World Stamps

Kingdom of Sedang local post stamps have great appeal

Jan 22, 2025, 8 AM
Local post stamps of the Kingdom of Sedang are of interest to cinderella stamp collectors and collectors of France and area, French Indochina and Vietnam. Beware of forgeries. A genuine stamp is at left; a forgery is at right.

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

Cinderella stamps (stamplike labels) are highly collectible in their own right, but some have great appeal for general and specialist area collectors. The seven stamps issued by the Kingdom of Sedang are among these.

Sedang was established by the French filibusterer Marie-Charles David de Mayrena (1842-90) in what is today part of Vietnam. His career as an oriental potentate was remarkably similar to that of the Russian adventurer in Ethiopia, Nickolay Stepanovich Leontiev (1862-1910), who claimed the Ethiopian title of Count of Abai.

Mayrena was a former French official who owned a plantation in French Indochina. In 1888 the king of Siam began claiming territory that the French considered part of their fiefdom. Mayrena persuaded the French colonial administration to send him to negotiate treaties for the French government with the Bahnar, Rengao and Sedang tribes.

Once on the scene, Mayrena instead sold the tribes on the idea of forming an independent kingdom with him as King Marie I of Sedang. In 1888 he commissioned a set of seven postage stamps for his kingdom. These are local post stamps (a type of cinderella) and are not listed in the Scott catalogs. These stamps are of interest to cinderella stamp collectors as well as collectors of France and area, French Indochina and Vietnam.

In 1889 Mayrena left his kingdom to interest France, Britain, Prussia or Belgium in annexing or exploiting the area under conditions that would enrich him. A Belgian financier proved the most interested and supplied him with arms and money in exchange for the mineral rights to his kingdom. However, the French Navy seized the arms as contraband and refused to allow him to reenter the country. King Marie I of Sedang died under mysterious circumstances, probably by poisoning, on Nov. 11, 1890, in Malaya.

According to Focus on Forgeries by Varo Tyler, the stamps of Sedang were forged in 1889, almost before the ink was dry on the genuine stamps. The forgeries were produced by French banker and businessman Dorsan Astrue and sold in great quantity to stamp dealers.

Fortunately, the forgeries are easily detected. According to Tyler, “Four values expressed in two words fail to include a hyphen between the words. Two fingers on the hand on the right of the coat of arms clearly touch the frameline. In the word ‘SEDANG,’ the ‘E’ has virtually no serifs, and the triangle in the upper part of the ‘A’ is too large.”

If you are interested in acquiring this fascinating set of stamps, you might be advised to seek them from a specialist dealer. Of the 17 lots offered as of early January on eBay at prices ranging up to $130, all are obvious forgeries. A complete set of seven genuine stamps did sell not long ago for about $85. Caveat emptor.

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