Postage stamps and postal history of Bangladesh

A Bangladeshi meter stamp.

Bangladesh first issued its own postage stamps upon gaining independence in 1971.[1] A set of eight, with various motifs including a map of the country were issued.[2][3] Shortly after, all eight values overprinted "Bangladesh Liberated" in both English and Bengali were prepared in the United Kingdom, but only three values were issued in Bangladesh.

Overprints

While the initial stamps were under production, local postmasters were authorised to overprint Pakistani issues that they had in stock with the name of the new country. This practice has led to a vast number of varieties, not catalogued in the major stamp catalogues.[4][5] These issues ceased to be valid during 1973.

First stamps

The first stamps of the country were issued in rupees (1 rupee = 100 paisa) on 29 July 1971, but in 1972 a new currency was introduced (1 taka = 100 poisha) and since then all stamps have been inscribed with taka or poisha values.[1]

Issuing policy

Since the first 1971 issue, the Bangladeshi postal authorities have maintained a conservative issuing policy, with only just over 900 individual stamps and miniature sheets listed in the regular Stanley Gibbons catalogues by 2008, plus approximately 50 issues overprinted "Official" for Governmental use. No stamp booklets have yet been produced.

The majority of themes featured on Bangladeshi stamps have been locally based; these are interspersed with occasional general thematic issues (e.g. fish, birds, etc.) and those for worldwide events (e.g. Olympic Games, football and cricket World Cups, etc.)[6]

See also

Further reading

References and sources

References
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Bangladesh". Stamp Atlas. Sandafayre. 2000. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  2. ↑ "Philatelist Biman Mallick Reminisces Bangladesh Independence War, Designing Stamps". Voanews.com. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  3. ↑ "BANGLADESH Postal stamps 1971 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". Flickr. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  4. ↑ "Bangladesh Provisional Stamps : Overprints Article". Paper Heritage. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  5. ↑ "Bangladesh: Provisional Overprints on Pakistan Train Stamp: A study". Webcitation.org. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  6. ↑ "Bangladesh issues FIFA World Cup postage stamp". Hindustan Times. 2010-07-11. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
Sources

External links