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.

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.

Grid
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  • British Guiana 1866 1c Grey-Black SG86 Fine MM
    £17.00
  • British Guiana 1876 2c Orange SG127 Fine & Fresh MM
    £42.00
  • British Guiana 1882 1c Slate SG170 Fine MM (2)
    £10.00
  • British Guiana 1882 2c Orange SG171 Good LMM
    £27.00
  • British Guiana 1882 6c Brown SG173 Fine MM (2)
    £3.00
  • British Guiana 1882 6c Brown SG173 Fine MM
    £3.00
  • British Guiana 1888 4c Dull Purple SG178 Fine MM
    £6.00
  • British Guiana 1888 6c Dull Purple SG179 Fine LMM
    £10.00
  • British Guiana 1890 1c on $4 Green SG210 Fine MM
    £4.00
  • British Guiana 1899 2c on 5c Deep Green & Sepia SG222d 'Shaved E' Good Unused
    £15.00
  • British Guiana 1905 1c Grey-Green SG240 Fine MM
    £5.00
  • British Guiana 1907 Set of 5 SG253-257 Good MM
    £30.00
  • British Guiana 1907 5c Ultramarine SG255 Fine MM
    £11.00
  • British Guiana 1907 5c Ultramarine SG255 Fine Used
    £5.00
  • British Guiana 1914 4c Brown & Bright Purple SG261 Fine LMM
    £5.00
  • British Guiana 1934 60c Red-Brown SG297 Fine LMM
    £17.00
  • British Guiana 1934 96c Black SG299 Fine & Fresh MM
    £22.00
  • British Guiana 1881 1 on 48c Red-Brown SG154 Good MM
    £44.00
  • British Guiana 1881 2 on 12c Pale Violet SG155 Good MM
    £25.00
  • British Guiana 1881 2 on 24c Emerald-Green SG157 Fine & Fresh LMM
    £52.00
  • British Guiana 1882 2c Yellow SG165Var 'Specimen Double' Fine Used
    £40.00
  • British Guiana 1888 20c Dull Purple SG182 Fine MM
    £13.00
  • British Guiana 1888-89 Set of 11 to 72c SG175-184 Good Used
    £70.00
  • British Guiana 1889 72c Dull Purple & Red-Brown SG203 Fine & Fresh LMM
    £15.00

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