King Amanullah (1919−29)

Fig 7 The elusive

15r. rose high
value of 1926

and this is the only Afghan stamp to be

denominated as such. The designs for the
three values vary only in their face values.
The 5r. comes in two distinct shades: a rather
difficult to track down dull reddish purple
and bright violet which is the easiest value
of this series to find. It was printed in sheets
of four and there are two types. The top two Fig 8 The shortage of stamps in Mazar-i-Sharif led to obsolete fiscal stamps being used postally.
stamps in the sheet are Type I and have a Note the circular Mazar cancel incorporating the national coat of arms
curved connecting bar at the bottom of the
stamp, whilst the bottom two stamps are Type
II and have a straight bar. The initial printing
had the stamps perforated all round and
examples are rare. A later printing had the
sheet imperf at top, bottom and at right so
giving stamps with one or two adjacent sides
imperf. Used examples are uncommon.
The current SG valuation of the 5k. dull
blue (183b) is £41 mint or used which belies its
true scarcity: the author has only recorded four
examples in existence (three mint and one
used, possibly c.t.o.). It is thought that the sheet
Fig 9 The new definitive issue in 1927 included, for the first time, an English inscription
format and types are the same as for the 5r., but
given that so few examples are known, that has
not been verified.
The 15r. rose (Fig 7)is even more of a
mystery. It is footnoted in SG Part 16 as being
‘known’, but with the caveat that ‘there is Fig 10 This forged postmark, on a 60p. of the
no evidence that it was issued’. Until 2012 1927 issue with one of the recognised plate
the author had not been able to trace this flaws, is slightly larger than the regular oval
elusive stamp, or even a reference to it in pre-UPU Kabul postmark
the literature, apart from the footnote in
SG and another in Scott, but since then, two
examples have come to light, both mint. With
such a high face value, these stamps could
only have been used on parcels, so perhaps the first time, this series had an English inscription (‘Afghan Postage’ on the 15p. and ‘Postage
it is not surprising that so few examples have Afghan’ on the other values) as well as Dari.
survived and that no used examples have yet The sheet formats (all exist both perf and imperf) are:
been found. 15p.—3×3 and 6×3
Because of a shortage of stamps in the 30p.—3×2 and 4×4
northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the postmaster 60p.—2×4 and 3×4 (in the 2×4 sheet the middle pairs are tête-bêche vertically)
authorised the use of obsolete fiscal stamps, There are two prominent constant plate flaws on the 60p., both occurring only on the 3×4
namely the 1sh. bistre-brown of 1917 and, sheet (positions one and six—large gashes in the left and right frames respectively), and also,
when it ran out, the 1sh. dull vermilion of two prominent semi-constant flaws on the 15p., both occurring only on the 6×3 sheet (positions
1909 (F185/86). These were used at face seven and 12—gashes through the left side of the coat of arms). Whilst all these stamps are
value, 1sh. being equivalent to 5p. Two stamps readily available both mint and used (and even in sheets!), the 60p. is difficult to find on cover.
were therefore required to make up the One item to look out for (so that it can be avoided) is a forged postmark which is come
basic 10p. letter rate. Used examples should across quite commonly—often on items which are easy to find mint, but relatively difficult to
bear the distinctive Mazar circular postmark acquire used such as, for example, tête-bêche pairs. The forgery is a fairly good representation
incorporating the national coat of arms at of the regular oval pre-UPU Kabul postmark although it is a millimetre or so larger all round
the top (Fig 8). The earliest usage recorded (Fig 10). Unfortunately, it is usually poorly struck and so identifying it can be a problem. In
is 7 July 1925 and they continued in use until general, it is more grey than black, and the ink often appears ‘grainy’. Where visible, the date
January 1926. is always the same: ‘1321 Muharram 25’—which is four years before this type of oval cancel was
introduced, and 12 years before the Kabul version without stars on either side of the city name,
Decimalisation which it is intended to be, appeared.
In 1927 the currency was decimalised with the
rupee being replaced by the Afghani, made Joining the UPU
up of 100 poul. A new definitive issue was Afghanistan joined the UPU on 1 April 1928. Prior to this date, any mail destined to travel
made comprising three values of 15p., 30p. beyond Afghanistan’s borders had to be franked with Indian postage in addition to Afghan,
and 60p. (Fig 9, 188A/90B). These were first or else it would be charged postage due—a typical example is shown at Fig 11. On 1 April
issued imperf (29 October), then perforated 1928, this became no longer necessary, and a postal rate of 40p. for foreign destinations was
11 on two, three or four sides (November). introduced with an additional 40p. for registration. This gave rise to a problem in that the only
Stanley Gibbons also list the 15p. as perf 12. stamps available were the current 15p., 30p. and 60p. definitives. As a temporary expediency,
All values are known imperf between. For an interim foreign rate of 30p. postage and 30p. foreign registration was allowed until a new
58 G.S.M. April 2016