The 1 Tical on 1 Solot Stamps
Surcharges of the First Series
The Solot stamp face value was changed to 1 Tical (=1 Baht=64 atts) by adding a surcharge of 1 Tical.
On July 1st, 1885, Thailand joined the Universal Postal Union. A requirement of membership was that the name of the country as well as the price was displayed in English on the stamp. While the post office was waiting to implement this change, it was decided to use the Solot with a surcharge as an interim to compensate for the lack of stamps to use for foreign mail. The first set of stamps, "1 TICAL", was used on surplus stocks of 1 Solot. The surcharge, which is in ordinary Roman type, was printed in red, and there are several distinctive varieties in the setting of the overprints. If you take into consideration the Plates (1-3) and the perforations (14.5 and 15), there are approximately 30 variations of this issue.
The minimal value of the underlying stamp, the one Solot made this an easy target for forgers wishing to defraud the post office as well as collectors.
Official reprints of this stamp took place in 1887 (Type 4) and were printed in typeset.
On July 1st, 1885, Thailand joined the Universal Postal Union. A requirement of membership was that the name of the country as well as the price was displayed in English on the stamp. While the post office was waiting to implement this change, it was decided to use the Solot with a surcharge as an interim to compensate for the lack of stamps to use for foreign mail. The first set of stamps, "1 TICAL", was used on surplus stocks of 1 Solot. The surcharge, which is in ordinary Roman type, was printed in red, and there are several distinctive varieties in the setting of the overprints. If you take into consideration the Plates (1-3) and the perforations (14.5 and 15), there are approximately 30 variations of this issue.
The minimal value of the underlying stamp, the one Solot made this an easy target for forgers wishing to defraud the post office as well as collectors.
Official reprints of this stamp took place in 1887 (Type 4) and were printed in typeset.
Identifying the Settings for the 1 Tical on 1 Solot
Type 1
The surcharge was applied by the Post & Telegraph Department, Bangkok, Thailand using a hand stamp on PLATE 2 only.
Type 1 has the word TICAL in elongated capitals, while all the others have lower case letters, except for the initial letter, thus: Tical. The figure 1 in the first type is of the same height as the letters following it, and the over print has a long drooping serif and a scarcely perceptible widening at the base. Ostilie, Richard (1993) The Postage Stamps of Siam to 1940 provides the following table to help identify this stamp: |
Type 2
The surcharge was applied by the Post & Telegraph Department, Bangkok, Thailand using a hand stamp on all three plates.
The figure in Type 2 is shorter and thicker than in Type 1 with a heavy straight top, and a with a thick base projecting outwards on both sides of the perpendicular stroke of the figure. |
Type 3
Type 4A
Type 4 B
Errors and Constant Varieties
Known surcharge printing errors include:
- Type 1: A variety of Type 1. with the last two letters of the surcharge missing TIC instead of TICAL.
- Type 2: A double surcharge with one inverted, a double surcharge, numeral "1" inverted, a surcharge in black over Type 1 in red; and a surcharge omitted in pair with a normal stamp.
- Type 3: A double surcharge.
- Type 4A: A double surcharge; and a variety from which the serif of the numeral is missing.
- Type 4B: A surcharge in black