Stamp & Coin Mart - April 2016_

(Tina Sui) #1
Inspired by the intriguing story of the White Rajahs of Sarawak
and buoyed by the purchase of a collection of the region’s stamps,
reader Bernard Lardner has created a fascinating philatelic display

Stamp showcase


60 APRIL 2016 http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk

Stamps of Sarawak


in association with the Association of British Philatelic Societies


Bernard Lardner


What attracted
you to this subject?

Over sixty years ago, when
I was seven and in bed with
measles, my father came home
with a package of 1,000 stamps,
hinges and an album all from Woolworth’s. He
showed me how to mount the stamps, identify
the country and therefore where to place it in
the album. I was immediately hooked on the
hobby as so many of the stamps had pictures
of strange animals, mountains, maps and many
more exciting images.
My immediate interest was to keep a
record of the actual number of stamps I had.
This slowly changed to an attraction to what
I thought was the more exotic countries like
Abyssinia and Azerbaijan. I even took myself off
with a school friend to knock on the doors of
the Embassies in London and was always given
a handful of opened envelopes with stamps
on. I decided in the end to only collect British
Commonwealth and started spending my pocket
money on trips to a stamp shop in Kingston-
upon-Thames where I’d spend a long time
picking out the penny stamps. I should, with
hindsight, have gone for single 2/6d stamps but
it would not have been so much fun.
When working in the City I occasionally
attended the City of London Philatelic
Auctions. One day a saw a complete collection
of all the mint and used stamps of Sarawak.
I decided to buy it as I knew the story of the
Brooke family, known as the White Rajahs,
who ruled over this land of headhunters and
found this exotic. When I got home my wife
said, ‘as you’ve got all the stamps what are you
going to do now’? Forty years later I’m still
collecting Sarawak!
Recently I have concentrated on the Revenue
stamps as it is a very neglected area although it
is interesting to note that collectors in Malaysia
are paying more attention to it and starting
to find fascinating new documents carrying
Revenue stamps.

The colour selected in 1880 was rose-carmine. A new stone was used for the printing, this
is known as it had a crack in it that can be seen clearly on seven stamps.

Right: it is possible receipt stamps were
used for mail during shortages of postage
stamps. This 1880 stamp carries the
cancel of that used on a British mailboat
and was never known in Sarawak.

Left: 1918 $2 cancelled in the Supreme
Court. Large blocks of high value
stamps can be found on documents.

Above: composite photographic essay
of the Rajah based on the Straits
Settlements design also made by De
La Rue. It is dated 17 July, 1899.

p60 Reader stamps.indd 60 01/03/2016 11:37

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