Perot Provisional

Bermuda’s first stamps

Bermuda’s first postage stamps were produced locally in 1848 by Hamilton postmaster William B. Perot, consisting of the words “HAMILTON BERMUDA” in a circle, with the year and Perot’s signature in the middle.

Known as the Perot provisionals and only eleven are still known to exist and The Queen has three of them.

They are among the great rarities of philately selling for up to £150,000!

A crown-in-circle design used at St. George’s in 1860, also rare, is attributed to postmaster James H. Thies.

Perot regularly noticed that the postal box contained more letters than coins, but he was unable to determine which customers were not paying. The story goes that he mentioned his plight to a neighbour, an American who told him about the postmasters’ provisionals that Virginia postmasters issued in the absence of government-authorised postage stamps.

Perot decided to issue his own by striking his circular hand stamp on a sheet of bluish paper; the resulting black inscription read ‘Hamilton’ across the top and ‘Bermuda’ across the bottom. In the centre, he removed two plugs used to denote the day and month and substituted “One penny” and his name ‘W.B. Perot’; he left the year plug intact.

Perot then cut up the sheets and, commencing on March 1, 1848, sold the stamps as prepayment of postage until 1856. It’s not known how many sheets were produced, but only 11 of the Perot 1 penny stamps in used condition are known to exist.