Tag: North Yemen stamp

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Fake Yemen stamp 1966, deposed King Badr studies grave choices of John F Kennedy

North Yemen’s Rassids Royal House was forced out in 1962 and the Mutawakalite Kingdom abolished. On the other side of the world in 1963, American President John F Kennedy was assassinated. It is kind of strange then that a Mutawakalite postal authority would issue a stamp on JFK’s memorial opening in Virginia in 1967. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The story of how this stamp came to be begins with an American child stamp collector named Bruce Conde. He wrote a letter to then North Yemeni King Ahmad hoping to be sent real Yemeni stamps. He got a letter back from then young Prince Badr who was also a stamp collector. The two became pen pals and eventually Conde was invited to North Yemen. He converted to Shia Islam and was decreed a Yemeni citizen. In 1962, King Ahmad died of natural causes and Badr became King. Before the stamps of North Yemen could reflect having a philatelist King, Nasser’s Egypt funded a coup by the Royal guard that forced King Badr and Bruce Conde out of the capital Sana. From mountainous areas of the country, King Badr, with the support of Saudi Arabia was able to maintain an insurgency. Bruce Conde was authorized to issue stamps to raise funds for the insurgency. Eventually the Saudis tired of the lack of success and made peace with the recognized Egyptian backed government. King Badr went into exile in London where he died in 1996. Bruce Conde was left without a country as he renounced USA citizenship and North Yemen renounced him and his stamps. He moved to Morocco.

King Badr in 1962 during his short time on the Throne

Since this stamp is fake, there is no catalog value.

What to do about a grave memorial for President Kennedy was an area of discussion after his death. The family initially intended to have him interred in the family cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts. His died soon after childbirth child Patrick had been buried there a few months before. The widow Jaqueline Kennedy however had other ideas. She wanted him buried in a valley at Arlington National Cemetary that Kennedy had found peaceful during visits there. She also insisted on an eternal flame. This was inspired by two things. An eternal flame for France’s fallen soldiers at the Arc de Triumph she had seen on her Paris trip. Also the T. H. White book Candle in the Wind that was the basis for the play Camelot, a family favorite. Many thought the eternal flame tacky, but thought it would be wrong to go against the widow’s wishes.

Jacqueline Kennedy contracted family friend and landscape architect John Warneche. There was a simple New England style black granite  headstone flat to the ground of grass with the body facing the Washington monument and in the shadow of Arlington House, the former home of General Robert E Lee. When the three acre site was ready in early 1967, John F Kennedy and two children died in infancy were interred. Later they were joined by Senator Robert Kennedy after his own assassination and later by the widow Jacqueline upon her natural death in 1996 and Senator Edward Kennedy in 2009.

The grave stone and eternal flame at Arlington National Cemetery. Robert E Lee’s former family home is in the background.

The Eternal Flame went out briefly twice. Once when a group of Catholic schoolchildren sprinkled holy water on it. Later during an exeptionally heavy rain the electric gas igniter was flooded and shorted out. In 2012, the igniter system of unique design started clicking loudly and was replaced while keeping the flame going.

A real American stamp honoring President Kennedy’s eternal flame

Well my drink is empty. I think I will have another since a nice story was found from even a fake stamp. Come again next Monday for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. Next week’s won’t be fake, I promise.

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North Yemen 1967, In a time of desperation, why not look for inspiration from a Flemish Master and his new fertile wife

I while back I did a pathetic and fake but militaristic stamp from the other side in the then North Yemen Civil War, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/20/fake-north-yemen-stamp-remembers-the-barefoot-bazooka-guy-freedom-fighter/   . The Republican side in 1967 had just lost their Egyptian benefactor and so had their offsite printing presses crank up myriad stamps on art subjects that they hoped would attract the worldwide stamp market. They have attracted me, though so many years later it is of no help. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Think back to 1967 and the frequent simple single color printing of many European and American stamps. Now check out the quality of the Rubens image transfer and the grand gold foil used to frame it. To then notice the Yemen Arab Republic name and Arab script is to make one think the stamp is fake, but it is not.

