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Hi,

Over the last few years I have been collecting the year 1962 - 1 of every stamp, miniature sheet, postage due etc issued by the 180 countries that issued stamps that year.

I have now pretty much got them all, although I have stumbled across a couple of imperfs recently I didn't know existed

Anyway, thought you'd be interested in a few highlights, so will post them in this thread in due course........

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Peter

In 1962 the USA ( as well as many other countries) issued stamps to commemorate Dag Hammarskjold, the Secretary General of the United Nations, who had died a year before in a plane crash not far from the frontiers of the Congo. A block of four of the USA stamp is shown below.



One Mr. Sherman of Irvington (New Jersey) bought a whole sheet of the four cent stamp and then discovered that the yellow underprint under the brown print was inverted. After discussing the find (and what it might be worth) with Mrs Sherman they kept their find a secret.

Meanwhile a philatelist in Ohio had bought another sheet of fifty stamps with the yellow printing inverted. Before he realized that he had a sheet of errors he had already used most of his stamps on letters and was left with only nineteen copies.

Sherman could no longer keep his secret. He boasted that he owned a complete sheet of fifty of this rarity and valued it at $400,000. As soon as the Postmaster General of the United States, J. Edward Day, learned of the existence of these errors he ordered some more Hammarskjold stamps printed with the yellow printing inverted, so as not to have a rarity in the original copies.

Sherman started a court action against the Post Office, stating that by the PMG's action he would be deprived of his treasure. He was successful, and the court ordered the printing to be stopped. But the court order came too late. In the meantime 320,000 copies of the "faulty" stamp had found their way to philatelists and stamp dealers, and today the price of the faulty stamp is the same as the price of the normal stamp.

(adapted from Otto Hornung's "The illustrated encyclopedia of Stamp Collecting", Hamlyn 1970)

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Peter

Hi, Peter,

Fascinating story - I knew there was a version with an inverted backgrouond, but didn't know why

Now, let's see. Born in 1962. Started collecting at the age of 5. You're not my long-lost twin brother that I didn't know I had, are you

Be interested to see more from the year of our birth...

Gavin

Peter's interesting collection and its progress has been tracked in a couple of my columns:

http://www.glenstephens.com/snoctober05.html

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Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

gavin-h wrote:



Hmmm... same age, same hobby, same planet - uncanny

More to come shortly...

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Peter

The early 1960's were turbulent times, the cold war, rebellion, revolution and newly independent nations... One of those newly independent nations was the Republic of Rwanda...

On July 1, 1962, Belgium granted Rwanda full independence, and its first stamps were issued on the same day. The stamps feature the first president (Gregoire Kayibanda) and a map of Africa highlighting Rwanda's location...



For more information on Rwanda and its path to independence see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda

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Peter

Another country that became independent in 1962 was Algeria, following an 8 year guerrilla war to achieve independence from the French. Over one million people, 10% of the population, then fled the country for France in just a few months in mid-1962.

The first stamps of the independent state were French ones overprinted "EA" for Etat Algerien:



Post offices were authorised to overprint their stocks of 5 French stamps using rubber stamps they made themselves! Pen or pencil were also used until more standardised Typographed overprinting was used. The stamps in the left hand column above have the typographed overprint.

French Postage dues got similar treatment:



My collection is by no means exhaustive but these are a good representation of the range of styles used.

A relatively scarce semi-postal stamp was issued later in the year in aid of the War Orphans Fund:



This is easily the most expensive Algerian stamp of the period.

Finally, Algeria issued its first standard set on 1 st November 1962. These are very close in design to French ones of the period.

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Peter

Whilst revolution was in full swing, on the other side of the world.....

Tonga "the friendly islands", issued stamps in 1962 to mark the centenary of emancipation. A standard issue set as well as a scarcer Official Airmail set were released that year..

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Peter

Now THAT is a pricey set .. last one I sold was $200. (And not to Peter.)

I BET the gum on the 5/- and 10/- is Brown. Every set I have seen is badly toned.

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.
Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

GlenStephens wrote:


You're right, these are often toned, happy to say these are in pretty good condition



I really like the multiple turtle watermark

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Peter

Continuing on with the Independence theme...

Uganda issued its last stamps as a British colony on 28 July 1962, to mark the Centenary of the discovery of the source of the Nile by John Hanning Speke.



Uganda became independent on October 9, 1962 and a set of 12 colourful stamps were issued on the same day.

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Peter

Trinidad and Tobago was granted independence in August 1962and issued the following colourful set on August 31 that year.



If you look at the map shown in the bottom two stamps, the large island is Trinidad with the smaller one to the north east, Tobago. The country also includes 21 smaller islands..

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Peter

1962 was a year of change for the Kingdom of Yemen. After the death of the Imam Ahmad on 18 September 1962, a republic was proclaimed and the Imam's son was deposed. Royalist sympathisers commenced a civil war that ran for years. I'll post the "rebel yemen" issues in due course. Here are the Yemeni issues for 1962......

