Sarawak issued stamps that functioned as bothpostage andrevenue purposes from 1869 to 1949 from the period ofRaj of Sarawak,Japanese occupation,British Military Administration, toCrown Colony of Sarawak.[1]
The Brooke government first issued postage rules on 1 March 1869, after the death of James Brooke. The rules stated that one stamp should be affixed for all letters below half an ounce in weight, an additional stamp for every additional half-ounce until four ounces, and one stamp should be affixed in all receipts and paid bills, all legalbills of sale, all legal agreements, allbills of lading and Mate's receipts.[2]
The first stamp in Sarawak bears the portrait of James Brooke with a facial value of three cents was issued together with postal rules on 1 March 1869. The stamp was not only for local postage of inland Sarawak but also hadfranking rights for postage to Singapore, where another stamp from the straits settlement would be added to carry the postage to their destinations.[2] The stamp was also designated for revenue collection.[3] The stamp was manufactured by Mr Charles Whiting based in London through alithography process. The letters "J" and "B" appear at the upper left and right corners while the letters "R" and "S" appear at the bottom left and right corners respectively, representing "James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak".[2]
Another stamp was issued in 1875. A 3c black inscribedSarawak Receipt Stamp portrayingSir Charles Brooke was issued, and ten years later in 1885 this was reprinted in red. The first issue in black is scarcer than the red stamp, but neither of them is particularly rare.
Around 1887, various postage stamps were overprinted with a largeR to specify fiscal use only. Some were also additionally overprintedREVENUE ONLY. apart from the initial overprint to confirm this. All overprinted issues were withdrawn on 30 June 1900, the day before a new vertical design was issued, again portraying Sir Charles Brooke. These remained in use until the Rajah's death, and in 1918 this set was reissued with the portrait of the new monarch, his son SirCharles Vyner Brooke. Some of these were also overprinted with provisional surcharges in 1934. The 1900 and 1918 sets also exist overprintedCUSTOMS diagonally.[4]
Japanese forcesoverran Sarawak in December 1941. Initially, revenues from the 1918 issues were handstamped in Japanese, but these were quickly replaced with postage stamps overprinted in various Japanese characters. These were used until Sarawak was liberated by Australian forces in 1945. After the war, postage stamps were used for fiscal purposes. Sarawak joined theFederation of Malaya andNorth Borneo to formMalaysia in 1963. Since then Malaysianrevenue stamps have been used in Sarawak.
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