Philatelic Society’s expo to shed light on history
Bahrain Philatelic Society to hold the 12th Philatelic and Numismatics Exhibition at the Art Centre near Bahrain National Museum on December 30 at 5.30 pm. The expo will be held under the patronage of the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunication, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed.
Commenting on the exhibition, Mohammed Hussain Janahi, Vice-President, Bahrain Philatelic Society, said: “Holding the annual exhibition is the only way to revive this old and legendary hobby. Earlier stamp collection was a very respected and popular hobby. Now the charm and popularity of it is lost due to the influx of the modern ways of communication and less use of the postal department.”
Janahi, an avid philatelist, has been collecting stamps since the age of 10s. He has priceless collection of stamps and knowledge about stamps, its history and heritage and evolution.
“My father was a trader and he used to get letters from various countries. As a child, I was fascinated by the colours and the beauty on these small piece of paper on the envelopes,” recalled Janahi.
Postal department was very active in those days with letters were posted for various purposes. “People used to read the letters and throw it away. I used to collect the envelopes and bring it home and soak the envelopes in hot water and carefully remove the stamps from the envelopes,” he said.
The annual exhibition gives an opportunity for the enthusiasts to exhibit their collection and also to interact with the like-minded fraternity. They can even exchange or buy stamps from other collectors.
The exhibition will also showcase a variety of rare collection of stamps and currencies. The exhibitors will also be awarded with an evaluation rating and certificates.
The limelight of the exhibition will be a 55-metre frame of stamps, which is done in an attempt to break the Guinness World Records for the biggest collection of stamps.
Stamps and currency collection is not an easy job. It requires knowledge about history, culture and observation skills to understand the rarity and the importance of each stamp.
In the earlier days, Bahrain was a British colony and since India was their largest colony, Indian currency and stamps were used in Bahrain, until December 16, 1961/ 1380 after the accession of HH Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa. This was the period in which the monetary reforms were placed high on the agenda.
“I have stamps, which can scale upto more than 3000BD in their cost. Some of the stamps have been withdrawn by various governments during various periods due to various political or technical reasons,” Janahi explained.
Queen Victoria stamps
In the early days, messages were written in papers and sent by a messenger to various places. This incurred huge costs and expenditure for the postal department in England. The cost has to be borne by the receiver and not by the sender.
Most of the times the receiver might not pay and the effort goes in vain. The postal department started to run in losses. Later, Rowland Hill invented the stamp to save the Postal Department from losses.
He drew a picture of Queen Victoria and began to stick it on the envelope. As a respect to the Queen, the people used to pay for the message and hence the stamps became popular. The first stamp with Queen Victoria’s picture was released on May 6, 1840.
Postal service in Bahrain
The postal service in Bahrain started on August 1, 1884 by opening its first office in Manama. Then the department went on to open more offices in Muharraq and in Awali. The first stamp carrying the picture of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was issued on December 16,1999.
“The Bahrain Philatelic Society was established in 1980 and I was the youngest member of the club at that time. The club was formed with a view to collecting stamps, currencies, ancient artefacts and historical documents, which tell the story of our history,” Janahi added.
The Philatelic Society in addition to the exhibition will be organising its First General Auction on January 1 and 2 in association with the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications.
The auction is open to the public. Philatelic, Numismatic and Antiques auction will be held on January1, 2016 at the Golden Tulip Hotel at 8pm and the specialised auction of stamps, coins and bank notes will be held on January 2 at the same venue.
For more information, contact: Mohammed Hussain Janahi at 39689338.
Related Posts