Cinderella Stamps

 

In philately, a Cinderella Stamp is anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration. There is a wide variety of Cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional use, political or non-profit groups. The term excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.

                                     

Cinderella Stamp

Named after Cinderella, a folk-tale underdog heroine who was treated as inferior within her family. Cinderella stamps similarly were considered inferior to postage stamps. The different types include poster stamps, propaganda labels, commemorative stickers, charity labels, railway stamps or merely some decorative items created for advertisement. Revenue stamps may be considered Cinderellas, but as they are normally issued by an official government agency, they tend to be classified separately. 

Local Stamps. These began to be issued soon after the invention of postal stamps. Zemstvo stamps were issued in rural areas of the Russian Empire (1860-1917). Local stamps have been issued in many other countries. Many local stamps such as hotel stamps or local carriage labels, used to pay for transport of mail to the mainland by ferry have been commonly used. 

                                           

Zemstvo Stamps

Political and propaganda stamps. These have been attached to letters for prisoners of war, or troops serving abroad. Sometimes these have been issued by breakaway governments in exile, maybe to give them legitimacy. The Indian National Army (Azad Hind) produced ten stamps as part of their campaign. The Jewish National Fund had been publishing its own stamps since 1901, promoting the ideology of Zionism.

Non-official Railway Stamps. In the UK, the railway letter service, a special facility offered by most British railway companies since 1891, produced a great variety of labels and stamps. 

The design Cinderella items follow are similar to postage stamps, but they may lack a country name, often replaced by the organization or cause being promoted, or a denomination. These are not normally listed in the main stamp collecting catalogues. They are usually in a separate appendix within the publication. However, there are Cinderella stamp collectors and Cinderella stamp clubs in many countries. Cinderella philately has a specific name in many countries, such as Erinnophillie in France and Germany or Erinnofilia in Italy. 

Cinderella Stamps

                                     

GB 1897, Cinderella- Prince of Wales Hospital Fund

                                      

India, Gajlaxmi, 1958-1960, Grain Merchant, Sawai Madhopur 12 NP Blue Fiscal Fund-Raising Revenue Cinderella Stamp

                                        

Jordan Cinderella Stamp, Red Crescent used in Palestine.

Lower Denominations of Azad Hind stamps produced in Germany 1943 for Subhash Chandra Bose. The top six stamps were prepared for Continental India, while the lower three for Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Czech Cinderella stamp, 20th Anniversary of Czzechoslovakia 1918-1838. 

                                           

India, 1 Rupee Healthy Cinderella Stamp

                                          

                                        

2021 Stanley Gibbons ''Blues'' Single-Sheet Philately Competition

 

I had participated in the Stanley Gibbons ''Blues'' Single -Sheet Philately Competition 2021 and had sent two entries in the ''Main Competition Category''. These were titled ''The Long Walk Home'', An Indian Army Soldier's Journey Through Italian POW Camps and ''Delhi Durbar 1911'', respectively. 

To my pleasant surprise, one of my entries was judged as the ''People's Champ'' as it had been voted for entirely by the philatelic public. 

                                        

2nd Lt Sharma sent his family a censored post card from PG 75 (3450) campo (field or military camp), having sensor stamp and DHP/138 marking. The location of this PG 75 (Prigione di Guerra, meaning ''prisoner of war'') was in Torre Tresca, Bari, in southern Italy on the eastern coast, on the Adriatic Sea. He was later shifted to Compo PG 63.

                                     

From Stanley Gibbons

                                   

The entry that made me ''The People's Champ''. The letters and post cards presented here tell two stories. First, they are a testament to the arduous yet awe-inspiring journey of a soldier, Second, lieutenant (2Lt) J.C.Sharma, whose story lives on through his successors, including me, who followed in his father's footsteps and dedicated their lives to their country, India, and its army, like his father who fought in the World War I, as a lieutenant too. Secondly, these rare documents dating back to the World War II not only serve as an invaluable connect with an important event from our past, but also as treasured family mementoes.

                                  

My second entry, titled Delhi Durbar 1911, when Delhi was declared as the new Imperial Capital of India. It was a grand event to mark the Coronation of King George V as King-Emperor of India, scheduled on December 12, 1911, and was attended by 2,50,000 people. It costed around one million pounds and a year of preparation. 

Shilahara Kingdom and Coins

 

The Shilahara / Shelara Kingdom (also Shelara, Selara, Shilara, Silara) was a royal dynasty that established itself in northern and southern Konkan in the 8th century AD, present day Mumbai and southern Maharashtra (Kolhapur) during the Rashtrakuta period. 

