Jal Manekji Cooper FRGS (died August 1972) was an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n philatelist

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

, and an expert and authenticator of the postage stamps and postal history of India

Postage stamps and postal history of India

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of India.Indian postal systems for efficient military and governmental communications had developed long before the arrival of Europeans. When the Portuguese, Dutch, French, Danish and British displaced the Mughals, their postal systems...

. Cooper was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the author of several philatelic handbooks. He was both a stamp dealer

Stamp dealer

A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in postage stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or official stamps for use on court documents.-Stamps on Approval Basis:...

 and a collector and was associated with philatelists like C. D. Desai

C. D. Desai

Chunnilal Devkaran Nanjee, known as "Desai", was a Twentieth century Indian commodity trader, financier, and philatelist.- Financial career :...

, N. D. Cooper, and Robson Lowe

Robson Lowe

John Harry Robson Lowe , Robbie to his friends, was an English professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer.- Life and career :...

.

Cooper is occasionally but erroneously credited with having discovered the Inverted Head 4 Annas

Inverted Head 4 Annas

The Inverted Head Four Annas of India is a postage stamp prized by collectors. The 1854 first issues of India included a Four Annas value in red and blue...

. The 1891 reprints show that this error was already known. E. A. Smythies said the error was first discovered at a meeting of the Philatelic Society of London in 1874.

The Jal Cooper Philatelic Society, in Varanasi

Varanasi

-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...

, India, is named after him and India Post issued a 10 rupees commemorative stamp in 1997 depicting Cooper and Indian postmarks, on the occasion of INDEPEX 97.

Selected publications

• Stamps of India, Bombay (1942), 177 pp.; reprint: Bombay (1968).
• Early Indian Cancellations, Bombay (1948) 92 pp.; reprint: Bombay (1993).
• India Used Abroad Western Printers and Publishers Press of Bombay (1950) 100 pp.; reprinted in India's Stamp Journal (1972)
• India Used In Burma Western Printers and Publishers Press of Bombay (1950) 67 pp.