0118 947 4114 Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm
Contact Us

Australia - AU$ AUD

United Kingdom - £ GBP

Canada - CA$ CAD

The European Union - € EUR

United States - $ USD
Register
Login

Secured By Sagepay

Added to bag My Bag

You currently have nothing in your bag.

Newly Listed Stamps

We Buy all Commonwealth and Empire Stamps

View Basket and Checkout

British Guiana Stamps

British Guiana Stamps

British Commonwealth Stamps from British Guiana

A British colony on the northern coast of South America,

A privately run packet services for mail existed in British Guiana 1796, and continued for a number of years. Postage stamps of Britain were used at Georgetown and Berbice. inland Postal system opened 1850

Home /
British Commonwealth Stamps /
British Guiana Stamps

Select Your Currency

British Guiana 1905 4c Dull Purple & Ultramarine SG242 Good Used

£10
10 £
British Guiana 1878 1c Slate SG139 Good Used

£22
22 £
British Guiana 1889 72c Dull Purple & Yellow-Brown SG204 Fine Used

£35
35 £
British Guiana 1923 72c Dull Purple & Orange-Brown SG181 Fine Used

£40
40 £
British Guiana 1889 96c Dull Purple & Carmine SG205x Wmk Reversed Fine Mtd Mint

£375
375 £
British Guiana 1898 15c Red-Brown & Blue Specimen SG221s Fine Lightly Mtd Mint

£25
25 £
British Guiana 1905 96c Black & Vermilion-Yellow SG250 V.F.U

£26
26 £
British Guiana 1938 24c Blue-Green SG312 Fine Lightly Mtd Mint

£10
10 £
British Guiana 1935 12c Green & Indigo SG303f Diag Line by Turret V.F Mtd Mint

£95
95 £
British Guiana 1938-45 set of 12 SG308a-319 V.F Very Lightly Mtd Mint $3 MNH

£50
50 £
British Guiana 1889 72c Dull Purple & Red-Brown SG203 Fine Mtd Mint

£14
14 £
British Guiana 1938-52 Extended set of 19 SG308-319b V.F Very Lightly Mtd Mint

£85
85 £
British Guiana 1860 2c Dp Orange SG30 P.12 Thick Paper Fine Used

£25
25 £
British Guiana 1860 2c Pale Orange SG31 P.12 Thick Paper Fine Used

£28
28 £
British Guiana 1860 4d Dp Blue SG32 P.12 Thick Paper Fine Used

£55
55 £
British Guiana 1860 5d in Red on 12c Lilac Postage Payable by Colony to Great Brtain For Overseas Letters Fine & Fresh Mtd Mint

£245
245 £
British Guiana 1860 8c Brownish Rose SG34 P.12 Thick Paper Fine Used

£70
70 £
British Guiana 1862 2c Orange SG43 P.12 Good Used

£20
20 £
British Guiana 1862 2c Orange SG43 Thin Paper P.12 Fine Used

£23
23 £
British Guiana 1862 4c Pale Blue SG45 Good Used

£11
11 £
British Guiana 1862 12c Lilac SG49 P.12 Fine Used

£24
24 £
British Guiana 1862 12c Lilac SG49 P.12 Fine Used.

£23
23 £
British Guiana 1862 12c Purple SG48 P.12 Fine Used

£18
18 £
British Guiana 1863 1c Black SG42 P.12 Thin Paper Fine Used

£26
26 £

British Guiana Stamps

A British colony on the northern coast of South America,

A privately run packet services for mail existed in British Guiana 1796, and continued for a number of years. Postage stamps of Britain were used at Georgetown and Berbice. inland Postal system opened 1850.

Cottonreels. The London government established an inland postal system on 1 July 1850, but postage stamps had not yet been produced, so the postmaster in Georgetown went to the local newspaper Royal Gazette and had them print imperforate stamps in the form of an outline circle, with "BRITISH GUIANA" inside the rim, and a denomination, from 2c to 12c, in the middle. The printing was in black, on different colors of paper depending on denomination. These became known as the "Cottonreels", because of the type of printing press used, and are some of the rearest stamps in the world.

The first issue from London finally came in 1852, a very simple typeset design depicting a sailing ship and the colony's motto DAMUS PATIMUS QUE VICISSIM ("we give and expect in return"), also quite rare. Better stamps from London showed up in 1853, engraved and correctly inscribed using PETIMUS instead.

The numbers were apparently insufficient, and in 1856 the postmaster had new 1c and 4c issues printed locally, crudely typeset and imitating the design of the London stamps, motto and all. These are among the rarest of all stamps, and the British Guiana 1c magenta is the rarest, with only one copy known to exist.