Shilahara of Kolhapur, gold 1/4 Fanam

Shilahara Kingdom was split into three branches. The first branch ruled Northern Konkan. The second branch ruled South Konkan (between 765 and 1029 AD). The third branch ruled in modern day districts of Kolhapur, Satara and Belagavi (between 940 and 1215 AD).  All the branches trace their descent from the legendary Vidyadhara prince Jimutavahana, who sacrificed himself to rescue a Naga prince from the clutches of Garuda. The family name Shilahara (meaning ''mountain peak food'') in Sanskrit is supposed to have been derived from this incident. They were thereafter overwhelmed by the Yadavas. 

The dynasty began as vassals of the Rashtrakuta dynasty which ruled the Deccan plateau between the 8th and 10th centuries. Govinda II, a Rashtrakuta king conferred the kingdom of North Konkan (modern day districts of Thane, Mumbai and Raigad) on Kapardin, founder of the Northern Sihara family, around 800 AD. Since then, the North Konkan came to be known as Kapardi-dvipa or Kavadidvipa. The capital was Puri, now Rajapur in Raigad District.

North Konkan (Thane) branch, 800-1265 AD. After Rashtrakuta power became weak, the last known ruler of this family, Rattaraja, declared his independence. But Chalukya Jayasimha, the younger brother of Vikramaditya, overthrew him and appropriated his possessions. North Konkan was conquered by the Rashtrakuta  king Dantidurga in the second quarter of the eighth century.                       

Inscriptions found at areas marked during the reign of the Shilaharas of North Konkan

South Konkan branch, 765-1020 AD. The history is known through the Kharepatan plates of Rattaraja issued in 1008 AD. Rattaraja was the last ruler of the dynasty. The document gives details of all the kings and their exploits. Soon after the issue of the plates the rule of Konkan passed over to the later Chalukyas.                        

Inscriptions found at areas marked during the reign of the Shilaharas of South Konkan
    

Kolhapur branch, 940-1212 AD. They ruled over southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka of today, the districts of Satara, Kolhapur and Belagavi. The family deity was goddess Mahalakshmi. Their first capital was Karad, later shifted to Kolhapur. They rose to power during the later part of the Rashtrakuta rule, and so, unlike the kings of the other two branches, those of this branch do not mention the genealogy of the Rashtrakutas even in their early grants. Bhoja II was the last ruler of this family.                       

Inscriptions found at areas marked during the reign of the Shilaharas of Kolhapur

                     

Banganga Tank and Walkshwar Temple, as in 1865. Constructed in 1127 AD by Lakshman Prabhu, minister in the court of Silhara dynasty Kings who ruled Thane 

Coins of Shilahara Kingdom

                     

Shilaharas of South Maharashtra, silver, 1/2 Dramma coin of Bhojadeva, 1100-1200 AD, weight 0.3 gm, Obverse: Garuda holding snake, facing right in a ''Veera'' pose, Reverse: Nagari legend in two lines Shri Bhoja / Deva

                         

Shilaharas of Kolhapur, 10-11th century AD, gold Fanam, weight 0.7 gm, Obverse: Garuda seated holding a snake, Reverse: Trident with Sun-Moon and sword inside.

                       

Shilaharas of Kohlapur, gold U shaped Fanam, 1100-1200 AD, weight 0.4 gm, Obverse: Three punches, that are, Garud running right, Kannada legend Ude and Kannada legend Kara

                       

Shilaharas of Kolhapur, gold, 1/4 Fanam, 13th century AD, weight 0.1 gm, Obverse: Garuda running right, Reverse: Kannada legend ''Bha/Bho'', 

                        

Shilaharas of Kolhapur, gold, 1/4 Fanam, weight 0.2 gm, Obverse: Garuda running right, Reverse: Kannada legend ''Ba''

                      

Shilahara Kingdom

Shilahara Coins

Roman Republic, Lucilia gens, M.Lucilius Rufus Coin, 101 BC

 

The gens (race, family or clan) Lucilia was a plebeian (commoners) family at ancient Rome. The nomen (hereditary name) Lucilius is a patronymic surname, derived from the common Latin praenomen Lucius. The satirist Lucilius is said to have come from Suessa Aurunca, an ancient town of the Aurunci, where a Latin colony was established in 313 BC. 

                                      

M. Lucilius Rufus AR Denarius, Rome, 101 BC 

                                         

Location of Sessa Aurunca in Italy

In the time of the Republic, the surnames of the Lucilii were ''Balbus'' and ''Bassus'', the former referring to the one who stammers, and the later to someone stout or sturdy. Later in the Imperial times, we find ''Capito'' given to one with a large prominent head, and ''Longus'', tall and ''Ruffus'' commonly to someone with red hair, appears on the coins of the Lucilii. 

