“Budget Letter Card” sent by General Baber Shumser to Singha Durbar, Kathmandu

1⁄2 Anna black (No 23), setting 1-5,

earliest clear impression

Typical pen-cancellation of the 1⁄2 Anna stamp.

“Budget Letter Cards” were sold in 1897 by Langley Stationers, London.


The 1/2 Anna rate could be the rate for a postcard,
However the pen-cancellation is consistent with the use from a Royal Camp.
So more likely the full folded letter card was mailed at the
reduced “royal camp” rate than the postcard rate as Singer believed
(Singer, A.E.: Nepal 1772-1961 and beyond, Santa Monica 1997, p. 124).