Like many collectors, I tend to lump all stamps of the Emirates under the label "WALLPAPER" stamps, which dominates the flood of stamps one commonly sees and which spans roughly the period of 1965-72. There were some good discussions here in the discussion board in 2019 (keyword search Trucial states, or Dune Countries)

For those who wonder, around 10,000 dubious stamps were issued as listed below:



This post avoids to cover these "Wallpapers".

I noticed that Scott now provides some limited coverage of the early era, which avoids the illegitimate period of the Wallpaper Stamps, and after going through an analysis of the area and its stamps for my own collection focus, I have succeeded in organizing my pre-Wallpaper Era stamps. I thought I would share, for those interested, so here are some pointers:

The UAE or EMIRATES is a country at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering on Oman, Saudi Arabia and the sea. It is an elective monarchy consisting of a Federation of seven emirates (and their dependences): Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain.

In 1961, stamps were issued under the Trucial States Name. This was followed by stamps of Abu Dhabi after 1964 which continued until 1972.

At the same time, the other Emirates issues their own stamps from 1964-65+ (now covered in Scott), issuing around 100 stamps each before the flood of Wallpaper stamps.
Abu Dhabi and to a lesser degree Dubai are the exception as they issued about 200 stamps from 1964-1972 and escaped (most but not all) the wallpapers flood that dominated the rest of the Emirates, and also Yemen and Oman geographically next door.
After 1972, ALL the legitimate Emirates stamps were replaced by those of the United Arab Emirates.

For those interested, here is a document reflecting the reaction of some emirates after they discovered the flood of stamps, and plenty more has been written on the subject: http://www.ohmygosh.on.ca/stamps/fujaira ...

Now the legitimate stamps of the Emirates for pre-1965 period seem to have a common feel to them with series of stamps (including semi postals and postage dues) with the portrait of each Emir, as well as various amimals (mamals, birds and fish) and a number of topical subjects for the period such as Kennedy, Tokyo Olmpics, London Philatelic Exhibit. As such they offer a more manageable collecting target than with the wallpapers, and are all post office issued by the local authorities. Most of them are quite inexpensive, but there are also some harder to get imperforated sets. Few are on covers.

I will post just a few scans to illustrate, but if one is interested in collecting this area, I hope this will help you separate the legitimate and Wallpaper "junk" and focus your collection.(Junk: my opinion....I remember getting in trouble for saying so about someone selling the stamps). (By the way, I still have a lot of Wallpapers if anyone needs to redecorate a room, or fill some topical subjects in their collection, just message me)

rrr...
(sample scans to follow)

re: Making sense of the stamps of the EMIRATES Sheikhdoms under British Protection

rrraphy

Just to set the record straight, the "dubious" stamps you call "Wallpaper" and imply are not legitimate stamps can be found on registered covers that were actually mailed to the USA with receiving back cancels. They were accepted by the US post office and delivered as any other letter from a foreign country.

Here is one such cover from my collection from Fujeira. There are many others for sale eBay.

Linus

re: Making sense of the stamps of the EMIRATES Sheikhdoms under British Protection

Hi Linus: Re

Yes it is true that you can find covers with US back cancels, but most if not all covers were the result of cooperative scams between disreputable dealers, and local post office workers in foreign countries, printers and bribed personnel, and not necessarily issued where the cancelation indicated. The stamps were not issued by the Emirate Post Offices agencies to start with, and most likely never sent from there. Just read about the incredible layers of fraud that came to the surface when they were detected and the legal tanglements that resulted: http://www.ohmygosh.on.ca/stamps/fujaira ... There are other papers as well on the subject.

I have been criticized before for making comments about other's Wallpaper items for sale, or making unkind remarks. Without being personal, I don't think any such covers are legitimate. (that does not make them unfit for collecting though). I would love to see ONE legitimate certified such cover, by a reputable expert house anywhere, although I admit it is possible.

Let me quote from the official government of Fujeira's Post office:

By the way, the Middle East Stamp company of Lebanon was connected to many more dubious schemes, and I should have somewhere more material to share, if interested.

Most likely, the cancels are fake, affixed to covers that (quite likely) never truly left the Emirates. And the stamps are fake as well. Sounds like Ebay is the perfect place to sell them!
That some covers may show cancelation markings at reception from legitimate US post offices is perfectly understandable, but does not detract from what was stated. I guess from a curiosity stand point this makes for interesting reading!

rrr...

re: Making sense of the stamps of the EMIRATES Sheikhdoms under British Protection

rrraphy

Thank you for the information. I had shown these covers on another forum and was met with Michel catalog numbers for the stamps, leading me to believe they had actually been mailed. Nobody said they were fakes. Now I know the rest of the story.

People are bidding on this type of cover on eBay all the time, and they actually sell quite well. Check the SOLD listings for "Fujeira cover."

What was the last legitimate stamp issue for Fujeira? Is the current Scott Catalogue, correct?

Just wondering,

Linus

re: Making sense of the stamps of the EMIRATES Sheikhdoms under British Protection

Linus:

I don't know. I suspect the Scott catalog is incomplete. But I don't really know.
For a long time I just avoided the "Dunes" Emirates completely , and it is only recently that I decided to put my collection in an album, limiting myself to those listed in Scott. I wanted to give legitimate stamps a place in my Middle East Collection. I was drawn by the legitimate stamps as well as the presence of "Wallpaper stamps in Dubai, Oman and Yemen...areas I collect.

so, the UAE. This came about because I have a fairly complete collection of Yemen, and Yemen was hit by a similar flood of "spurious" stamps in the late 1960s. But curiously Scott eventually began to provide coverage, and I laid my hands on an old Minkus album, which had pages provided for many (if not all) the "wallpaper" stamps. This became a personal focus, just for the fun of it, and it has proven quite a challenge as many stamps are offered in Sheets, with differing colored borders, perforated and imperforated, and with S/S as well, perfporated and imperforated as well.
Let me add that Yemen is a particularly complicated challenge with:
1. Imamate of Yemen (1926-1963), 2. Yemen Arab Republic (1963-1990), 3. Yemen Mutawakeite Kingdom (1926-1970), 4. Yemen People Democratic republic (1971-90) and 5. Yemen (1990-->)
It may even be more complicated with Aden, and Southern Yemen, and also with the "Wallpapers issued by non governmental Operations pretending to be Yemen or the Kindom. I have only focused on Yemen (1 and 2) and stop at 1970. I can share some of the material if there are interested members, privately, or here in the discussion board.

This just to say, that while I personally snub and sneere at the "Wallpapers", I can be faulted to collect some of them, just for the "fun of it" (and for self inflicting pain).

rrr...