UNESCO Campaign for Preservation of Nubian Monuments:



Arab League Week



Note all issues were also available imperforate, but in reduced quantities...

Maternity and Child Health Centre:



W.H.O. Campaign to Eradicate Malaria:



17th Anniversary of the United Nations:



Note a souvenir sheet for the UN issue may exist because the original set (issued for the 15th anniversary in 1960) included one. However my Scott and Stanley Gibbons catalogues don't list it, and I've never seen one....

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Peter

Wow, Peter, what a wonderful collection. Look forward to
seeing more of your collection.

Cheers,
Harry

Thanks Harry, almost as nice as your German material

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Peter

Somewhere else on the Board, I saw a short discussion on the Ryukyu Islands......

The Ryukyu Islands (all 63 of them) were part of Japan until occupied by American forces in 1945. They reverted to Japan in 1972. The capital is Naha, on the largest of the islands, Okinawa.

The Ryukyus issued some beautiful stamps in 1962....

Children's Day, 10th Anniversary of Government, W.H.O. campaign to Eradicate Malaria:



Note the bottom left stamp above - even 17 years after the end of the war, re-afforestation was still a huge priority for the Government following the devastation of the war.

Flowers:



Additions to the "Dancers" series of 1961, Philatelic Week (earthenware bowl) and the All Japan Kendo meeting:



Finally a stamp to mark New Year's 1963 featuring a Bingata cloth design - "Rabbit Playing near Water":



Not a bad colour blindness test

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Peter

Albania is one of those countries in the wrong place for its own good. It has been fought over and occupied by various powers and empires for hundreds if not thousands of years. In Albania celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence from the Ottoman empire and issued the following set to mark the occassion:



Note that in this period, most stamps were issued both perforate and imperforate with the imperf sometimes being issued in different colours. The "Animals" issue is a good example:

There were also issues to promote the 1964 Olympic Games:



Soccer (football) World Cup in Chile:

and to Promote Tourism:


A set was also issued to celebrate the achievements of Yuri Gagarin the previous year:



Note the regular set was overprinted with a yellow tint and "Posta Ajore" and re-issued for use on airmail.

another Space themed set celebrated earlier Soviet space flights including that of Laika - the first dog in space:

Albania also issued a set to mark the world wide campaign to eradicate Malaria:




and yet more thematics - this time regional costumes and flowers:




Finally a pair of stamps (no imperfs this time) to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of the Albanian patriot Petro N. Luarasi:

Great selection of Albania there, Peter

A lot of the Eastern European and Communit countries issued Imperfs as well as Perfs, but I don't know of anywhere else that changed the colours too...

petercollects0,

These are scans of the only 3 sets that were issued in 1962 in Malaysia (each comes in a set of 3):

Malaria Eradication (7th April 1962)


National Language Month (21st July 1962)


Introduction of Free Primary Education (1st October 1962)


Cheers
Andrew

I have really enjoyed looking at your 1962 stamp omnibus
petercollects.The Juri Gagarin ones are eye catching.
I had forgotten all about LAIKA the first dog in space.

Hi all, thanks for your positive feedback.

I have them all - requests for particular countries are welcome

Gavin - the other country of that year that changed colours on imperfs was Paraguay - I'll have to dig them out.

Andrew - thanks for posting the Malayan Federation ones - I particularly like the triangle

stamper - glad you like them, more to follow. 1957 - the first dog in space - it's amazing how far we've come in those 50 years, even the space shuttle seems ho hum these days

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Peter

Andorra is a small country wedged between France and Spain. It is jointly controlled by France and the Spanish Bishop of Urgel.

Spanish administered Andorra didn't issue any stamps in 1962 but French administered Andorra issued a stamp to mark the 1st television connection of the US and Europe through the Telstar satellite. Here it is in a nice block of 10:



Here's the Wikipedia link for more information on Andorra:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra

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Peter

Carrying on with the "A"s......

Angola was still a colony in 1962, and its stamps designs were similar to other Portuguese colonies.

Firstly sports (not sure how many locals participated in aerobatics in their leisure time):



A stamp was also issued to mark the worldwide campaign to eradicate Malaria, as well as one to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of New Lisbon (these two on the left below):



On the right of the scan above are two Postal Tax stamps (the 50c and 1e) the 2e was for revenue purposes.