Marcus Lucillius Rufus was 'triumvir monetalis' (a moneyer who oversaw the minting of coins). In that role he would be responsible for the ordinary coinage during the republican period. Over the course of the late Republic from 139 BC onwards, the moneyers started to mint more personalized coins which advertised their lineages, achievements of ancestors and other leaders. 

In 101 BC, M Lucillius Rufus minted coins depicting Pallas on the obverse, and Victoria driving a biga (chariot) on the reverse. 

                                       

M. Lucilius Rufus AR Denarius, Rome, 101 BC, silver, weight 3.9 gm, Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma right, PV behind, all within laurel wreath, Reverse: Victory in biga right, RVF above, M LVCILI in exergue

Lucilius Rufus

Lucilius Rufus AR Denarius

 

Hasta Mudras (Bharatnatyam) and Coins

 

A ''Mudra'' is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The word ''Mudra'' has Sanskrit roots. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. Mudras have meaning in many forms of Indian dance and yoga. 

                       

One Rupee coin, Shikhara Mudra, 2009, 

                      

The tradition of classical dance in India can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization. The innumerable dance forms gave birth to one of the major Indian classical dance forms called Bharatnatyam. The evidence of these dance forms can be seen in iconography and literature, but most of these styles are drawn from the '' Natyashastra'' (2nd century BC) written by ''Bharata Muni". Bharatnatyam got its name derived from Bharata Muni. All these dances are the division of two pure dance forms called ''Tandava" and ''Lasya''. 

Bharatnatyam originated from Tamil Nadu around 3000 years ago. The form is a mastery of grace, balance, endurance and a sense of rhythm. For a dancer Bharatnatyam is an icon of beauty and perfection. As a philosophy, it is the search of the human soul. As a religion, it is the quest of Nirvana and as poetry a rhythmic lyricism.

One of the most striking aspects of the dance is the use of hand gestures, also known as Hasta Mudra. This form is used in Thai dances as well.  So vast is the hand gestures that it covers almost all aspects of human life and the entire universe. There is a hand gesture for every single thing in the universe. Some are performed with a single hand while others with both hands. Hence, ''Mudras'' bring a unique poetic element while performing Abhinaya (expression) and thus the language of the mudras enables the dancer to express practically everything. Hasta Mudras assists in guiding energy flow to particular parts of your brain. The ''Abhinaya Darpana'' of ''Nandikeshvara'' (a 5th century BC theatrologist of ancient India and the author of Abhinaya Darpana meaning the mirror of gesture) says that there are 28 (or 32) root mudras in Bharatnatyam, 24 in Kathakali and 20 in Odissi.   

In 2007, the National Institute of Design (NID) used the hasta-mudra form for denomination of 50 paise, 1 Rupee and 2 Rupee coins in India. 

                       

50 Paise, India, 2008-2010, stainless steel, weight 3.8 gm, Dia 22 mm, Thickness 1.62 mm, Obverse: Ashoka Lion, divided legend above with country date and mint mark below, Reverse; Part of the Hasta Mudra series. Fist. Mints Kolkata, Murshidabad, Noida

 

The Mushti Mudra is depicted on a 50 paise coin. In simple words, it is a closed fist position of the palm. ''When four fingers are pressed closely against the palm while the thumb is held tightly between the palm and the other four fingers, you are performing the Mushti Mudra''. The thumb can also be placed on the four fingers. The Mushti hasta is the ninth hasta of the 28 Single Hand Mudras (asamyukta hasta) as described in the Abhinaya Darpana. According to ancient sources, this Mudra originated from Vishnu, who used this while he was fighting with Madhu. 

                      

1 Rupee, India, 2007-2011, stainless steel weight 4.8 gm, diameter 25 mm, thickness 1,47 mm, Obverse: Ashoka Lion pedestal between lines, date below with country above and year below, Reverse; Shikhara Mudra 

The second Hasta Mudra depicted on a 1 Rupee coin is the Shikhara Mudra. Here all the fingers are bent and pressed against the palm except the thumb. The thumb is raised and held up. The Shikhara Hasta is the tenth mudra of the 28 Single Hand Mudras. ''Make the hand into a fist. Then lift the thumb up, holding it at an angle of 90 degrees to the fist. You have made the shikhara Hasta. This asamyukta hasta originated from Shiva when he held Mt Meru as his bow. 

                       

 

2 Rupees, India, 2007-2011, stainless steel, weight 5.8 gm, diameter 27 mm, thickness 1.5 mm, Obverse: Ashoka Lion between horizontal lines, Reverse: Part of the Hasta Mudra series.

