A privately run packet services for mail existed in British Guiana

British Guiana

British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...

 1796, and continued for a number of years. Postage stamps of Britain were used at Georgetown

Georgetown, Guyana

Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...

 (Demerara) and Berbice.

Cottonreels

The London government established an inland postal system on 1 July 1850, but postage stamps had not yet been produced, so the postmaster in Georgetown went to the local newspaper Royal Gazette and had them print imperforate

Postage stamp separation

For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes...

 stamps in the form of an outline circle, with "BRITISH GUIANA" inside the rim, and a denomination, from 2c to 12c, in the middle. The printing was in black, on different colors of paper depending on denomination. These became known as the "Cottonreels" because of their circular shape, like the labels on
spools of cotton, and are quite rare.

First official stamps

The first issue from London finally came in 1852, a very simple typeset design depicting a sailing ship and the colony's motto (misspelled) DAMUS PATIMUS QUE VICISSIM ("we give and expect in return"), also quite rare. Better stamps from London showed up in 1853, engraved and correctly inscribed using PETIMUS instead.

The numbers were apparently insufficient, and in 1856 the postmaster had new 1c and 4c issues printed locally, crudely typeset and imitating the design of the London stamps, motto and all. These are among the rarest of all stamps, and the British Guiana 1c magenta

British Guiana 1c magenta

The British Guiana 1c magenta is regarded by many philatelists as the world's most famous stamp. It was issued in limited numbers in British Guiana in 1856, and only one specimen is now known to exist....

 is the rarest, with only one copy known to exist.

Another shipment of stamps showed up in 1860, but difficulties were not over yet, with locally printed stamps being necessary in 1862 and 1882. After that stamps were reliably available.

Commemorative stamps

In 1898 a pictorial commemorative was issued for Queen Victoria's Jubilee, depicting Mount Roraima and Kaieteur Falls

Kaieteur Falls

Kaieteur Falls is a high-volume waterfall on the Potaro River in central Guyana, Potaro-Siparuni region. It is located inKaieteur National Park. It is 226 meters high when measured from its plunge over a sandstone and conglomerate cliff to the first break...

, and another in 1931 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the colony's formation. Additional regular pictorial series, depicting local scenes and industries, came out in 1934, 1938, and 1954, as well as the usual omnibus issue

Omnibus issue

In philately, an omnibus issue is an issue of stamps by several countries with a common subject and which may share a uniform design. Omnibus issues have often been made by countries under common political control or groups of colonies due to the close co-operation required to produce the issue...

s of the Commonwealth.

A set of three stamps issued in 1961 commemorated self-government. In 1964 a set was issued commemorating the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo.

Independence

In 1966 the country achieved independence from the United Kingdom, and changed its name to Guyana. Later stamps were issued by Guyana.

Further reading

• Proud, Ted
  Ted Proud
  Edward Wilfrid Baxby Proud is a pioneering British postal historian and philatelic writer who in 2008 was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists....
  
  . The Postal History of British Guiana. Proud-Bailey Co. Ltd., 2000. ISBN 1872465269

External links

• The British West Indies Study Circle.