Recently, I found my long "lost" biscuit tin of stamps that I collected in my teens. In it are mostly stamps cut from envelopes by my sister who was working in the local forestry department in Sandakan. It is a treasure trove of postmarks of 1971. It is not fully comprehensive but does contain some fairly uncommon postmarks.
The postmarks shown here in consecutive order are Tambunan, Tuaran, Membakut, Bandau, Tenom, Kota Belud, Ranau, Tamparuli, Lahad Datu, Railway TPO 1, Beaufort, Papar, Tanjong Aru, Keningau, Semporna and Tawau. The common ones like Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Labuan and Kudat are not shown. Tambunan and Membakut are the most difficult ones here I think.
Kunak postmarks could not be that common and this is a page full of them including some nice multiples. It is situated on the south eastern coast on the road between between Tawau and Lahad Datu on its way to Sandakan. The area was previously known as Mostyn. Kunak had a thriving local timber extraction industry in those days which resulted in frequent correspondence with the main forestry office which was in Sandakan. In the early 1970s, it was mainly a timber camp and a few shops. Nowadays there is hardly any forest there after been overwhelmed by the oil palm plantations. There is also cocoa which the Mostyn Estate was known for together with hemp. Hemp cultivation is probably not current but it was depicted on the 4c purple stamps of 1950 and 1954. The area is also known for its thriving fishing industry.
Among the many hundreds of stamps in the tin, there were some which I set aside years ago. They include these colour variations which are not classify as far as I know. 1971 was a transitional year from the much better printed orchid issue to that of the butterflies on glossy paper. It is a nightmare trying to find a good postmark on the butterfly issue as the ink did not stick well. It tended to be faint or smudged. And the postmarks were changed in the major towns to a smaller and more mean less attractive version as seen above on the 6c stamps.
Not many of these flimsy registered receipts survive in the damp hot conditions of the far east, I think. They are collectible. These two show the transit from English to Malay on official stationary. You can see my KK Airport post office receipt here.
There were only a few North Borneo stamps in this tin but this pair of 1954 10c has the "extra chimney" variety on the upper stamp which is present once on a sheet of 100 at the top of the right hand corner ie R1/10. The postdate of 26 NOV 1957 implies that this variety is also present in later printings of this stamp. We know it was originally in the first printing because I have 2 first day covers with this variety.
Update
I might as well include the very uncommon Kuala Penyu cancellation. It is shown here with the cancels from Ranua and Kota Belud. They were all from 1964 when the Sabah Malaysia cancellations were first used in July.
Update
I might as well include the very uncommon Kuala Penyu cancellation. It is shown here with the cancels from Ranua and Kota Belud. They were all from 1964 when the Sabah Malaysia cancellations were first used in July.
