Official Stamps – A Brief Look
The first country to issue official stamps for actual use was Spain, in July 1854. The stamps were printed in black on various coloured papers and bore the national coat of arms. No values as such were expressed, only weights (from half ounce to one pound) of correspondence permitted for each stamp. A second series, with an oval frame, was issued in January 1855. Both sets were frequently forged to deceive the authorities and examples have been found postally used. Other early users of official stamps were India (1866), South Australia (1868), the North German Confederation (1870), Denmark (1871), Iceland, Hyderabad and the USA (1873), and British Guiana, Italy and Luxembourg (1875).
Most official stamps bear such words as OFFICIAL OF SERVICE in their inscriptions, but among the less common forms found are: SARKARI (Indian states), DIENSTMARK (Germany), OFFENTLIG SAK (Norway), TJENESTE (Denmark), TJANSTE (Sweden). Stamps may also be found overprinted O.S (Australia), O.H.M.S. or G. (Canada), O.H.E.M.S. or O.H.H.S. (Egypt), the latter abbreviations signifying ‘On His Exalted Majesty’s Service’ (1922) or ‘On His Highness’s Service’ (1907 – 1922), prior to the Khedive assuming the title of King.
The oddest inscription on official stamps is ARMENWET (Poor Law), found on Dutch stamps of 1921. They were intended for use on correspondence from local authorities administering the poor law.
Stamps for computing the volume of official correspondence have been issued by two countries. Germany produced sets of stamps inscribed FREIDURCH ABLOSUNG for use in Prussia (1903) and Baden (1905), each set being used for twelve months in order to assess the amount of revenue owed to the imperial postal service for government mail carried. A similar device was used in Thailand in 1963 – 1964. Stamps inscribed FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE STATISTICAL RESEARCH were compulsorily used on official correspondence to determine the amount handled by various departments.
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