Earliest known prepaid items from Kedah
Pos Malaysia has issued a commemorative stamp collection on the postal history of Kedah in conjunction with the centenary issuance of the first Kedah stamps. Not many people know that Kedah pioneered the use of postal service in Malaysia 125 years ago. Pos Malaysia Berhad chief executive officer Datuk Khalid Abdol Rahman said it started when Siamese stamps and postcards were sent to Penang in 1887. "That is why Kedah is so special in philately history. The state had been producing its own stamps since 1912." "We are honoured to issue this historic collection and we want to share and create awareness among the public on the uniqueness of philatelic items that were issued in the old days," Khalid said.
The three designs in the collection are "Padi Sheaf", "Malay Farmer Ploughing" and "Balai Besar", which will be in denominations of 90sen each. The miniature sheet contains stamps in denomination of RM3, featuring the earliest known prepaid items from Kedah. The highlights of this collection are the use of the stamp on stamp printed design and the elliptical perforation methods rarely used in the stamp printing process in Malaysia.
