Some postmarks on the 1889-1892 low values P&R issue

There is quite a variety of town as well fiscal cancellations on this issue, some of which are very uncommon or rare such as the Silam Post Office intaglio cancellation.

The most common town cancel originated from Kudat followed by Sandakan. Some were used late at Jesselton. Gayah is sought after but not uncommon.

Both these Elopura P cancelled stamps were dated from 1890. I believe that the Elopura cancel became a fiscal cancel after it became redundant for postal use. The Elopura cds was correctly used on cover rather than on the stamps. Here, I think it indicated that the 10c stamp were initially used fiscally before it were issued for postal use in 1891. The 5c was in use by 1889.

The Gayah cancellation can be found on all values of this set of stamps but an almost complete cds on a pair of stamps like this is hard to find. On the other hand, a GAYA (without the H) cancel would be rare on this set.

Kudat As are normally seen but a Kudat D5 with the Maltese Cross on the 10c blue is not commonly seen on this set.

Surprisingly, I only have one stamp of this issue with a Labuan postal cancellation even though I have a few dozens of other North Borneo stamps with either a cds or a bar cancel from Labuan. The 10c blue has the Received at Labuan fiscal cancellation with a partial date of (NO)V 94.

This is the magnificent Silam Post Office intaglio cancel in blue and is quite uncommon on these stamps. Was this on a postcard to GB or other distant UPU countries? 6c was the postcard rate after July 1891.

The Sandakan 14 bar cancel when applied centrally like this is quite likely to be postal rather than CTO which were usually applied at the corner of the stamp.

This is the modified form of the Sandakan 14 bar cancellation. It is uncommon to find a red Sandakan cds on the same stamp which increases its desirability significantly.

This should be the 17 bar cancellation from Sandakan. There are more than 14 bars seen on this stamp.

This the 19 bar cancellation in greenish blue and with a hint of a red cds at the left lower edge which would have indicated that the 19 bar cancel was from Sandakan.

A mixed franking on piece with the 14 bar cancellation in blue from Sandakan. The original envelope would have cost a good tidy sum of money. 

There are also various official fiscal cancellations on this set of stamps and I also find the Chinese manuscript cancels very interesting. The bottom item has a Kudat cds as well.

I have updated the half cent write-up with a full Carame sheet that I bought last weekend. You can see it by clicking here.