Herm Island local: 1961 Europa stamp
For couple of years I’ve had this single Herm Islands stamp in my albums. It is part of the 1961 Europa (CEPT) set of 6 different local stamps issued on September 18th 1961.
Herm Island 1961 Europa stamp
Short history of Herm Island local postage stamps
The history of Herm Island locals is somewhat interesting… Herm Island Sub-Post office was closed on 30th November 1938 due to minor usage. Dispate several pleas to re-establish postal facilities the the doors remained shut down. Thus a local tenant, Mr. A.G.Jefferies decided to defray his costs in carrying the mails back and forth from Guernsey by issuing a set of local carriage labels.
This arrangement was fine for British GPO as long as the the labels did not bear the word ‘Postage’. All mail from Herm had to be properly stamped Herm local carriage labels (to pay postage from Herm to Guernsey) and with British stamps (to pay postage from Guernsey forwards).
The first “Map Definitives” and “Pigeon Post” locals were issued on 26th May 1949. The most common Herm stamps are 1954 “Flora and Fauna” triangulars with 500,000 sets printed. The postal independence of Jersey and Guernsey heralded the end of the Herm locals. Herm Island’s final issue was 17th September 1969 featuring ships.
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[...] known amongst the stamp collectors. The history behind the stamps of Lundy is pretty similar to stamps of Herm Island (see yesterday’s post if you missed [...]
Hi Keijo,
I hope you may be interested in taking a look at our new website http://www.hermstamps.co.uk , and maybe featuring it on your excellent Stamp Collecting Blog.
All the stamps issued by Herm Island are featured in a comprehensive new website
The website covers the postage stamps of Herm in the Channel Islands through a range of resources including:
• An image and description of each of the 26 sets produced between 1949 and 1969
• A set of articles by Dr Bob Forrester and others about various aspects of the stamps of Herm
• Links to other relevant websites and contact details
Best,
Peter Hewitt, Web Editor at hermstamps.co.uk
Hi Peter,
and thanks for the tip. I did spent some time on the site, and it seems like a highly useful resource.
PS. I hope You don’t mind me taking the liberty of re-locating (and editing) Your comment to a more appropiate location.
best wishes,
-keijo-