The third of the Hasta Mudras depicted on a 2 Rupee coin is the Kartari Mukh Mudra. This is performed when the little finger and the ring finger are bent and pressed against the thumb. While the index finger and the middle finger are stretched to show a scissor. Kartari Mukha is the fourth Mudra of the 28 Single Hand Mudras. The name literally means ''scissors'' and the hand is held in that shape. Use the thumb to hold down the ring finger and little finger. Keep the Index and middle finger straight, stretching and separating them so that the middle finger comes forward towards the thumb and this is Kartar Mukha Hasta. In dance, this mudra symbolizes things like separation, distress, disagreement or death. 

Bharatnatyam

Hasta Mudras

Hasta Mudras on Coins

Nagas of Padmavati and Coins

 

A story of a mighty kingdom that has totally been forgotten. Nagas were a group of people who migrated to a number of places in North India around 1000 BC. Some coins dating back to the 2nd and 3rd century BC have been found in the ruins of Padmavati.  It seems that some of them settled as far as Nagaland in northeast and Andhra in the south, though their main settlement remained in central India. After being almost completely destroyed by Janamejaya of the Kuru dynasty (1200-500 BC), the Naga dynasty rose to rule parts of north-central India during the 3rd and the 4th centuries AD, after the decline of the Kushan Empire and before the rise of the Gupta Empire.

Its capital was located at Padmavati, which is identified with modern Pawaya (in Gwalior District), in Madhya Pradesh.

                         

Nagas of Padmavati, Ganapati Naga, 350 AD,  

 

According to the Puranic texts as well as numismatic evidence, the Nagas also ruled at Videsha, Kantipuri and Mathura. They may have been different branches of a single family or may have been a single family that ruled from different capitals at different times. In Madhya Pradesh, Naga coins have been discovered at Pawaya, Narwar, Gohad, Vidisha, Kutwar and Ujjain. In Uttar Pradesh they have been discovered in Mathura and Jhansi districts. 

                       

    Map of Naga Territory.

                         

    Location in Madhya Pradesh

 

The oldest inscriptional history is seen on the carvings of the pedestal of Yaksha. The inscription is in Brahmi. 

                       

Yaksha Manibhadra found at Padmavati, now at Archeology Museum, Gwalior

                        

Inscription at the base of the Statue of Yaksha Manibhadra. It says it was installed in the fourth regnal year of King Sivanandi, early king of Nagas

 

The Naga dynasty is known mainly from the coins issued by its rulers, and from brief mentions in literary texts and inscriptions. According to the Vayu and the Brahmnada Puranas, nine Naga kings ruled Padmavati and seven Naga kings ruled Mathura before the Guptas. According to the Vishnu Purana, nine Naga kings ruled at Padmavati, Kantipuri and Mathura. However, coins of twelve kings have been discovered, of eleven rulers at Padmavati (modern Pawaya) and of one ruler at Narwar. The Naga people worshipped the Cobra (Nag).

                       

View of the Pawaya Brick Temple

                       

Wall and a platform 400 AD, the verticals are Cobras (Nagas) in symbolic form

                         

Close up of the symbolic representation of Cobra (Nag)

 

The inscriptions of the Vakataka dynasty, state the mother of Vakataka King Rudrasena was a daughter of King Bhavanaga. Bhavanaga's coins have been found at Padmavati. Rudrasena's reign is dated to 335-355 AD, therefore his maternal grandfather Bhavanaga can be dated to early 4th century AD. The Allahabad Pillar inscriptions of Samudragupta mentions Ganapati Naga as one of the kings defeated by him. A chronological list of Naga rulers, based on numismatic and paleographic evidence exists today. 

Ganapati was the last Naga king. The Naga dynasty came to an end about the middle of the 4th century AD and their kingdom became part of the Gupta Empire. However, Padmavati was still the capital of a kingdom and a place of cultural and religious importance in the 8th century AD. It had perhaps a university that attracted students from distant provinces like Vidarbha (modern Berar). Buddhists lived here with followers of the Saivite sect of the Kapalikas.  

Coins. The Padmavati region started yielding coins in the 1800s when heavy rains started to erode the high level of mud. Villagers started finding coins each year after the rains and still find them till date. One hoard of coins discovered in Padmavati contained as many as 100,000 coins in an earthen pot. Naga coins are mostly copper and circular, about one cm in diameter. Humped bull was a common theme. One can also see wheel, Linga, horse, triangular banner, peacock on the coins. The various kings of the Nagas minted coins in denominations of 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 Kakini..   

