Postage stamps and postal history of Bangladesh

Bangladesh first issued its own postage stamps upon gaining independence in 1971.^[1] A set of eight stamps, with various motifs including a map of the country, were issued.^[2]^[3] Shortly after, stamps in eight values were overprinted "Bangladesh Liberated" in both English and Bengali were prepared in the United Kingdom, but only three values were issued in Bangladesh.

Overprints

While the initial stamps were being produced, local postmasters were authorised to overprint the Pakistani stamps that they had in stock with the name of their new country. This practice led to a large number of varieties, not catalogued in the major stamp catalogues.^[4]^[5] These provisional issues ceased to be valid from 30 April 1973. Overprinted postal stationary was withdrawn and demonetized from 7 October 1974.^[6]

First stamps

The first stamps of the country were issued in rupees (1 rupee = 100 paisa) on 29 July 1971, but in 1972 a new currency was introduced (1 taka = 100 poisha) and since then all stamps have been inscribed with taka or poisha values.^[1]

Issuing policy

Since the first 1971 issue, the Bangladeshi postal authorities have maintained a conservative issuing policy. Just over 900 individual stamps and miniature sheets were listed in the regular Stanley Gibbons catalogues by 2008, plus approximately 50 issues overprinted "Official" for Governmental use. No stamp booklets have yet been produced.

The majority of themes featured on Bangladeshi stamps have been locally based; these are interspersed with occasional general thematic issues (e.g. fish, birds, etc.) and those for worldwide events (e.g. Olympic Games, football and cricket World Cups, etc.)^[7]

References and sources

References

^ ^a ^b "Bangladesh". Stamp Atlas. Sandafayre. 2000. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
^ "Philatelist Biman Mallick Reminisces Bangladesh Independence War, Designing Stamps". Voanews.com. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
^ "BANGLADESH Postal stamps 1971 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". Flickr. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
^ "Bangladesh Provisional Stamps : Overprints Article". Paper Heritage. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
^ "Bangladesh: Provisional Overprints on Pakistan Train Stamp: A study". Webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ Khan, Ishtiaque Ahmed (1996). The meter franking cancellations of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Bangladesh Institute of Philatelic Studies. p. 34. ISBN 984-570-000-4.
^ "Bangladesh issues FIFA World Cup postage stamp". Hindustan Times. 11 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2013.