particular note. The handstamp used at
JAMESBAD is rarely clearly applied and is quite scarce.

FRAME 12. At SHAHDADPUR the overprint is rarely seen in blue on one value only. An
abundance of inverted and other mis-applied overprints points to a careless and hurried
operation. At MASTUNG the overprints were applied by machine by the Ismalia Electric Press.
Only the 13 Paisa / 2 Annas value was released for postage and the remaining values returned
for destruction. The cover with the used strip is rare and the used 9 Paisa / 1½ Annas is doubly
unique as explained by a previous owner.

FRAME 13. The overprints applied in EAST PAKISTAN present particular difficulties. Usually
surviving in small quantities there has in the past been a temptation to assign overprints to
specific locations on the evidence of single specimens. Not all of the descriptions in the
published literature can be relied upon and illustrations are either absent or, in a couple of
cases, simply wrong. In the case of previously un-recorded handstamps I have tried to resist
specific attribution to location unless there is very clear evidence. All of the BARISAL
handstamps are rare, the piece bearing examples of both Types 1 and 2 particularly so. The
CHITTAGONG overprint is rarely clear and exists on a large number of different adhesives. Isani
lists seven different handstamps for DACCA, five of which are displayed together with two
previously un-recorded types. The final page in the section shows two examples with Dacca
and Double Moorings postmarks. The latter location is in Chittagong, so an attribution to that
city would be equally justified. The THAKURGAON and HAT KRISHNAPUR pages display most of
the extant material from these locations.

FRAME 14. The distinctive MYMERSINGH handstamps in Bengali script are the most common of
the handstamps from East Pakistan. The Type 2 handstamp on the single recorded Service
value is rare. All of the pieces assigned to KHULNA are attributed with confidence despite the
tiny number of items extant. Of particular note is the September 1961 piece with two types of
overprint used from Khulna Court. The SATKHIRI and CHANDPUR BAGON items are the
discovery pieces for these locations. The handstamp listed for SHILMURI would on close
examination appear to be a machine print (unique for East Pakistan) with an additional strike in
the sheet margin on one cover. The 2 Annas stamp is incorrectly overprinted 12 Paisa. Finally
two covers illustrate a previously unrecorded boxed overprint in Bengali script.

Mike Roberts