Revenue stamps of British Guiana

An 1888 3c Inland Revenue revenue stamp of British Guiana.

British Guiana, now known as Guyana, first issued revenue stamps in 1865 and continues to do so to this day.

British Guiana

Summary Jurisdiction

British Guiana's first revenues were issued in 1865 for Summary Jurisdiction. Eight values between 12c and 96c were issued, and the lowest value was surcharged 50c in 1875. Between 1883 and 1887 nine values between 12c and $1 were issued, and the $1 is the rarest stamp of these. In 1887 a number of provisional surcharges were produced, however some think that these were never issued.

Inland Revenue

The first Inland Revenue stamps were issued between 1869 and 1877, and this first issue is very scarce and stamps are often found in poor condition. In 1888 a new issue based on special printings of undenominated postage stamps overprinted and surcharged was issued. In 1889 a new set with a ship as the main design was issued, and these were reprinted in 1911. The $4.80 value of this set was overprinted for postal use over seventy years after it was originally issued, in 1983.

Medicine Duty

Various Medicine Duty stamps were issued around 1900, and all are rare.

Guyana

British Guiana became independent as Guyana in 1966, and its first revenues as an independent state were issued in 1975. The first issue consisted of the contemporary flower definitives overprinted REVENUE ONLY. Despite the overprint, they were still valid for postal use. A year later a new issue with the map of Guyana was issued, and in 1981 the 5c and 35c values from the 1978 butterfly postal set were also overprinted and surcharged for fiscal use. In 1995 a new design with the coat of arms was issued, and it was reissued in self-adhesive format in 2002.

See also

• Postage stamps and postal history of British Guiana
• Postage stamps and postal history of Guyana