Indian 10 Rupee Mahatma Gandhi postage stamp: Difference between revisions

The '''10 Rupees [[Postage stamp]] depicting [[Mahatma Gandhi]]''', issued by India in 1948, is one of India's most famous stamps.<ref name="cite1">{{cite web|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2307/stories/20060421000906600.htm|work=The Hindu|date=2006-04-21|title=Art in miniature|accessdate=2009-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329111032/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2307/stories/20060421000906600.htm|archive-date=2008-03-29|url-status=usurped}}</ref> On 15 August 1948, on the occasion of the first anniversary of [[Independence Day (India)|India's Independence Day]], Gandhi was honored as the first Indian to be depicted on stamps of India. A set of 100 of these stamps was overprinted with the word "Service" and provided only to the Governor General of India for his official use. The 10 Rupees "Service" overprinted stamp is one of India's rarest and most highly valued stamps.

The original plan was to issue a set of stamps depicting [[Mahatma Gandhi]] ("Bapu", or "father" in Hindi), in January 1948. The [[India Security Press]] in [[Nashik]] was entrusted with the task of producing a set of 4 stamps. But before the stamps were issued, Gandhi was assassinated.<ref name="cite1"/> The Indian Government decided to print these stamps as a memorial, using [[photogravure]] press, and hence had to employ the services of the Swiss printers, [[Helio Courvoisier]], Sa. LaChaux De Fonds, instead of the India Security Press. The word "Bapu" was printed on the stamp in [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] languages as a symbol of communal harmony. Four stamps with denominations 1.5 [[Indian anna|annas]], 3.5 annas, 12 annas and 10 rupees were issued. One of the stamps of the set was issued with a very high price of 10 Rs., out of reach of the common populace in India.<ref name="cite1"/> The stamps were issued on 15 August 1948, on the occasion of the first anniversary of [[Independence Day (India)|India's Independence Day]].

The 10 Rs. stamp depicted Bapu in a grey colour with a reddish-brown background. A total of 250,000 stamps were printed in sheets of 50 stamps, 5 rows of 10 stamps each, with a perforation of 11.5&nbsp;mm.<ref name="cite2">{{cite web|url=http://stampsofindia.com/readroom/b013.htm|author=Ashok Kumar Bayanwala|date=2006-04-21|title=1948 August 15, Gandhi ji - The first Indian to be on stamps of India|accessdate=2009-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907135407/http://stampsofindia.com/readroom/b013.htm|archive-date=2004-09-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> Forgeries of both the stamps, and of and [[first day cover]]s bearing them, are known.{{cn|date=December 2014}}

A set of stamps over-printed as "Service" was issued to the Government of India for official purposes. Only 100 Mahatma Gandhi 10 Rs. stamps were overprinted with "Service" and issued for the use of [[C. Rajagopalachari]], the [[Governor General of India]], making it the world's least printed stamp.<ref name="cite3">{{cite web|url=http://www.stampsonindia.com/mahatma/india/b01-in01.htm|author=Madhukar and Savitha Jhingan|date=2006-04-21|title=Mahatma Gandhi|access-date=2009-01-18|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324120711/http://www.stampsonindia.com/mahatma/india/b01-in01.htm|archivedate=2009-03-24}}</ref> Of the hundred stamps that were overprinted with "Service", a few were given to dignitaries, while most, including an intact sheet of 50, remain at the National Archives, Postal Museums, etc. The 2006 book by Dr. Reuben Ramkissoon and Dr. Rajagopalan<ref name="cite5">{{citation |title=A philatelic handbook on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi)|author=Reuben A. Ramkissoon, Rajagopalan V. Rajan|publisher=R & W Enterprises, Oak Brook, IL|date=2006}}</ref> reports that less than 8 copies of the Gandhi 10 Rs Service stamps reside in private hands. The 1948 "Service" set which was auctioned for 38,000 Euros in the [[David Feldman (philatelist)|David Feldman]] auction sale on 5 October 2007.<ref name="cite4">{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/6710129/Filacapsule0308|work=The FILA capsule Vol. 3 No. 3, May–June-2008|title=Mahatma Gandhi 1948 issue of India|author=Santanu Panigrahi|access-date=2009-01-18}}</ref> In 2011 David Feldman sold an example for €144,000 and suggests that only 18 are known.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.davidfeldman.com/2011/05/david-feldman-sets-new-auction-world-record-for-a-modern-stamp/ |title=New auction World Record for a modern issued stamp |publisher=David Feldman |date=2011-05-20 |access-date=2013-04-28}}</ref> In April 2017, Stanley Gbbons reported that a block of four overprinted 10 Rs Service stamps was sold to a private collector in Australia for £500,000 at an auction in the UK.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gandhi stamps sell for £500,000 |work=Business |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=19 April 2017 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39643413 |access-date=7 January 2018 }}</ref> Forgeries of the overprint are known.