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About the “POSTAL SEAL's of KATHMANDU G.P.O.”

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Herbert Mailänder View Drop Down
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    Posted: 30 July 2015 at 5:53am


About the “POSTAL SEAL's of KATHMANDU G.P.O.”


Reading the older topic: "Classic Cover with Nepal Chitwan Postmark - posted by RAINER, 2012" I noted that a question posed by a user regarding the period of use of the Postal Seal of Kathmandu G.P.O. (Hellrigl S3) has remained unanswered. Not being sure if the question is still of interest and if the relative and very illuminating article written in the 80's by Dr. Wolfgang C. Hellrigl in German language is familiar to everyone, nonetheless I would try to answer even at the risk of doing something of unnecessary.

The mentioned article has been published in "Indien Report Nr.26", the periodical of the German philatelic association "Forschungsgemeinschaft Indien e.V.". Copyright compliance not allow to translate the excellent article in full size and so I will only summarize the main statements: Dr. Hellrigl reports (referring to the date of the publication of the article) that, besides the just well-known circumstances of use of the seal for certificates of posting, he has even knowledge of the existence of two cases of true postally use on cover The two covers are both dated 1891, but whereas one is philatelically inspired (franking with all values of the stamp issue - short address - but regular arrival datestamp of Kathmandu), the other cover is a genuine commercially usage.

After providing the transcript of the inscriptions of the seal: "NEPAL / HULAK GHAR /35" (= Nepal / Post Office /35), he specifies that the number "35" is to be understood as an indication of the year B.S.1935 and corresponding at the opening date of the Post Office in Kathmandu (A.D. 1879).

Finally, Dr. Hellrigl says he has identified three subtypes of the seal and provides the following information:


S3(a):          with an outer circle -  recorded use: 1879? - 1891.

S3(b):         absence of the outer circle - recorded use: 1894.

S3(c):         no outer circle and error in the inscription ("HOLAK" instead of "HULAK") -  recorded use: 1917.


Unfortunately the article is not accompanied by photos or drawings of the subtypes. Anyway, the subtype S3(a) corresponds to the drawing of the seal “S3” already illustrated by Dr. Hellrigl in his "Catalogue of Nepalese Postmarks". 

For the subtype S3(b) reference may be made to the cover that I have recently discussed in my other topic:"ABOUT THE POSTAL AGREEMENT OF 1919" and to facilitate the reading I will picture here again:


S3(b) - This letter appeared a few days ago on Ebay and raises the number of existing genuine usages on cover at two examplares, at least as far as the writer knows.

--- * ---


For the subtype S3(c) I can illustrate a page from the Registered Letter Log of the Kathmandu G.P.O. This item was kindly ceded to me by our forum member Ed Gosnell:


S3(c) - Kathmandu Registered Letter Log referring to the period: B.S. 71 / 2 / 20-24 (= A.D. 1914); ex collection Ed Gosnell.


* * *


A few decades after the drafting of the article, Dr.Hellrigl discovered a further type of seal in use at the Kathmandu G.P.O. and  he has named it: "Large Postal Seal of Kathamndu G.P.O." He kindly ceded me one of exemplares that I shown below together with the description drafted by Wolfgang:



Translation of the description: “Large Postal Seal of Kathmandu on a long note (probably an acknowledgment), 1907. This Seal is rarer than the former little Postal Seal's of Kathmandu.”

--- * ---



Enlarging the seal and looking accurately I think I can read the following inscription: "SRI / NEPAL GOSWARA / HULAK GHAR / ??" (= SRI / Nepal General Post Office / Post Office / ??).


* * *


At conclusion I want to address an appeal to the members of the forum: The periods of use initially recorded by Dr.Hellrigl have in the course of time certainly experienced alterations and therefore I would like to ask the collectors who have items to consider the the kindness to publish dates of use until now not recorded.


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Herbert Mailänder







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