Hello everyone.
I have acquired some Kuwait stamps recently and found a square stamp, canceled Kuwait, with "POSTAGE PAID 55 Fils" in both english and arabic languages.
Can anyone tell me a little bit more about this "stamp" as I couldn't find any info on the web?
Thank you.

These stamps were issued to uprate an arerogramme after a postal rate increase. They were not issued on their own though some mint copies exist that were removed/stolen from the postal archives in Kuwait City in the chaos that followed the liberation from Iraqi occupation.

Their catalogue existence is due to myself supplying two of my customers (I was probably one of the biggest dealers in Kuwait at the time). They were Brian Rope a well known specialist collector of Middle East material and Ray McMillan of Edinburgh who was the owner of Middle East Stamps Ltd.

I supplied both with the uprated aerogramme and they reported the existence of these stamps to the then editor of Stanley Gibbons catalogues - David Aggersberg - who included them in the Gibbons Middle east sectional catalogue. So they are listed there. As to dates I'm afraid I cannot remember but it was before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. As I lost all my stock and my liberty at the time I no longer have any examples but if you get access to a Gibbons Middle East catalogue you will find them listed there.

Thank you very much for this prompt and very useful answer. Best regards.

I have just noticed they are listed in the main Gibbons Stamps of the World catalogues No 748a issued in 1977. They are unpriced. As they were (officially) only available on the aerogramme they are rare. Aerogrammes and their usage in Kuwait was negligible so very few exist My stock at the time numbered only about 30 or so of these items and, as far as I know, I had the only substantial stock of these..

Just to add - I believe they are also listed in the Higgins and Gage relevant catalogue of postal stationary.

But not listed in the SG Middle East Catalogue.
How, in your opinion, should these be collected ?
With aerograms ? or machine labels ? or even with regular 1977 stamps as far as uprating aerograms was also performed with regular stamps?
Thanks for your advise.

They are listed in the ME catalogue - No.748a

How you collect them is up to you. Officially they were not available off the aerogramme. The copy you have was most probably used on an aerogramme then soaked off which means its value is probably less. But these are very rare as the aerogrammes themselves are scarce.

What the current value is is anyone's guess - until a value is set by a specialist dealer or auction house!

Thank you. Incendentally, I have picked a few red and green cinderellas in a kuwait lot. Could you please light my candle about those?.Regards

From memory they are Sheikh Ahmed centenary labels to commemorate the centenary of Ahmadi - a town named after Ahmed in the South of Kuwait which houses the HQ of the Kuwait Oil Company.

They had no franking value but were issued in Post Offices to be attached to mail if the sender so desired. They were released around Independence from the British. When I was in Kuwait the value of each label unused varied between £5 to £15 depending on condition. Properly 'used' on cover worth considerably more.

You see them in well known auctions from time to time and they nearly always achieve high prices.