Todays stamp is issue A60, a 1/2 Bogaches stamp by the Yemen Arab Rebublic then holding the capital Sana in North Yemen. Yemen no longer calls its cents Bogaches so half of one Bogaches would be 1.25 Fils in the current Yemen currency. That comes out to 5 one thousands of an American penny. This was a five stamp issue on Flemish painting Masters that also came as a souvinir sheet and as a set of imperferates with the frames the paintings in silver instead of gold foil. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents, which is disappointing until you think of that value in terms of Yemeni Rials.

Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577 in modern Germany where his Belgian parents had run for the crime of being Calvinists. They then had Peter Paul Baptized Catholic in Cologne to allow for their return to the then Spanish Hapsburg run low countries. After an elaborate training that included time in Italy he began painting based out of Antwerp in the Flemish Baroque style at the behest of foreign benefactors and often on Catholic religious subjects. One of his frequent commissioners was Marie de Medici the Queen Mother of France. The frequent trips to Paris saw Rubens act as a spy and diplomat for his families native Duchy of Brabant, in modern Belgium.

Rubens self portrait

At age 53, four years after the death of his first wife, Rubens married her 15 year old niece Helena Fourment with whom he had three more children that was the subject of the painting on this stamp. Rubens style changed with his new model and became very popular. His voluptuous nudes were cast in the Spanish Hapsburg Royal Courts as the Roman God Venus. Rubens got very rich off his paintings and was able to buy a country estate outside of Antwerp. In his last years his style changed again to the drawing of landscapes.

Around 1784, the painting on the stamp was acquired by a French citizen named Louis Capet. You  may know him better as King Louis XVI. he was forced to use the above name during his last days before facing the guillotine. The painting was moved to the Louvre where it still hangs.

Around 1969, North Yemen papered over their differences under a unity government that included Republicans and Monarchists. Bizarrely the new leader was a closeted Jew. Sounds like a recipe for some fun stamps but the issues reverted to the pan Arabist 70s UN style.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to the brave souls that pedal crazy stamp ideas to bands of fighters in Arab civil wars. Imagine trying to pose the question to them, “What do you guys think of the Flemish Masters, framed in gold?” Come again tomorrow when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting.

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Yemen Arab Republic 1967, Egypt pulls out, so it is time for conciliation

At the time of this stamp both North and South Yemen had rival entities claiming the future. In the North that even meant rival stamp issues. With the Egyptian pullout, perhaps it was time to see if the sides had more in common, like needing a new patron. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

When two sides in a civil war are putting out stamps, The Philatelist did a Royalist one here, https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/20/fake-north-yemen-stamp-remembers-the-barefoot-bazooka-guy-freedom-fighter/   , you can bet the issues are more to raise revenue than for actual postage. So here we get an elaborate oversized issue on Flemish painting masters. Bizarre thing for socialists of North Yemen to be spending time on. Anyway the painting is “The Peasant Wedding” by Pieter Brueger and is from the 16th century. Brueger is noted for finding the nobility in his images of peasants. There is a mystery as to who the groom is in this wedding celebration. There is an old Dutch proverb that says it is a poor man that cannot be at his own wedding so this may be a take on that. Though Brueger mainly operated out of Antwerp, the painting today hangs at a museum in Vienna.

This stamp is issue A60 a 1/4th Bogaches stamp issued by the Yemen Arab Republic in October 1967. It was 15 stamps on Flemish painting masters issued in three groups of five. The higher denominations were airmail issues. According to the Scott catalog, these were real stamps as this force was holding Sana the capitol and the post office. They put the value at 25 cents whether unused like this one or cancelled to order.

In 1967, Egypt pulled out it’s military presence from North Yemen as they were needed at home after the 1967 Sinai war with Israel. The socialists that they supported still held the capital of Sana and the Saudi Arabian backed rebels the highlands. After an unsuccessful siege on Sana in 1968, the Royalists were nearly spent. So however were the socialists without Egypt.