For more information on Angola see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola

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Peter

Mozambique was another African Potuguese colony in 1962 and also contributed a set following the sports theme:



Like the sports series from Angola, you wonder how many locals participated in sports such as speed boat racing

Single stamps were issued (below from left to right) to mark:

-the World wide campaign to eradicate malaria
-25th anniversary of Mozambique airlines, and
-75th anniversary of Lorenco Marques

I am looking for a mint example of the middle one, if anyone has a spare
Finally a nice airmail set, showing an airplane over key infrastructure in the country:

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Peter

Peter

There is so much on this board it is impossible to keep up. However, I am glad I stumbled accroos your thread which is interesting, absorbing and informative. 1962 was an important year for me as I was married then. Your collection allows us to relive some of the events of that time.

I intend to follow your posts and look forward to many more.

cheers

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Here to learn
Here to enjoy

Hi Kevin,

Thanks, glad you find it interesting. I picked 1962 to collects as it was the year of my birth - in world events, it was a busy time

More to follow soon.

Cheers

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Peter

The stamps issued by the rest of the Portugese Colonies in 1962 match those of Angola and Mozambique.

The other colonies also issued stamps to highlight the world wide campaign to eradicate malaria:



Don't know whether anyone noticed but the 8 malaria stamps all feature different species of mosquito - one for the entomologists


And sports......

Cape Verde Islands:

Portuguese Guinea:



Macau:

St. Thomas and Prince Islands:



Timor:



Those squats look nasty

...and finally Portuguese India:



This set are actually cinderellas - the Indian army invaded Portugese India in December 1961, and the stamps of the colony ceased to be used on 5 January 1962. Portugal, however continued to print stamps for the colony and this set and the malaria one were duly issued during 1962, although they were never available in local post offices. Believe it or not, Portugal didn't recognise Indian sovereignty over Goa, Daman and Diu, and these cities continued to be represented in Portugal's National Assembly until 1974.

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Peter

Paraguay, is a landlocked country in the centre of South America. The name "Paraguay" is derived from the Guaraní word pararaguay meaning "from a great river". The "great river" is the Paraná River, which forms the southern border of the country and produces the greatest amount of hydroelectric power in the world.

The Arms of Paraguay have appeared on many of its definitive stamps. Three stamps of a design first used in 1946 were issued in 1962:


Paraguay celebrated the 150th anniversary of its independence from Spain with a series of 8 stamp releases starting in 1961. The sixth set in the series, issued in 1962 also marked the 28th South American Tennis Championships:

Issue 7 in the Independence series marked the "Day of the Americas":


Finally Independence series, issue 8 marked the 17th Anniversary of the United Nations:

Paraguayan stamps in 1962 were sometimes issued both perforate and imperforate in different colours. An example is the Boy Scout issue, which features a bugler and Lord Baden Powell.....

Like many other countries, Paraguay issued stamps to promote the worldwide campaign to eradicate malaria...

As a South American country, Paraguay is Soccer mad, and of course, issued stamps to mark the Football World Cup, played in Chile...

President Alfredo Stroessner was the dictator of Paraguay from 1954 - 1989. In 1962 he hosted Prince Philip for a State visit:


(note - except for the miniature sheet, no imperf stamps were issued this time)

It may seem unusual for a land locked country, but Paraguay highlighted the importance of its Merchant Marine fleet in this issue:

In 1962 the Space Race was underway - these stamps celebrate US manned space flights:

Paraguay issued this set to promote the 1964 Tokyo Olympics:

The following set was issued to mark the 21st Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church:




One of the more unusual issues by Paraguay in 1962 was this one following the Europa theme:

Finally, in a return to the Space theme, Paraguay issued this set featuring the solar system in December 1962:







Hope you've enjoyed Paraguay, more South American material to follow soon

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Peter

I must say I am very impressed. I have barely started a 1961 collection. You have prompted me to keep going with it.

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Start the day with a smile - its infectious

Hi Brian and Biggles,

Glad you like the collection - I took a break from posting it after Paraguay - my scanner needed a rest! Just wait until you see Afghanistan

Biggles - re 1961, email me your want list - you never know what I might have that I can send your way!

Sorry Brian, I know what you mean - I already collect Australia, PNG, UK, USA, NZ and Canada. Just got interested in early Papua as well - when will it stop Suggest you take care which year you pick - I thought of collecting the year my son was born (1999) but with over 100,000 issued that year it would be overwhelming. My local dealer wants me to collect 1862, but I think he just wants my money

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Peter

Peter,

That's quite a collection so far and more to come? Enjoyed looking at the stamps and noticing how many events occured in 1962, captured on stamps. Thanks for sharing all these posts so far.

Andrew

This one is dedicated to Andrew (please correct me if I get the facts wrong)

The Federation of Malaya was formed on January 31, 1948 from the nine Malay states (Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johore, Pahang, Trengganu, Kelantan) and the British settlements of Penang and Malacca. 1962 was its last year - in 1963 the federation together with Singapore, Sarawak and British North Borneo (which was renamed Sabah) formed a new federation called Malaysia. Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent republic on August 9, 1965.

Three sets of stamps were issued by the Federation in 1962:

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Peter