)
Jal Manekji Cooper FRGS (29 March 1905[1] – 2 August 1972) was an Indian philatelist, and an expert and authenticator[2] of the postage stamps and postal history of India. Cooper was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the author of several philatelic handbooks. He was both a stamp dealer[3] and a collector and was associated with philatelists like C. D. Desai,[4] N. D. Cooper, and Robson Lowe.
Cooper is occasionally but erroneously credited with having discovered the Inverted Head 4 Annas. The 1891 reprints show that this error was already known. E. A. Smythies said the error was first discovered at a meeting of the Philatelic Society of London in 1874.[5]
The Jal Cooper Philatelic Society, in Varanasi, India, is named after him and India Post issued a 10 rupees commemorative stamp in 1997 depicting Cooper and Indian postmarks, on the occasion of INDEPEX 97.
Selected publications
- Stamps of India, Bombay (1942), 177 pp.; reprint: Bombay (1968).
- Bhutan, Bombay (Sept. 1969)
- Early Indian Cancellations, Bombay (1948) 92 pp.; reprint: Bombay (1993).
- India Used Abroad, Western Printers and Publishers Press of Bombay (1950) 100 pp.; reprinted in India's Stamp Journal (1972)
- India Used In Burma, Western Printers and Publishers Press of Bombay (1950) 67 pp.
References
- ^ The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who. Bennett, Coleman & Company. 1969.
COOPER, Jal Manekji, F.R.G.S., Member, British Philatelic Assoc. Ltd.; Hon. Socv.. The Empire of India Philatelic Socy. b. March 29. 1905.
- ^ Cooper's authentication mark. Filatelia.fi. Retrieved on 29 November 2018.
- ^ Philately in Transition in India. Stamps of India Collectors Companion. Part 2, Issue # 59 – 4 April 2002
- ^ Cooper, Jal; Foreword to the auction catalog: The Unique Collection of India offered by order of the Executors of the late Mr. C. D. Desai, F.R.P.S.L., Robson Lowe (London), 25 and 26 May 1949. Sale Nos. 838–841.
- ^ E. A. Smythies (1950) "A Classic Stamp Error". The American Philatelist, pp. 59, 60.