 |
| Stamp
Domain Resource
Page for Abu Dhabi Stamps and Abu Dhabi Postal History HISTORY The town of Abu Dhabi was first settled in 1761 and came to prominence when oil was discover off Das Island in 1958. In 1953 an oil concession was granted to Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Limited covering Abu Dhabi's territorial water. Much of the work of surveying the area was done by Commander Cousteau and his team of divers operating from his ship Calypso. They identified the possibility of oil in the Umm Shaif structure near Das Island. Building work commenced in May 1956 to construct a base on Das Island. This included a runway, helicopter hanger, a harbour, a power plant and a sea water distillation plant. No postal sytem existed in Abu Dhabi at this time so mail was sent via the British Postal Agency in Bahrain. Stamps of the British POs in Eastern Arabia were made available, by the oil company (Abu Dhabi Marine Areas), on Das Island from December 1960. All the post from this period was taken to Bahrain, by the charter planes which were bringing in supplies to the island. The mail was postmarked Bahrain. A British Postal Agency post office was opened in Abu Dhabi on 30 March 1963. The mail from Das Island continued to be sent to Bahrain but was now postmarked "DAS ISLAND ABU DHABI TRUCIAL STATES" (commencing on 30 March 1963). A cachet was officially applied on all "First Day Mail". It is believed that there were no more than 200 such covers from Das Island. The post office on Das Island itself was opened on 6 January 1966 and it was admistered as an agency by the oil company (ADMA). Stamps from this period can only be recognized by the postmark "Das Island" or "Abu Dhabi" Definitive stamps for Abu Dhabi, produced by the British Postal Agency, were issued from 30 March 1964. Stamps of the British Postal Agency were also valid and are known used as late as July 1966. Abu Dhabi took over the running of both post offices on 1 January 1967 and commenced to issue its own stamps. On 18 July 1971, seven of the Gulf sheikdoms, including Abu Dhabi, agreed to form the United Arab Emirates with effect from 1 August 1972. Abu Dhabi is now the capital of the United Arab Emirates. PHILATELIC SOCIETIES FOR COLLECTORS OF STAMPS OF BRITISH POs IN EASTERN ARABIA & ABU DHABI GB Overprint Society (UK) Emirates Philatelic Association LINKS TO SELECTED PAGES ON ABU DHABI STAMPS AND ABU DHABI POSTAL HISTORY Postage stamps and postal history of Abu Dhabi From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Abu Dhabi Stamps and Postal History Click on the search engine link to access the images and background of the stamps, covers and aerogrammes of Abu Dhabi Articles, Books and Other Reference Materials Compiled by Andrew Gondocz Abu Dhabi Stamps and Postal Stationery by Andrew Gondocz Abu Dhabi Postal History International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog/Abu Dhabi From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection BOOKS ON ABU DHABI STAMPS AND ABU DHABI POSTAL HISTORY Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia and the Gulf  by Neil Donaldson, Harry Hayes Philatelic Study, 1975, 280pp, ISBN 0905222032 The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia and the Gulf  by Neil Donaldson, Class Publications, 2008 reprint, 260pp, ISBN 1409209423 Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia and the Gulf: Supplement  by Neil Donaldson, Bridger & Kay Guernsey Ltd, 1994, 38pp, ISBN 0902784099 United Arab Emirates Postal History Volume 1 Abu Dhabi by Alastair Gunn, 2010, 82pp ARTICLES IN GIBBONS STAMP MONTHLY April 1966 issue of GSM pp 130-131 DESCANT UPON DAS by 'Nomad' Details of the background history of Abu Dhabi, exploration for oil, arrangemnets for mail from Das Island. September 1967 issue of GSM pp 5-8 ABU DHABI ARGOSY by 'Nomad' Little bit more about the history of Abu Dhabi, the postmarks, stamps, registration labels. The Postal Superintendent in Bahrain was H W Wynn from whom the author obtained much of the information. H W Wynn was appointed Director of Posts in Abu Dhabi when the British Postal Agency closed at the end of 1966. Note - I have acquired an almost complete run of Gibbons Stamp Monthly from January 1950 to May 2009. I will be working my way through these magazines and indexing them and adding notes in the same manner as above as I get to the articles. 
|