It was time for Abdul Rahman to make his move. He was the son of a judge but at different times he was put in prison by the King and by Nasser in Egypt. Rumors persisted around Rahman that he was a secret Jew named Hadad that was adopted by his important Muslim family. He says Hadad was his stepbrother. In any case in 1970 he was able to form a government of conciliation that included socialists and royalists. This government had the backing of  Saudi Arabia, which is so important with Saudi Arabia so rich and Yemen so poor.

North Yemen President Rahman

In 1972, forces of the old South Arabia tried to make a comeback in South Yemen with backing from the Saudis and North Yemen under Rahman. What a change from being a part of the free Yemeni  movement against middle eastern royals. The war was not successful but the two Yemens agreed in principle to join into one Yemen. It took 18 years for that to happen.

Their coming for you, South Yemeni Pan Arab socialist. Slowly..

That area or the world is not known to be forgiving of losers. In 1974 Rahman was couped out of office under a program, pogrom?, of correcting the revolution and getting rid of the legacy of decadence. Easier said than done. He lived the rest of his life in exile in Damascus.

Well my drink is empty and I will confine my toasting to the wedding couple on the stamp’s painting. Hope they were able to track down the groom. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Fake North Yemen stamp remembers the barefoot bazooka guy/ freedom fighter

I was pretty sure this stamp was fake. It looked to modern and well done for the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of North Yemen which ended in 1962. But as with this Indonesian Republic stamp from when it was still Dutch, see https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/24/well-we-think-we-are-independant-we-have-a-constitution-a-flag-and-austrian-stamps/    , sometimes outsourcing  can make for a high quality, interesting if fake stamp. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This fake stamp was put together by the Royalist side of the North Yemen Civil War. The one from 1962-1970. Not the one from 2011-today. The 60s one saw Egypt sending thousands of troops, arms and aircraft to defend the Socialist Republic declared by the former head of the palace guard. The Royals escaped to the mountains were they received arms and money from Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The fact that the guy on the stamp is barefoot shows how backward this all was. Shame on the lot of them for handing out advanced weapons. It would probably be the 25th century before one of these tribesman could figure out how to build a bazooka. Let them settle their differences with spears.

This is not a real stamp as the Royalist forces did not control the capital or the postal system. The Yemen Arab Republic issues of the same period are considered real. The story of how the Royalist got stamps is interesting. An American stamp collecting boy named Bruce Conde wrote to King Ahmad asking for Yemeni stamps for his collection. He received a letter back from child Prince Badr. They became pen pals and eventually Conde was invited to Yemen. He converted to Islam and became a Yemeni citizen. He supervised the Royalist sides stamp issues and wrote articles for Linn’s stamp news. When the Royalists lost, Conde was left stateless in exile in Morocco. He had renounced the USA and Yemen had renounced him.

King Ahmad ruled North Yemen from 1948 through his death in 1962. He faced many coup attempts. Once in 1956 his palace was surrounded and he came charging out leading the palace guards while wearing a devils mask. He killed 2 rebels personally with his scimitar. He then went to the roof of the palace and shot rebels one by one till they surrendered. The rebel leader was beheaded. In 1961 he was severely injured in another coup attempt and his son Prince Badr took unofficial control. Soon after Ahmad’s death in 1962, the head of the palace guard with the support of Egypt shelled the palace and now King Badr fled. A socialist republic was declared and thousands of Egyptian soldiers deployed to Sana.

From 1962 through 1970 the Royalist forces held the mountainous north  and the socialist government held the capital. In 1967, Egypt was defeated by Israel in the Sinai desert and decided to pull their troops out of Yemen. The Royalist made one last attempt to take the capital but when they failed, Saudi Arabia cut off support to the Royalist side. Saudi Arabia began paying the socialist government for influence and King Badr was left out in the cold. He moved to London and most of his troops were given amnesty.

Well my drink is empty and I am not predisposed to label the barefoot bazooka guy on the stamp a freedom fighter as this fake stamp suggests. His grandson is probably fighting the current civil war where Iran is playing Egypt’s old part. The weapons have gotten more advanced than bazookas, but there is still debate whether shoes have been acquired. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.