Along with many other nations of the world, Dubai commemorated the one hundredth anniversary of the Red Cross in 1963. Since the Islamic equivalent of the Red Cross is the Red Crescent, there are no red crosses portrayed on the stamps, only the red crescent.
This is the first commemorative issue of the country after the June 15th definitive, airmail and postage due sets. Mr. Mosden told me that for no reason, other than to sell stamps, they were released perforated 12, 10 ½, imperforate, and roulette (4 1/2mm). In addition to these four varieties, four miniature sheets, each containing a block of four stamps in changed colors, exists imperforate and roulette.
Mr Stephan gave me the following quantities printed for each of the perforated 12 and imperforated stamps:
1np through 4np - 125,000 of each of the four values (regulars)
20np through 50np - 25,000 of each of the four values (airmails)
Taking into consideration the other information he provided regarding later Dubai issues under his guidance, one must deduct the following from the above quantities:
1,000 sets of imperforated, later perforated 10 ½, and another 1,000 imperforated sets later rouletted..
He claimed that when they later released the same set, but overprinted ANTI-TUBERCULOSE, on 1 October, 1964, the following stamps were used:
5,000 sets of the high value airmail values perforated 12
2,000 sets of the airmail values imperforated
2,000 sets of all eight values roulette
The imperforates and roulettes had to have been made from the original quantity of imperforates as only one thousand rouletted stamps had been made for the Red Cross issue. His figures do not mention any of the perforated 10 ½ stamps.
In addition to the above stamps, one must deduct another 1,000 2np and 1,000 3np stamps from the perforated 12 stamps. These were used to create the provisional stamps on 21 January, 1964. He had written that 10,000 of each value had been used, but several years later when questioned about the issue told me that the figure should have been 1,000 of each. This figure is closer to the truth as they are probably the scarcest of the stamps under his contract..
After doing the math, according to Mr. Stephan’s information, we have the following quantities that exist as the Red Cross/Crescent issue:
Perf. 12 Imperf. Perf. 10 1/2 Roulette
Regulars
1np - 125,000 123,000 1,000 1,000
2np - 124,000 123,000 1,000 1,000
3np - 124,000 123,000 1,000 1,000
4np - 125,000 123,000 1,000 1,000
Airmail
20np - 20,000 19,000 1,000 1,000
30np - 20,000 19,000 1,000 1,000
40np - 20,000 19,000 1,000 1,000
50np - 20,000 19,000 1,000 1,000
There is no question that these figures are meaningless The postal announcement for the stamps gives different quantites and does not mention any perforations, imperforates, roulettes or souvenir sheets.
The ANTI-TUBERCULOSE overprint exists on all varieties and all values.
Mr. Mosden claimed Mr. Stephan reprinted the Red Cross set, without the government knowing about it, and sold them to the firm of Fatoullah and Lazar, a New York wholesaler for new issues. He stated the firm had worked through Mr. Kurt Weishaupt to get this set, and others reprinted to buy at a cheaper price than Mosden's. Mr. Mosden was the agent for North America and he stated Mr. Stephan went behind his back without his knowledge and made the sale.
What is not known is exactly what Mr. Stephan provided in terms of varieties and quantities. When I contacted the firm I was told that Mr. Fatoullah had passed away and their records for that period had been destroyed and no one could help me.
Mr. Stephan reported that 10,000 sets of the souvenir sheets, each containing a block of four stamps, exists imperforated and rouletted. From this quantity he stated 1,000 of the rouletted and 2,000 of the imperforated sheets were overprinted ANTI-TUBERCULOSE. That would leave 7,000 sheets for the Red Cross/Crescent issue. There is no information regarding the possibility of the sheets having been reprinted.
