Postage stamps Republic of Indonesia, period 1945/1948
What a reunion of 71/74-year-olds can lead to. When you catch up with classmates for the first time in about 50 years—who live scattered throughout the Netherlands and even abroad—adventures and memories from your youth are unearthed, among other things. Numerous topics come up, including fragments of your working life, your family, children and grandchildren, and, not to forget, health.
Current leisure activities also turn out to be a rewarding subject. Quite by chance, I came into contact with classmate Sjoerd and had a conversation about his former hobby, namely stamp collecting. Eventually, he asked me if I would take a look at his collection and give an opinion on its value in the event of a sale. Recently, he came by with his collection, which was 'closed' around 1960. It was certainly not a spectacular collection: with a few exceptions, all the attractive and price-determining main issues of the series (highest values) were missing.
For centuries, the Netherlands ran off with the Indies; afterwards, in 1945, the Indies ran off with the Netherlands!
Thirty stamps of the Republic of Indonesia
After inventorying and categorizing, I placed the stamps in a stockbook and searched the internet for further information. Quite soon, I came across the informative article 'What is the status of these stamps?' (June 30, 2008) by Cees Janssen on Postzegelblog came across, which informed me as an outsider (with the exception of a few stamps) quite thoroughly in words and images. After the Japanese occupation ended on August 17, 1945, the Indonesian postal service soon saw an opportunity to acquire unused stamps for postal use from
Dutch East Indies (Indigenous dancers 1941/45 (Niasse dancer and Legon dancer); Water buffalo 1938/39) and those of
the Japanese occupier (one year of occupation of Java 1943 with Mount Fuji-no-yama and
Java series 1943 with wayang puppet (green), Borobadur Temple (blue), map of Java with ornaments (olive brown) & dancer with Borobadur Temple (purple) to be used for postage. All stamps bear the overprint 'Repoeblik Indonesia'.
I have been unable to find any background information at all about this orange stamp.
To celebrate six months of Indonesian independence on January 21, 1946, these stamps are most likely the first official stamps issued by Indonesia (brown-colored 10 + 10 sen & two-colored 20 + 20 sen), depicting a water buffalo breaking the chains on its four legs and a water buffalo carrying the Indonesian flag (with a red and a white horizontal stripe).
Subsequently, in ???, official stamps were again issued in a series featuring images from the Indonesian struggle for independence.
- 5 sen in grey-blue shows an image of Bandung on fire on March 24, 1946 *);
- 15 sen in purple with an airplane over a building in Surabaya, November 1945 with ??? in the foreground
- 200 pennants in purple with a palm tree in a frame with a building to the right of it.
On August 17, 1949, the Indonesian postal service commemorated the third anniversary of independence with a red 60 sen stamp. In two hands are held (in the foreground) a dagger and (in the background) a flagpole with the white and red Indonesian flag. The word 'Repoeblik' is written in the red part of the flag. On the far left of the background, a palm tree on Indonesian soil is just visible.
Finally, a set of three stamps that most likely (?) also relate to Indonesia's independence and pursuit of freedom. On the 3 and 50 sen stamps, the head of a horned buffalo, held at an angle, breaks a chain. On the 40 sen stamp image, a ship (seen from the stern) with other small boats lies at a harbor quay (with a crane) under a cloudy sky.
Sjoerd's ideas, wishes and desires
Sjoerd's wishes and desires are difficult to reconcile due to their mutual 'contradiction', as may be evident from the points of attention below:- He would like to receive more background information on the various stamps (reason for issue & justification for existence), and especially on the stamp for which no information has been provided in this article.
- At the time, he soaked all the cancelled stamps off letters his parents received from his particularly beloved Indonesian uncle.
- These stamps hold great emotional value for him personally.
- He would like to know the financial value of these thirty used stamps.
- He also let me know that he is willing to part with these Indonesian stamps from the country's revolutionary period!!!
- Should anyone be interested in these thirty used stamps for a reasonable amount, please contact me (batehijlkema(at)hetnet.nl). I will then consult with Sjoerd.
I don't know if Sjoerd has children, but if the stamps are of great emotional value because they were sent by his favorite uncle to his parents, then you have to keep them in the family. Financial value does not outweigh that.
Bate, there is a philatelist society, DAI NIPPON, that has also published a catalogue of the stamps issued by the rebellious regime of the Republic of Indonesia. I believe that is the only complete overview.
zie
http://www.dainippon.nl/
The stamps are arranged in the Zonnebloem Indonesia catalogue. This catalogue covers the period from the issues during the Japanese occupation in 1943 to the year of issue of that catalogue.
