Soruth 1868 – two beautiful stamps from a Princely State

Soruth 1868 – two beautiful stamps from a Princely State

Here are a couple of lovelies – Soruth 1868. I acquired them about a year ago at auction. Soruth (or Sorath, Junagadh, and Saurashtra) was a small Princely State in Gujarat until 1947 when it became part of the state of Saurashtra and then part of Bombay State.

2 Soruth stamps - Soruth 1868 issues

These are hand stamped with water colour ink. You can find them in Scotts 9 and 8 respectively.  I usually use Stanley Gibbons but I’m having a few problems identifying this set clearly.  Too many variations. The only thing clear is both are Type B – you can tell by the bottom left character.

Soruth characters on stamps

Unperforated, no watermarks, no gum, laid paper.  Nice, large margins on both.

I got lucky at auction and picked them up for a song. The catalogue price hovers around $170 for the pair. I didn’t think I’d have a chance at getting these, but I scooped them up for under $25(Cdn). Sometimes, it’s all about who shows up for the auction. I went with the faint hope of getting them and was surprised to find no one else was interested.  Everyone showed up to watch the fight over a great set of Canadian covers and no one was interested in the Indian material. My pair sold early in the auction and which was excellent because everyone was saving their money for the cover dustup. Unless you had over $4,000 for each cover, there wasn’t a hope you’d be able to touch them.

I don’t spend a lot of time or money on Feudatory States – although I’d like to. The problem is they are just too difficult to identify, and many forgeries abound, I know experts who have been snookered on occasion. I have a modest little collection – low values mostly but infinitely enjoyable. 

While you’re here don’t forget to support Bitter Grounds via Buy me a Coffee (to the left), PayPal (in the footer) or by merch. You can now subscribe to my newsletter and get new posts directly to your inbox. You can now like and share articles using the pop-up box on the right. 

Keep reading about Indian’s great stamps:

3 Rocket mail stamps & explosive packed tubes

 

 
 

This will close in 30 seconds