1909 Series

Amir Habibullah Khan (who ruled from 1901 to 1919) was determined to modernise the Afghan postal service. To further this aim he introduced Afghanistan’s first “European-style” stamps in 1907. However, that issue was only an interim step and not without its problems: the sheet size was still too small – only two panes of six could be printed at a time, and the perforating equipment was unsatisfactory and soon abandoned. It can be looked upon as a trial run for the issue which followed it: the 1909-19 series. That series was the first truly “modern” Afghan issue.

· it was the first Afghan series to be produced by typography

· the sheet size of 50 stamps was a big improvement on what had previously been managed

· it was the first issue to be perforated as a matter of course (although, as will be seen, there were still problems)

Initially, there were three values: 1 Abasi, 2 Abasi and 1 Rupee (1 Rupee = 3 Abasi).

These three were reissued in different colours in 1916, and again in 1918/19. An additional 2 Paisa value was introduced in 1913 (2 Paisa = 1/10 Abasi).

The 2 paisa

1909_2p