North Borneo Stamps

Sarawak Bogus Stamps

2012-02-25T13:56:00.005Z

Sarawak Bogus Stamps

People like occasional lies to brighten up the days, provided that they know the truth. There are always makers, takers and fakers around, but a totally bogus issue not resembling the original issue is quite rare. Hitler once said that if you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed...This might be the prime motivation of the original issuer.

These interesting issues of bogus Sarawak stamps appeared in ebay recently with decent ending prices. The seller explicitly mentioned that they are bogus or Cinderella stamps, and yet people still bid for them. The reason is that although they are outright bogus and carry no real philatelic significance, they are quite uncommon and therefore of some interests to Sarawak collectors.

According to W.R. Forrester-Wood, several values have been recorded: 2c (green), 3c (blue), 4c (sepia), 5c (vermillion), and 10c (mauve). Other known values include 25c., 50c., and $1. The issue is printed on smooth white wove paper and perforated 11.5.

Design

The stamps depict two sailing vessels: a 3-masted schooner on the left side and a native boat on the right. The background is a mountainous coastline. The stamp consists of a monocolour deisgn, with the value typographed in black. The top frame is inscribed with "SARAWAK" and the bottom frame is inscribed "POSTAGE (value) CENTS". The side frames consist of two pillars surmounted by shileds of arabic (Jawi?) and Chinese writings. The middle pillar bears a diamond-shaped device containing a crescent below and a five-pointed star above.

The stamps may be cancelled with bogus cancellations or remain as mints.

The year of issue remains an unsolved mystery. Perhaps the Sarawak collectors can provide some input...

Ebay Reviews the Last few weeks

2012-02-17T16:14:00.004Z

Introduction

Looking back in ebay several weeks ago, many interesting items appeared. It is apparent that demand for good quality and rare stamps from this country remains strong and shows no sign of abating anytime soon. It is likened to the unstoppable rise of the Chinese stamps in recent years. The most recent Stanley Gibbons catalogue of 2012 documents this quite clearly with many British Borneo (N. Borneo, Sarawak, Labuan and Brunei) show significant increase in catalogue pricing compared to, for example, Straits Settlement and other traditional 'philatelic' countries.

Here's some of the more interesting stuffs that I think worth having a second look:

1. Kudat D2

This interesting Kudat cancel yielded a finishing price of £95.88 after 7 bids. Appeared and ended in ebay on 15.01.2012. The date is "A 6 FE 1890". We know that there are many varieties on the Kudat D2 postmark, for example (a) The year code is strucked in two digits from 01.01.1894; (b) The time code (which is either A or P) invariably omitted from about 09.06.1895; and (c) Usually strucked in blue ink from about 10.03.1894 to 09.06.1895.

This Kudat D2 postmark however, only bears the first two digits of the year plug. As can be seen, the year is completed with a pen, making it 1890. This is not documented in Proud's postal history book. I'm not sure of the relative rarity of such a cancellation but surely, varieties are the spice of life and my guess is that it's not terribly common at all.

2. Royal Dutch Airlines (K.L.M) via Singapore / via Alor Setar

Registered mail from Sandakan to England carried by the Royal Dutch Airline (K.L.M) in 1936 via Singapore. The rate is 75 cents franked with 10c, 16c, 24c and 25c stamps of 1926-28 issue. Registration fee in 1936 to all destinations was 15c. The KLM service to Great Britain was 60 cents, making the overall cost of sending a registered letter using this service to Britain to be 75c. Ended on 13.01.12 in ebay at £280.

Apart from the usual delivery, mails were accepted for airmail transmission via KLM by 1932. A postal notice published in 1932 stated that all letters for this service was to bear a special "BY AIR MAIL" blue label.

This interesting cover appeared in ebay and ended on 29.01.12 with a final price of £348. The cover is franked with Straits Settlement stamps of 50c. and 5c. (55c.) and cancelled Labuan 17 May 1934. Sent to Wales.

The cover is also inscribed in red ink, "By Royal Dutch Air Lines, KLM. Singapore - Alor Setar - London service". Affixed with the blue airmail label required for all KLM flights.

3. Labuan SG12 6c. on 16c. blue

Nice Labuan stamp with two upright surcharge of "6" cents in dim red ink. Cancelled with dotted Labuan K1 cancel in red, somewhat concealing the surcharges. This stamp was listed in ebay and ended on 12.02.2012 at US$385.00 after 15 bids.

4. Registered Jesselton 1928 cover with Jesselton GPO and R10 marks

This magnificient cover appeared in ebay on 7 Feb 2012 and ended after 10 days with a suprisingly 'low' final price of €266!

The cover is franked with 10 stamps (1c.x 3; 2c. x 2; 3c. x 3 and 4c. x 2) i.e. 24 cents, all cancelled with the rare Jesselton R10 (in use from 22.02.28 - 10.12.30) dated 7 AUG 1928. Note also of the faint Jesselton GPO mark at the left lower corner. White Jesselton registration label is affixed on the lower left.

At the back shows a myriad of other cancellations including three red wax seals. The one on the right shows a nice imprint of the North Borneo coats of arms. The Singapore registration mark shows a date of 13 AU 1928. The Jesselton R10 cancel on this cover is black compared to Patrick Cassels' collection auction 2008 (No. 278) which bears a violet ink.