                      

1/8 Kakani, Ganapati Naga, 200-300 AD, copper, weight 0.45 gm, Obverse: Humped bull standing left, Reverse: Legend in Brahmi, lettering ''Maharaja Sri Ganendra''

                       

1/4 Kakini, Naga, Narwar, 200-300 AD, copper, weight 1.1 gm, Dia 9,8 mm, Thickness 2.4 mm                    

                        

Narwar, One Kakini, 200-340 AD, Bronze, weight 1.9 gm, Dia 10 mm, Thickness 3.6 mm.

                          

1/2 Kakini, Ganpati Naga, 300-400 AD, Bronze, weight 1.4 gm Obverse: Nandi with dotted border, Reverse: Inscription in Brahmi, '' Maha Raja Shri Ganendra''

                       

1/2 Kakini, Ganpati Naga, 200-340 AD, copper, weight 1.1 gm, Dia 10 mm, Thickness 2.9 gm

                         

1/8 Kakini, Ganpati Naga, 340 AD, weight 0.55 gm, Dia 9 mm, Obverse: Bull advancing left, Reverse: Brahmi legend, Maharaja Sri Ganapati written clockwise.

                          

Ganapati, 345 AD, copper, weight 0.5 gm, Dia 9.2 mm

                       

Ganapati, 350 AD, copper, weight 0.9 gm, Obverse: Humped bull facing left, Reverse: Brahmi legend, ''Maharaja Sri Gane raja'' written clockwise

                           

Deva Naga, One Kakini, late 200 AD, copper, weight 2.4 gm, Dia 11 mm, Obverse: Wheel, Reverse: Maharaja Sri Deva in a circle in Brahmi.

Nagas of Padmavati

Coins of Nagas of Padmavati

 

Ancient Gold Coin Proves Fictional Roman Emperor Sponsian Was Real: Study

 

A hoard of coins excavated in the eighteenth century, once thought to be fakes have been authenticated by researchers who say the coins reveal a long-lost Roman Emperor. Sponsianus, also known as Sponsian, may have been a Roman usurper during the third century. Although there is no mention of Sponsian in present day Roman history, he might have been active during the Crisis of the Third Century, most likely in the province of Dacia. He could have proclaimed himself emperor in the 260's AD, after Darcia was cut off the rest of the Empire during the reign of Gallienus, or during the reign of Philip the Arab or his son, Philip II. 

                       

Gold Aureus with the legend Sponsiani

    

Sponsianus's name was reportedly uncovered in a coin hoard in Transylvania in 1713 AD. The coins were dispersed among several collections. One coin was kept in the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University, which also had three other coins from the original hoard. The hoard included other coins of Philip the Arab and Gordian III, among others. The coin was locked away in a cupboard at the Hunterian Museum because it was thought to be a fake.

                        

Gold aureus with the legend ''IMP(ERATORS) SPONSIANI

The traditional opinion has been to regard the coins as fakes. In 1868, the French numismatist Henry Cohen dismissed them as ''very poor-quality modern forgeries''. After a study in 2022, led by Paul Pearson of the University College London, an earth scientist, Cardiff University, who learned about the coins and the ''fake emperor'' while researching a book on Roman history as a lockdown project. He began corresponding with Jesper Ericsson, the numismatics curator at the museum and the pair decided to perform a full-scale scientific analysis on the coin. The group of scientists stated that the marks on the coin bearing Sponsianus's name and image, visible under an electron microscope, proved that it circulated in antiquity and had been used.

A chemical analysis of the earth deposits found in the coin recesses showed that the coin had been buried in soil for hundreds of years. Moreover, simply based on their weight in gold, the coins are around $20,000 in modern value, which would have been a big outlay to start a forgery. However, there has been several researchers who have criticized the study and its conclusions and stated that unless further studies can provide more answers these coins be treated as fakes.

The most likely theory or explanation states that he was a military commander who crowned himself as an emperor when Dacia was cut off from the rest of the empire around 260 AD, as with the ongoing pandemic and civil war the empire was fragmented. Darcia was abandoned by Emperor Aurelian of the Roman Empire in the 260's as it was deemed too difficult to defend. Sponsianus may have taken the title of emperor as an attempt to maintain order. However, the Romans eventually evacuated Darcia between 271 and 275 AD. 

The Sponsian coins are ''extremely rare'' with only four known to exist and were probably minted in the isolated province of Dacia, perhaps in the city of Apulum, by jewellery artisans as the area did not have a regular coin mint. The research is in public domain, including more than 100 pages of technical reports from the scientific team. 

The debate about the coins being fake or genuine is likely to continue before reaching a consensus and a conclusion 

Emperor Sponsian

Coin of Sponsian