Welcoming a new chapter in philately

Stumped By Stamps

Yes, we are talking about the ‘Pride of India Collection’, the first-ever postage stamp ingots of India.

Each set, 2.2 mm thick, comprises metal replicas of 25 popular postage stamps that are a reflection of India. They also have diamond cut perforations and are an exact replica of their original in paper form.

Already, 45 per cent of the lot has been sold despite the Rs 1.5 lakh price tag on each set. The idea to develop such sets in India came after Hallmark received huge success with similar sets in the United States, with stamps brought out on US presidents, Hollywood and 9/11.

“With India emerging as a big market globally, our parent company decided to bring out a set on Indian stamps. The Indian Postal Department has been very receptive to the idea,” says Sachdeva.

India clearly has been taken in by this extension of the hobby of philately, which involves converting popular stamps to silver ingots layered with 24 carat gold. The Hallmark Group of UK, which has brought out the set, has been churning out such ingots since the last 30 years.

It includes countries across Europe, Africa and South-East Asia. “This product is exclusive and the response has been quite unexpectedly phenomenal, considering it is a new experiment in India,” says Ajay Sachdeva, managing director of Hallmark India Pvt Ltd. The cherry on the cake is the Rs 15 stamp issued in 2007, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of India’s first war of Independence. The multicoloured stamp depicts a confrontation between freedom fighters and the East India Company’s infantry.

Another highlight of the collection is a mono-colour stamp in red, priced at two annas and issued to mark the inauguration of India as a republic on January 26, 1950.  Other ingots include, replicas of stamps depicting iconic figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, JRD Tata, Mother Teresa among other stalwarts India has produced. To add to the list, 150 years of Indian Postal service and Indian Railways, Indian art, the Taj Mahal, cricket and the national animal — Tiger.

“These stamps were selected from a collection at the National Philatelic Museum in Delhi by a panel of philatelic experts, historians, artists and national figures,” adds Sachdeva. According to him, the response to the product has been so exceptional that Hallmark is already planning to produce more such sets. “We are at the conceptualisation stage, and there could be many interesting themes that would attract philatelists both within and outside India,” he says.

Every month, one ingot is sent to the customer, who pays an installment of Rs 6,000 per month. The set comes equipped with fact cards on each stamp, an album to keep the cards and hand gloves to handle the delicately sculpted ingots.  In addition, a lacquered box to keep the ingots, a certificate of authenticity from the mint, and a coffee table book on India.

As the original stamps are of varied sizes, and since the ingots have exactly the same length and breadth, their weight varies accordingly.  However, the average weight of each ingot works out to 31.35 grams, or just over 1 Troy Ounce, which means the whole collection weighs 784 grams.  The dies for the ingots are engraved in the UK by master engravers, which are then sent to the mint in Switzerland.

Once the minting process is completed, the original master dies are passed to the archives of the National Philatelic Museum. “All the master dies, along with the first set, will be put on permanent display at the museum,” says Sachdeva.

The metals used in the ingots are sourced from Switzerland from mints officially approved and inspected by the Swiss Assay Office and each replica carries the mark of the manufacturer and the Swiss Assay. Quite clearly, a new chapter is being written as far as the history of philately in India is concerned.