My old copy contains black-and-white photos of the stamps. You have to pay close attention and compare which stamp is where; sometimes there are small differences in the print or other details. The American Scott catalog also has a list of stamps from this period. The most comprehensive overview can be found in the Dai Nippon catalog.
In terms of monetary value, there is a significant difference between what Zonnebloem lists and the selling prices realized in online trade. Market prices are below or well below the catalog value. The latter applies not only to Indonesia and the Netherlands, but also to other Western European countries.
I would keep the stamps: they are part of the family history, and thus form an authentic and tangible memory. Willem is right that financial value does not outweigh that.
The orange stamp with black overprint: the base stamp is reproduced in color in the NVPH 2011 in the one-off Japanese Occupation supplement (pp. 511-512). Issued in Java in June 1943, depicting the mythological creature Garuda, map of Java, rice fields, and volcano, cat. no. JJ10.
In Zonnebloem 41st edition 1999, the stamp with overprint is listed under 'Repoeblik Indonesia' issues for Java and Madura: cat. 15.
The catalogue value for genuinely used stamps from this period is generally higher than that of unused/mint stamps. For this stamp, mint 5,50 guilders, used 7 guilders.
The majority of the stamps shown have little value. If the stamps had still been on the letters, there is a good chance that the value would have been many times higher. It is unfortunate, but unfortunately, it can be taken into account during the consultation that stamps should never be soaked off before the (expert) has given his opinion!
Does anyone perhaps have an old catalog for Bate or Sjoerd?
Then that immediately solves all the questions in the article!
Catalogue for Bate and/or Sjoerd: something on Marktplaats. Keyword catalogue + sunflower + Indonesia
Otherwise, look in the local library, as long as it has not yet been affected by the budget cuts.
'@Lars. I do have that catalogue, but I’m not giving it away. I had to pay for it myself. The catalogue is from 1981, but it sold readily for any price. Because in those circles, nothing is given away. Only the sun comes for free.
@on the article. The 3 orange stamps come from an occupation series of Java. The overprints are therefore on this occupation series. The stamps below them—3, 2x 5 Plundering of Bandung (1946), 2x 15 Battle of Surabaya (1945), 200 sen (Wonokromodam)—come from the revolution series of 1946. Below that is the red stamp with a flag from a franking series of 3 values from 1947. The four stamps below that, with one upside down on the left, come from the same 1946 revolution series, with the port of Tandjong Priok on the 40 sen. The value of the stamps fluctuated in 1981 between 1.50 and 10 guilders; however, I understood that soaking off the stamps costs Sjoerd money, as AADB also indicated. Real philatelists can then more easily determine whether the stamps are genuine.
In the eight responses, I have already read quite a bit of additional information that is attractive to me (and of course Sjoerd). On behalf of Sjoerd (and myself as well), thank you very much.
Speaking of emotional value: Sjoerd, a down-to-earth 75-year-old Frisian (and possessing (grand)children who have no interest in stamps), told me at the time: “I do not have eternal life. Taking the stamps to the grave with me does not seem like an attractive option. That is why I am offering these Indonesian stamps for sale after all. Perhaps there are people who would like to include them in their collection for a reasonable sum.”
I will Sjoerd as a former stamp collector (and who pays no attention to http://www.postzegelblog.nl) to draw attention to the fact that part of his collection has attracted the attention of experts in the field.
Should there still be anyone who possesses additional information, Sjoerd and I would greatly appreciate hearing from them.
Thanks in advance.
@ Bate/Sjoerd: You can't take stamps to your grave, but neither can you take money! A grandchild might very well catch the philately bug in the future, and then it would be a shame to get rid of this family material for peanuts. So DON'T DO IT! Let a grandchild go check out a local youth stamp collecting club. Stamp collecting isn't that different from collecting football trading cards, and this belongs in the Sjoerd family!
In the KPI (Prangko Indonesia catalog) they are listed in color;
Dutch East Indies with Japanese/Rep. Indonesian overprint, also the Vienna edition. 77 pages
Java-Sumatera – North-central Sumatera –
Bengkulu – Lampung (z Sumatra) Period ORI
(Uang Repoeblik Indonesia) in Indonesian currency value, until the 1949 issue
I didn't know there were so many collectors about Indonesia. Nevertheless, I am a collector of Dutch and Indonesian stamps, preferably mint condition if possible. What I am looking for are the years 40 to ????. That is currently on the back burner because I want to focus on the orange Bayar Porto and the service stamps first. These are needed to complete my album entirely, and I am on the right track with that. Who, oh who, still has these stamps left over that they are willing to sell or possibly trade? I still have quite a few mint condition sets left. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, Govardus