Johore State is on the extreme south of the Malay Peninsula near the island of Singapore. Thru a series of treaties, Johore became a semi-independent state under the Straits Settlements. Overprinted stamps of the Straits Settlements were issued beginning in 1878 until they were eventually replaced by stamps with the image of Sultan Abubakar in 1891. Upon the death of the Sultan in 1895, Sultan Ibrahim was crowned as the new Sultan. An initial set of stamps using a portrait of Sultan Ibrahim was issued in 1896. This set was replaced in 1904 with a series of stamps using a newer portrait. This portrait was used until 1941 when the Japanese captured the territory. During this time period, paper with four different watermarks was used to print the stamps, effectively creating four different collectable sets all with the same portrait of Sultan Ibrahim.

The 1922 set was printed on paper watermarked with Multiple Script CA. Since this was just a new type of paper with the same design as before, you could really call it an evolution rather than a new set of stamps. As new values were needed they were printed on this new version of the paper. Stamps were printed on paper watermarked Multiple Script CA beginning in 1922 until 1941 when the Japanese overran the Malay peninsula. After the conclusion of World War II, Straits Settlements stamps overprinted BMA were used until a new set with a new portrait of the Sultan was issued in 1949.

You can identify this set by determining the difference between Multiple Crown CA and Multiple Script CA and identifying the Thin Striated paper. The stamps watermarked Multiple Crown CA will have sans serif letters with a crown that is narrow and straight edged. The Multiple Script CA watermark has cursive letters and a crown that is more rounded. See the images of all four watermarks below for reference. They are shown as normally seen from the back.

The stamps from this set were initially printed on chalk paper. Stamps printed in the early 1940's were printed on Thin Striated Paper. According to the Commonwealth Catalogue, Thin Striated paper shows a horizontal ribbing on the surface. It is visible when held at an angle to the light. You can typically see the lines across the back of the stamp when placed against black paper and viewed under a strong lamp. The paper was used for several Colonies including a number of the Malay States during the early 1940's. The best example that you can find for this paper is the Leeward Islands 5/ (CW 11b, SG 112b). This stamp is pretty common and easily identified so it makes a good resource if you are trying to learn how to identify the Thin Striated Paper.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, definitive sets from this time period were issued very conservatively. I do not have the quantity printed, but would be interested in adding this information to this page if a fellow collector provides it.

The catalog numbers are from the 2008 Commonwealth King George VI Postage Stamp Catalogue (CW) published by Murray Payne, 2013 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue (SG) and the 2011 Scott catalog (ST). The historical details, descriptions, and dates are from "The Postage Stamps of the Federated Malay States, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, Straits Settlements, Sungei Ujong, and Trengganu" by Dr. F. E. Wood. You can access the catalogue publishers using the "Links to British Colonial Stamp Sites" at the bottom of this page.

Since the Commonwealth Catalogue only deals with King George VI issues, some of the stamp are not listed. These are identified with a CW NL listing in the table below.

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This article was written to help you identify your stamps.
Please feel free to ask a question, or include a correction.