Indian Airmails

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  • Home
  • Pre-1953 Airlines
    • Indian State Air Services >
      • 1929 Karachi - Delhi via Hyderabad & Jodhpur
    • Delhi Flying Club >
      • 1931 Emergency Flight by Delhi Flying Club
      • 1932 Karachi - Delhi
    • Indian Trans-Continental Airways >
      • 1933 Karachi - Calcutta >
        • 1933 Eastwards: Karachi - Calcutta
        • 1933 Westwards: Calcutta to Karachi
      • 1933 Calcutta - Rangoon via Akyab >
        • 1933 Eastwards: Calcutta - Rangoon via Akyab
        • 1933 Westwards: Rangoon - Calcutta via Akyab
      • 1933 Karachi - Singapore Extension
      • 1934 Karachi - Australia Extension
      • 1936 Rangoon - Hong Kong
    • Indian National Airways >
      • 1933 Calcutta - Dacca
      • 1933 Rangoon - Calcutta
      • 1934 Karachi - Lahore
      • 1940 Karachi - Calcutta via Lahore
      • 1939 Karachi - Delhi
      • 1947 Calcutta - Rangoon
    • Madras Air Taxi Service
    • Experimental & Survey Flights. >
      • 1931 England - Australia Flight >
        • 1st Experimental Flight
        • 2nd Experimental Flight
      • 1938 Flying Boat Coogee
    • Star Line
  • Tata Airlines
    • 1931 - Karachi - Madras: Route Survey Flight
    • 1932 - Karachi - Madras >
      • Official Southbound
      • Official Northbound
      • Other Southbound
      • Other Northbound
      • Other Material
    • 1933 - Karachi - Madras via Poona
    • 1935 Karachi - Madras via Hyderabad >
      • 1935 - Karachi - Madras via Hyderabad
      • 1935 Bombay-Hyderabad Errors on Stamp
    • 1935 - Bombay - Calcutta demonstration flight
    • 1935 - Bombay - Travancore via Goa & Cannanore
    • 1936 - Madras to Colombo via Trichinopoly
    • 1937 - First Flight to Bhuj
    • 1937 - Delhi - Bombay via Gwalior, Bhopal & Indore
    • 1938 - Karachi - Madras extension to Colombo via Trichnopoly
    • 1938 - Trichinopoly - Trivandrum extension
    • 1938 - Mansoon halt at Poona
    • 1946 - Bombay - Calcutta via Nagpur
  • Air-India
    • 1948 Air-India International Bombay - London Flight >
      • Postage Stamps - Constant Errors
      • The Postage Stamp
      • First Day Covers
      • DG's Circular & Postal Notices
      • Official Covers
      • Air-India Covers
      • Special Flight Cachet
      • Postage Rates gallery
      • Local Cancellations
      • Private Covers Gallery
      • Interesting Places of Origin & Destinations >
        • Interesting Destinations
        • Interesting Places of Origin
        • Interesting Places of Origin & Destinations
      • More interesting covers
      • Return Flight covers
      • Other Philatelic Curiosities
      • Award winning exhibit
    • 1948 - 1953 Early Route Expansion
    • 1954 - 1959 Early Route Expansion
    • 1960 - 1965 Air-India Boeing 707 Era.
    • 1966 - 1970 Air-India Boeing 707 Era.
    • 1971 - 1975 Boeing 747 & Other Aircraft Era
    • 1976 Onward Boeing 747 & Other Aircraft Era
    • Crash Mail Covers
    • Postal Meter panels
  • Indian Airlines
    • 1960 - 1964
    • 1965 - 1969
    • 1970 - 1974
    • 1975 - 1979
    • 1980 - Onward
    • Crash Mail Covers
    • Meter Panel & Stationery
  • Foreign Airlines
    • B.O.A.C. >
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Colombo August 1952
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Singapore October 1952
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Tokyo April 1953
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Sydney March 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Tokyo July 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Colombo August-September 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Tokyo April 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Singapore June 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Sydney November 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Manila November 1961
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Auckland April 1963
      • B.O.A.C. Boeing 707 London to Nandi November 1965
      • B.O.A.C. VC 10 40th Anniversary of Regular Airmail
  • Others
    • Zeppelin & Catapult >
      • LZ-10 Schwaben
      • LZ-13 Hansa
      • LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin
      • LZ-129 Hindenberg
      • LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin II
      • Catapult Mail
      • Ephemera
    • Rocket Mail >
      • Indian Rocket Mail
      • Sikkim Rocket Mail
    • Pigeon Mail
    • Balloon Mail
    • Airship R 101
    • Indian Air Force
  • Resources
  • Useful Links
  • Contact us

