| I: THE FIRST
ISSUE |
The
first issue stamp bore a profile portrait of King Chulalongkorn facing
to the left, enclosed within an oval frame, with inscriptions of value
in panels either at the top or bottom. The first issue was
intended for domestic usage only as it had only Siamese characters and
numerals and included the values of 1 solot (1/2 of one att), 1 att
(the local printed matter single rate), 1 sio (2 atts, the local single
rate for letters), 1 sik (4 atts, the inland provincial single rate), 1
fuang (8 atts) and 1 salung (16 atts).
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The
first issue “one solot” value stamp.
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When Siam introduced
her own foreign postal services in July 1885, the postal stationery
card rate was 4 atts, the neighbouring country foreign single rate was
8 atts and the non-neighbouring foreign single rate was 12 atts.
Since the one salung stamp was worth 16 atts which was more than 12
atts, it was devalued to 12 atts and used for the foreign single rate.
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The first
issue used after Siam joined the U.P.U., the earliest recorded usage on
cover.
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Classic Siam: The
Early Years (1 of 5)
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Page 1 of 45 |
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Index |
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