Elaborate philatelic covers

Knowing what to look for allows us to identify same rarer covers that might otherwise seem simply elaborate philatelic covers with little collectible value.

The below is one such example.

Known Plate Flaws

The British Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia issued stamps have a number of known plate flaws.

Below is one such example from the 1957 Scout Jamboree overprinted 'QATAR'.

There are a few more such examples - if you have one please feel free to share.

Department of Posts

Qatar took over the Postal Service from the British Postal Agency for Eastern Arabia in 1963.

As such the covers below would be some of the first to be mailed by the newly created Department of Post and the top two covers by coincidence also include stamps belonging to the first two issues of Qatar after the takeover.

From Doha to St. Xavier's High School.

A simple cover from Qatar via Bahrain to a well known school in Mumbai, India. The mailing from Qatar for a ling period of time had to go through Bahrain.

It would be interesting to learn what was inside the letter, perhaps a little story of life in Qatar for publication in the School's Magazine "The Morning Star"

Perhaps one of my readers would be able to access the school and find out.

Diamonds in the Rough

When we start collecting, sometimes we commit errors without knowing, or at least I certainly did.

The fragment of cover with a full set of Qatar 1961 Definitive stamps overprinted J.F. Kennedy cancelled on the First Day of Issue shows that I was not the only one to cut up covers to extra the stamps.

This particular set of stamps on a FD today is a highly prized item by collectors.

One of Qatar's oldest pharmacies.

The 1950's saw the opening of Qatar's first dispensary and hospital. The cover below is one of the first I have seen related to one of Qatar's oldest pharmacies still in operation, operated by a family that had at the time pharmacists, general doctors, surgeons and so on. click on the image below to learn a little more.

 

Qatar AFC 2023 Champions

Qatar's historic retaining of the AFC champion's title has been marked by a set of stamps as shown below.

Qatar is only the fifth team to hold onto the cup (the other 4 teams are listed below).