Jal Cooper


Jal Manekji Cooper FRGS in Mumbai, was an Indian philatelist, and an expert and authenticator of the postage stamps and postal history of India. Cooper was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the author of several philatelic handbooks. He was both a stamp dealer and a collector and was associated with philatelists like C. D. Desai, N. D. Cooper, and Robson Lowe.
Cooper is occasionally but erroneously credited with having discovered the Inverted Head 4 Annas. The 1891 reprints show that this error was already known. E. A. Smythies said the error was first discovered at a meeting of the Philatelic Society of London in 1874.
The Jal Cooper Philatelic Society, in Varanasi, India, is named after him and India Post issued a 10 rupees commemorative stamp in 1997 depicting Cooper and Indian postmarks, on the occasion of INDEPEX 97.

Selected publications

Stamps of India, Bombay, 228 pp.; 2nd edition: Bombay, 226 pp; 3rd edition: Bombay, 177pp.Bhutan, Bombay Early Indian Cancellations, Bombay 92 pp.; reprint: Bombay.India Used Abroad, Western Printers and Publishers Press of Bombay 100 pp.; 2nd edition in India's Stamp Journal ; reprinted in book form from India's Stamp Journal, Bombay, 86 pages.India Used In Burma, Western Printers and Publishers Press of Bombay 67 pp.