Postage stamps and postal history of British Guiana

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 (Demerara) and Berbice.

The London government established an inland postal system on July 1, 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 quite rare.

The first issue from London finally came in 1852, a very simple typeset design depicting a sailing ship and the colony's motto (misspelled) "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.

Another shipment of stamps showed up in 1860, but difficulties were not over yet, with locally printed stamps being necessary in 1862 and 1882. After that stamps were reliably available.

In 1898 a pictorial commemorative was issued for Queen Victoria's Jubilee, depicting Mount Roraima and Kaieteur Falls, and another in 1931 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the colony's formation. Additional regular pictorial series, depicting local scenes and industries, came out in 1934, 1938, and 1954, as well as the usual omnibus issues of the Commonwealth.

A set of three stamps issued in 1961 commemorated self-government. In 1964 a set was issued commemorating the Olympic Games held in Tokyo.

In 1966 the country achieved independence from the United Kingdom, and changed its name to Guyana. Later stamps were issued by Guyana.

References

* W.A. Townsend and F.G. Howe, "Postage Stamps and Postal History of British Guiana," London, Royal Philatelic Society (August 1970) ISBN 0900631015