Labuan 1894 2c and 3c pictorials with re-entries

 

Recently, I saw some Labuan stamps on Ebay with re-entries. Looking through my spares, I found these two. In re-entries, one sees extra lines or features due to repairs done to a worn plate used in the printing of the stamps. Most of them seem rather trivial but for these 2 particular stamps they are definitely more striking and obvious.

There are extra lines to the right of the deer's antlers in this picture, more obvious on the lower part. 

Here in this part of the stamp, extra lines which are quite prominent extend all the way right to the tip of the deer's antlers. In addition, the lines on the upper outline the deer's ear are also duplicated.

According to the Stamps and Postal History of North Borneo book 2, these re-entries are present on stamps 4, 5, 9 and 75. The pattern seen on this stamp is in keeping with stamp 4. 

There are 4 parts to a line which is seen to the right of the sago tree trunk which extends to below the right lower branch of the plant. There are re-entries on stamps 10, 72 and 80. This is either 10 or 80 which are both very similar.

Here, we can see the same re-entries for the overprinted Jubilee issue as well as the 1897 issue using the same printing plates, to save printing cost for the BNB company.

Japanese Showa stamps used in Northern Borneo during early occupation

 

An advantage of being an UK member of the Sarawak Specialists Society is the circulating packet. I do not normally collect JO nowadays but the following items were offered at irresistible prices. The non overprinted Showa stamps were mainly in use from 1 October 1942 alongside the 1 line overprints which were issued in limited quantities. Eventually, they were withdrawn and their use was largely replaced by the April 1943 Meiji issue of 4c and 8c stamps. And after that the 3 line overprinted North Borneo 1939 stamps came out in September 1944 and also the available supplies of the Showa issue were overprinted for use very soon after. 

5 April 1943

This 1s brown block of 4 depicts harvesting. It has the Proud Sibu JD1 with a date 5-4-18 in the Japanese regnal format which is the same as 5-4-1943. This box date type cancellation was in use from October 1942 and was then gradually replaced from June 1943 with a non boxed date in 3 lines. You can see a good example of this later type from Belait by clicking the link here.

6 November 1942

This 3s green showing a power station has the regnal date of 6-11-17 which is actually 6-11-1942, an early date of use for this Showa issue. The town origin is not visible and it is possible that these came from a CTO sheet. 

24 April 1943

4s green showing Admiral Tojo including a pair used on piece with the box date of 24-4-18 but without evidence of the town of origin.

This is the 2c red of General Nogi. Again, a partial cancellation of the bottom half of the cancellation with no trace of the town of origin. 

1944

This overprinted 2s on piece has part of the second type of JO cancellation. The Japanese dynastic year 2604 can be seen and this translates to 1944. 

? 6 December 1942

This non overprinted 1s has what is described as an "English cancel". The immediately prewar NB cancels were all double ringed. So a Sarawak town would be the most likely origin. The closest one in Proud's book is the one from Lawas but it is not a dead certainty but the date of December 1942 would be compatible.

December 1942

I thought I might as well include these non overprinted NB stamps which continued to be used for a short while after 1 October 1942 when the first JO stamps were issued. Before that date, both the NB 1939 issue and the War Tax overprints as well as non overprinted Sarawak and Brunei stamps were used with 1942 "English" cancellations. But these 2 here with the first type JO cancels are more uncommon. 

Some Fournier forgeries

Francois Fournier (1846-1917) made some good North Borneo forgeries. But with a trained eye they can be spotted. There is a good case for collecting these facsimiles besides curiosity. 

These 2 were based on the 1883 high values. The most obvious discrepancy is the tone paper. The designs are quite hard texture and the lion bears no resemblance to the real animal. Invariably, they will also have the forged Sandakan cancel 23 JUN 1886. I do not think I have seen this cancel on genuine North Borneo stamps because doing so would invalidate his claim that he was only making facsimiles.

This is the forgery of the 1894 $1 dollar stamp again with the same 1886 cancel but this time making sure not to reveal the year which would make it an impossible combination. The design and the paper is a lot better. One would be fooled on casual examination. Again look at the lion in the shield. It has a straight tail and resembles a dog rather than a lion. The second example is a proof print with "faux" chop for false.

North Borneo 1922 MBE proof overprint in blue

Just a short one this  time to supplement all the other MBE posts on this blog. You can search for them using the facility on the top upper left of the page.

The 1922 MBE overprints were carried out locally at the Government Printing Office at Sandakan. This facility was located just next to town jail near to Buli Sim Sim. This one is in blue of which I have only seen one example. The other one is in red. The overprint here is perfect unlike the many other errors including one where the O is more rounded. This was probably the typeface of the numeral zero used in mistake. This error is not listed.   

Some Labuan errors and varieties

 

I posted the following items in the Sarawak Journal recently. It might be helpful to share them here with readers who are not members of SSS. One of the most interesting aspect of the art of philately is the discovery and identification of errors, flaws and imperfections.

Missing Right Foot of Chinese Character

Missing Dot in Jawi Inscription

The stamp on the left with the dot present on has a subtle double surcharge. The inverted surcharge without the dot has the more uncommon 1mm setting in comparison to the 2mm setting on the left stamp. This is apparently quite uncommon on used stamps and yet to be seen on a cover.

Short Tail and Missing Stroke on the 1892-93 and 1894 10c

 No Dot in Jawi at Upper Left 6c

Specimen 1894 lithograph issue

1902 25c Error of Colour

Error of central vignette in black on right stamp only found CTO

1899 Double Overprint

Two sheets of hundred received a double surcharge.

Christmas Island D2 cancellations

 

As a sideline I am always on the look out for cancellations from Christmas and Cocos Islands. They are not common and also quite popular which means they fetch good money. I have written a little about Christmas Is before and I shall not repeat myself. You can click on this link if  you are interested. There are 3 date variations here.

Date 14 JU 1907, inverted month and day

Date 12 J 1906, normal sequence

Indigo cancellation, date OC 16 19??, reversed month and day

Train mail registration covers

Just something more to share. These covers are relatively modern being 50-60 years old but not easy to come by. If readers are interested in train related topics on this blog, use the search facility on the top left hand corner and type in "train" and peruse the results.

This is the 20c First Class Airmail rate to Malaya and Singapore plus another 25c for registration. It was dated 25 JUL 61 and cancelled by Train Mail D10 and the R3 registration cachet. Proud gives a range of 16.1.61-15.9.63 for this cachet. The cover originated from Membakut.

This was dated 31MAR72 by a faint Railway TPO 1 cancellation at the inclusive rate of 75c. There are transit cancels through Kota Kinabalu and a Johore arrival cancel.  It has the K. Kinabalu-Tenom TPO 1 registration cachet. This is earlier than the EDS of 21FEB73 stated by Eric Jefferies in the Sarawak Journal in 1993.  The cover originated from Kg Kawang near Papar.

North Borneo 1951 Annual Report

North Borneo 1950 Annual Report