SPECIAL COVERS

In addition to First Day Covers, the Bangladesh Postal Department prepares Special Covers, commemorating different events. These envelopes have the Post Office logo printed on the back flap, like the FDCs. Both an envelope and a commemorative postmark are created for the occasion. If the event is one being celebrated over several days, the same envelope is generally used, but there is a different commemorative postmark created for each day of the event. Inserts are generally not prepared for Special Covers. These covers and postmarks are separate from the Commemorative Postmarks and FDCs, listed elsewhere on these pages.

The Post Office Department has made many mistakes in the creation of these covers, often putting "FIRST DAY COVER" on the envelope and even using a cancelation that reads, "First Day of Issue" . As a result, many foreign collectors and dealers think some of these covers are First Day Covers.

As with the FDCs, these envelopes are sold for a minimal fee of a few Taka. These envelopes are offered at other post offices but are not very popular and the covers are seldom seen with non-Dhaka cancellations. Because of this, they must be considered rare. One purchases the envelopes, applies the relevant amount of postage (Usually the minimal acceptable amount) and then can cancel the cover him/herself.

In some instances collectors have applied the postmark to the envelope without stamps. Since they are not being sent through the mail, this poses no problem. These are certainly collectible and are often quite attractive, but covers with stamps are more desirable and sell for more than those without stamps.

A few covers are often cancelled with the canceling device more than once, with one tying the stamp to the envelope and the other to show the cancellation.

Only a few of these covers are cancelled with any color, other than the post office provided black. This listing will indicate the known colors found to date. Often only a few (2 - 19) were made in a particular color. It is not possible to indicate the numbers of such as there were no records kept by those making them, and they were not considered of any great importance. Like the FDCs, once collectors are aware of their existence, there will most likely be a demand for them.

As with the FDCs, the envelopes come in a variety of sizes. However, they are not found in the extremely large sizes like some of the FDCs.

Since these covers all exist with Dhaka postmarks, I have only listed the names of the other cities where covers are known to exist.

1973

28 February - "Bangladesh in UPU". This cachet states "FIRST DAY COVER" in English. The covers exist with Bangladesh stamps and Pakistani stamps. Covers also known from: Khulna.

1977

3 February - "Bangladesh 2nd National Scout Rally at Rangpur". The top cover must be a presentation cover as the paper is much whiter and of better quality than the majority of covers. Both illustrations are from Dhaka, with the cover directly above having no stamps, only the cancellation.

21 February - "25th Anniversary of Language Movement". Cachet is totally in Bengali. Covers also known from: Bogra, Chittagong, Rajshahi.

19 November - "Aga Khan Gold Cup Football Tournament 1977". Cachet has "FDC" printed on it, plus a generic "FIRST DAY OF ISSUE". The cancellation is known in black and purple from Dacca.

1978

6 February - "COMPHILEX - 1978". The show and cancellation are from Comilla, Bangladesh.

20 March - "Seminar on Human & Natural Resources in the Islamic World". Note that two different cancellations exist. The one from the Parliament Post Office was mos where the converence was held. Such post offices at events are referred to as "Camp Post Offices".

5 October - "20th Asian Youth Football Tournament".

1981

22 November - "5th Asian Junior Chess". This is not a FDC even though it states such on the envelope and has a "FIRST DAY OF ISSUED" cancellation. Covers also exist for this event with Hotel Purbani Camp. P.O. cancellation.

1982

19 January - "46th Birth Anniversary of Ziaur Rahman". This is an odd cover due to the choice of photograph, plus it is cancelled in 1982, but the cachet reads 1981. There is no explanation in English what event is being commemorated..
Covers also known from B. Baria (purple), Chittigong and Manikganj.

• This is the type of item that poses tremendous problems for collectors. Someone put the cancellation for the Special Cover on an aerogramme. For Special Covers, one wants to collect both the cacheted envelope and the cancellation on the same envelope. No one collects the cancellations separately. This is not one of the Special Postmarks issued by the Postal Department. It is the cancellation that goes with the Special Cover.
  

7 November - "National Solidarity Day". No English to identify the event.
Covers also known from: Chittagong

1983

26 February - "1000th Birth Anniversary Atisa Dipankar Srijnan".
Covers also known from: Chittagong, Sylhet (purple)

Unissued 28 - 30 March - "Fourth Meeting of Foreign Secretaries of the South Asian Region".

