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 1914 48c Grey & Purple-Brown SG266 Fine Used (3)
    £9.00
  • British Guiana 1915 60c Green & Rosine SG267 Fine Used
    £32.00
  • British Guiana 1923 72c Dull Purple & Orange-Brown SG281 Fine Used (2)
    £40.00
  • British Guiana 1923 72c Dull Purple & Orange-Brown SG281 Fine Used
    £40.00
  • British Guiana 1866 1c Black SG66 Good Used
    £15.00
  • British Guiana 1867 12c Grey-Lilac SG75 Good Used
    £20.00
  • British Guiana 1867 12c Grey-Lilac SG98 Fine Used
    £10.00
  • British Guiana 1938 1c Yellow-Green SG308 Fine LMM
    £10.00
  • British Guiana 1938 24c Bluie-Green SG312 Fine LMM
    £11.00
  • British Guiana 1940 1c Green SGD1 Fine VLMM
    £4.00
  • British Guiana 1946 $3 Bright Red-Brown SG319a Fine MNH
    £36.00
  • British Guiana 1950 $2 Purple SG318a P.14 x 13 Fine MM
    £12.00
  • British Guiana 1951 $1 Bright Violet SG317a P.14 x 13 Fine MNH
    £330.00
  • British Guiana 1952 $3 Red-Brown SG319b P.14 x 13 Fine LMM
    £17.00
  • British Guiana 1955 12c Scarlet SGD4a Fine VLMM
    £9.00
  • British Guiana 1950 Q$2 Purple SG318a P.14 x 13 Fine MNH
    £18.00
  • British Guiana 1934 24c Purple SG294 Fine Used (2)
    £8.00
  • British Guiana 1934 6c Deep Ultramarine SG292 V.F.U
    £4.00
  • British Guiana 1864 1c Black SG57 Fine & Fresh MM
    £40.00
  • British Guiana 1888 6c Dull Purple SG179 Fine MM
    £8.00
  • British Guiana 1898 5c Deep Green & Sepia SG219w Fine MM
    £24.00
  • British Guiana 1898 15c Red-Brown & Blue SG221 Fine MM
    £16.00
  • Guyana 1982 110c on 5c SG034 & 034Var '1 with Serif' V.F MNH Pair
    £25.00
  • Guyana 1982 170c on 110c on 5c SG1003 & 1003Var '1 with Serif' V.F MNH Pair
    £20.00

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