Postage Rates - A comedy of errors

The Postal Notice above clearly mentions acceptance of mail on this flight for carriage to Cairo, Geneva and London, and onward destinations. Now the minimum Letter rate for Air Mail was 12 as. for London, and the 12 as. stamp issued was just fine. Apparently, while issuing the stamp, the postal authorities overlooked the fact that the rate for Cairo was just 10 as., and hence all mail to Cairo with this stamp meant that postage was overpaid by 2 as. This in itself would be comic enough, but the matter was complicated further with the franking of mail to Geneva. The equivalent rate for mail to Geneva was 14 as., and hence if all letters were simply franked with the 12 as. stamp then they would be under franked by 2 as., and the postal authorities in India would be correct in refusing to carry these letters, or for the Swiss postal authorities to tax the mail. The Swiss postal authorities were kind enough to allow most of the understamped mail to pass through without taxing it, but examples with 'postage due' stamps and marks do exist and are very collectible.

Postage Rates Gallery


Franking on covers to Cairo

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Top row: Postal Dept. souvenir cover with 12 as stamp. Overstamped by 2 as.
Bottom row: the front and verso of a registered cover to Cairo, franked 16 as. The correct rate was 14 as. (10 as. Airmail rate + 4 as. Registration charge), and the sender, a reputed stamp dealer, could have easily added 2 as. additional postage, but chose to add 4 as. as registration fee separately.


Franking on covers to Geneva

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Top : Correctly franked 14 as. airmail letter rate for Geneva.
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Top cover: Correctly franked 18 as. registered airmail letter rate to Geneva.
Bottom cover: Registered Souvenir flight cover to Muri near Berne. Reverse shown with strikes of Larger Geneva Express Letter cds of 9th June (found on all such registered covers) and Muri delivery cds 10th June. 25 as franking thus over paid by 7 as.
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Top Cover: Official Souvenir Cover to Berne, Switzerland, with the correct 14a. postage.
Top Bottom: Cover under stamped by 2 as. and so 50 Cents postage due stamp applied in Switzerland. The majority of under stamped mail was allowed to pass through that day as a courtesy, but I think that was more for mail to Geneva. Post offices at other destinations were perhaps not so benevolent.
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Top: Cover over stamped by 1 1/2 as. Here, the sender could have added just 2 as. stamps to make the total 14 as., but chose to stamp it, perhaps in a moment of patriotic fervor, with a 3 1/2 as. National Flag stamp.

Franking on covers to London

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Top upper row: A correctly franked cover with the 12 as. airmail letter rate for London.
Top middle row t: A registered cover with the correct 16 as. postage rate. Late usage of the 1935 Silver Jubilee 1/2 as. KGV issue.
Top lower row : A souvenir cover over stamped with a 3 ps. overprint KGVI stamp. This was totally unnecessary.
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Top: The Air-India souvenir registered airmail cover franked with a block of four 12 as. stamps, making a total of 48 as. The correct postal rate for this would have been only 16 as. This was sent by C. Hansen, a philatelic dealer, perhaps more out of philatelic interest.

Postage Due (Understamped cover)
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This Air-India International souvenir cover sent from Bombay to USA. Cover has special flight cachet type A and under stamped by T 29 cent.
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