9 August - "Inauguration of Khulna G.P.O.". The above covers are from Chittagong and Dhaka. The Post Office logo on the back of the cover is not centered as most are. The cancelation states it is a "First Day Cover", which is not accurate.
Covers also known from: Bogra, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, and Sylhet (purple)

1984

13 - 15 May - "First Bangladesh National Philatelic Exhibition 1984". The same cachet exists for the three day, but is a different color for each day (13th blue-green, 14th dark green and 15th dark yellow). Additionally, there is a different postmark for each day. Covers also exist with Camp P.O. cancellation.

28 July - "PHILEX 84".

28 - 29 December - "KHULNAPEX 84", Awards Day and Philatelist Day at Khulna stamp exhibition. Most of the covers were cancelled with no stamps, therefore covers with stamps are much more valuable. Additonally the upper cancellation is very difficult to find.

1985

20 January - "2nd Asia Cup Hockey, Dhaka 1985". Note the differences in the color of the cachet between Dhaka (black) and Chittagong (brown). The brown color is totally different. The Post Office logo on the back is black on the black cover and brown on the brown cover.
Covers also known from: Chittagong. The black cover is most likely a trial printing of the cachet and was used by someone.

30 January - "Postal Museum Inaugural"/ This cover was canceled without placing a stamp on the envelope, whcih makes the cancellation easy to see. Covers like this would not be posted, just cancelled and taken by the collector. While such covers are collectible, they are less desirable for most collectors and cost less.

11 April - "Philex '85/Prize Distribution Ceremony of 2nd Letter Writing Competition of South Asian Countries". Another cover without a stamp, but a nice impression of the cancellation.

• Purple cancellation from Chittagong at the top , Rajshahi below with black cancellation. Dhaka below.

16 October - "World Food Day 1985".
Covers also known from: Chittagong (purple), Rajshahi (black)

24 December - "International Year of Forest - 1985".

1986

23 January - "Postal Academy Inauguration".
Cover also known from Rajshahi.

11 May - "CARE: 40th Anniversary 1946 - 1986". An insert in the form of a long bifolded piece of paper, printed in blue, was created for this issue. It was not printed by the Bangladesh Post Office, but privately done, most likely for the UN. On the back at the bottom in small print it states "Photo Compose[sic.] and Printed by BRAC Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh"

29 - 31 July - "Philex '86". Note that the Post Office logo is not centered on the back of the envelope, as it is in all other covers created by them for this event. Three different cancellations exist, one for each day of the event.

9 October - "World Post Day". Another cover with no stamp.

22 December - "Introduction of Post Code".

1987

11 January - "Opening of First Nuclear Reactor".

11 - 13 March - "PHILEX - 87". Three different cancellations, one for each day of the event. The cover issustration is for March 11th.

• This cover, while issued for World Health Day, has a stamp related to the cachet, but the stamp was issued the same day, making it a FDC as well. The cover exists with other Bangladesh stamps on it.

7 April - "World Health Day".

1988

26 February - "Golden Jubilee Rotary Club of Dhaka".
Covers also known from: Sonargaon Camp P.O.

7 April - "World Health Day"

18 June - "Post GIRO Workshop". Covers also known from: Chittagong

23 June - "International SOS Children's Village Day".
Covers also know from: Chittagong (purple)

18 - 20 December - "PABEX '88". The same envelope and cancellation, was used for all three days, but different dates in the cancellation.

1989

• Above are the three varieties of this envelope. The scarcest of the three is the one with the smaller logo. Also note that the logo and writing is in one color, whereas the larger logo and writing is in red and blue.

7 April "World Health Day". Three different varieties of this cover exist: 1) with no Post Office logo on the back envelope flap and no writing on the back of the envelope; and with two different sizes of logo - 2) 11 mm; and 3) 15 mm.

24 June - "SOS Children's Village".

1 July - "Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, 1979 - 1989". Covers also known from: Chittagong (purple)

1 November - "10th Anniversary of the International Year of Child".
Covers also known from :Chittagong (abbreviated as CTG.)
The bottom cover is a privately produced cover.

8 December - "1989 The Year Against Drug Abuse". The above cover has a purple cancellation. Most were done in black.

13 - 16 December - "PHILEX '89". The same envelope was used for each day, with a different cancellation for each day of the event. The envelope states that it was a three day event, but it was extended an extra day and covers were cancelled for that date with a regular postal cancellation as no additional cancellation had been made. Many people do not realize that the fourth day cover exists. It is the same envelope as the other three and is illustrated above

16 December - "Golden Anniversary of Radio Bangladesh".
Covers also known from: Chittagong

27 December - "4th Bangladesh National Scout Jamaboree '89".
Also known from: Mouchak Camp P.O..

Special Covers 1990 - 1999

Special Covers 2000 - Present

Commemorative Postmarks with Privately Printed Cachets

Commemorative 1980 - Present

Commemorative Postmarks

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