Ras al Khaima post office was
opened on December 21, 1964. Its first set, which was issued at the same day of
the opening of the post office, borrowed heavily from the original Trucial
States stamps designs.
Like the other
emirates, Ras al Khaima start issuing the usual pattern, Churchill, Kennedy,
Tokyo Olympic Games, and French president De Gaulle. From the opening of post
office in 1964 to the last issued set during the year 1972, Ras al Khaima
issued 1036 stamps and 70 souvenir sheets this do not include imperf issues.
On
August 1st, 1966, Ras al Khaima post office adopted the new Bahrain currency.
The exchange rate of the new currency comparing with the old became: 1 Paise
= 1 Fils, 100 Paise (1 Rupee) = 100 Fils. According to that change Ras al
Khaima post office overprinted the first difinitive issue, President J. F.
Kennedy Commemoration issue, Sir Winston S. Churchill Commemoration, and
100th Anniversary of the International Telecommunications Union issue with
the new adopted currency.
During the
Independent postal administration seven different cancels were used in Ras al
Khaima. When the post office of Ras al Khaima was opened in 1964, two cancels
(Type 1 & 2) were introduced. The
first two types (Type 1 & 2) read
Ras al Khaima as “RAS EL
KHAIMAH” before it was
corrected in the later types. Two unusual cancels was known used in Ras al
Khaima (Type 3 & 4) and they are
rare used in covers. The most common type that used in Ras al Khaima is (Type 7) which, is also the only type that
continued to be used during the UAE postal administration.
During the UAE
postal administration, 13 different cancels were used, that does not include
the last Independent postal administration (Type
7), which continued to be used during the UAE postal
administration. All types are steel cancels except Type 8 and 19 are made
from rubber.
Special Thanks:
To Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Bin Shakar, Manager, 4th Postal Zone for his help in
this page. Mr. Mohamed Bin Shakar provides me with great information about
the postal service in Ras al Khaima during the Independent and UAE postal
administration, and introduce me to Mr. Abdulla Bin Shakar, who was the
postmaster of Ras al Khaima post office during the Independent Postal
Administration.
If you have questions or comments
please