5. Bandau postmark on Malaysia FDC

This FDC is expensive because of the postmark. I doubt it would reach its final price of US$63 if usual cancellation was applied. Bandau postmark was used, according to Proud, from 11.12.1962 to approx. 15.09.63. Very little is known about Bandau as a town and incidentally if you google 'Bandau' it will show another village in Germany.

6. Sadong cancel on Sarawak Postal Stationery

Now a little bit of interesting Sarawak item. This one is a 3-cents postal stationery of Sarawak, addressed to Singapore. The most interesting part is of course the rare "SADONG" D2 postmark dated 29 Nov 1899. Ended at a stagerring final price of US$ 611.67 after 13 bids!

The postal stationery is Sarawak's first postal stationery, which was only produced after the country joined the U.P.U in 1897. It bears a 3-cents value showing the Rajah's face (believed to be from a photo taken when he was 57 years old). Sadong as a post office was opened in the early 1890s but was later transferred to Simunjan in 1937.

Japanese P.O.W Correspondence Ronald C. Killick

2012-02-10T00:21:00.001Z

Japanese P.O.W Correspondence - Ronald C. Killick

As the world's largest flea market, ebay is definetely the best place not only to buy that elusive rare stuffs but also serves as a treasure trove to understand, appreciate and learn history. Last month in January several Borneo P.O.W correspondences were auctioned in ebay. Although not as thrilling as, for example, Agnes Keith's POW correspondence, they still serve as a constant reminder of the dark stain in human history - WWII.

All three correspondences are related to a British Army Royal Artilery, Gunner Ronald C. Killick. The first of these letter is from Killick's wife, Ethel, sent from Southampton on 26 March 1945. 3d Prisoner of war postcard was used with a 25-word message on reverse. Although the Australian 9th division started landing in Brunei and Labuan around June 1945 and that the Japanese officially surrended in Borneo in September 1945, the card didn't seem to reach the adressee.

Although it may have reached Japan, futher sea transmission to other overseas Japanese territories would have been impossible due to vigorous American submarine action. Of note, the card is addressed to Kuching, Borneo where all the prisoners of war were interned. The last known cards received in the POWs camp in Kuching was 2nd December 1944. The card was eventually sent back to Ron Killick's wife with the cachets:

"UNDELIVERED FOR REASON STATED / RETURN TO SENDER"

"RETURNED IN UNDELIVERED MAILS / FROM TERRITORY FORMERLY OCCUPIED / BY JAPANESE FORCES"

The next correspondence is a telegram sent from Australian rest camp in Labuan where Gunner Ron Killick was recovering in hospital after the war. The cable was despatched from Melbourne on the 26 Sept 1945 and received in Southampton on 28 Sept 1945. The message reads "Am safe (in) Australian hands, hope be home soon..". It also advised writing to "LIBERATED P/W CARE AUSTRALIAN BASE P. O. MELBOURNE"

From the Australian camp in Labuan, Ron C. Killick must have been subsequently transferred to Singapore. The next telegram was sent from Singapore on 23 October 1945 and duly received in Southampton on 26 Oct 1945. The message this time reads "Am safe in British hands, hope to be home soon. It also advised a reply to be sent to "C/O PO BOX 164, LONDON EC1, KILLICK". Accompanying the telegram is another letter explaining the situation and some instruction on how to send a reply.

V for Vandalism...

2012-02-04T14:23:00.008Z

Message to the Peoples of the Colony of North Borneo

From His Majesty King George VI,

Monday, 15th July, 1946

This interesting document of His Majesty King George VI speech post-war to the people in North Borneo appeared in ebay on 24 Jan 2011 and ended on 31st. The document presents a multi-lingual translation of the king's speech, also available in Malay and Chinese, apart from the main message in English. Ended at US$305.00 after 9 bids. Similar document appeared in ebay in July 2011 which ended at US$355.50.

This particular document is affixed with several BMA stamps of North Borneo. It is addressed to John B. Dusing in Jesselton, a well-known North Borneo post-war philatelic collector at that time. The letter is affixed with several North Borneo BMA stamps from 1c. to $1.

The annoying part, however, is that the stamps are affixed right in the middle of the letter! The letter bearing the English message got a V shaped franking, perhaps to have that additional posh effects. This however, defeat the very purpose of sending such a letter as it obliterates the message to a nonsensical extent. Surely the reason for sending the letter is to appreciate the king's message, emphaty, vision and important proclamation about Labuan after the war. Similar irresponsible franking is also replicated in the Malay translation - making it hopelessly illegible.

As can be seen, there are plenty of spaces at the sides for a better franking. With this silly franking idea, the great document is reduced to a purely philatelic collection, with little aesthetic value. I'm glad however that the portrait of their majesties are left undisturbed, which otherwise would make it a totally crippled document.

And by the way...the message in English is as follows:

On this memorable occasion of the inauguration of the Colonial Government in North Borneo, it gives me the greatest pleasure to send this message of greeting and warm welcome to all who thus come to owe allegiance to the Crown.

Since the British N. Borneo Company first established in the reign of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, its administration has been wise and just. Today its place is taken by the new Colonial Government which will maintain the best traditions of that administration and will constantly endeavour to promote your welfare and to advance your economic and social progress, building on foundation so well laid by the company but so rudely shaken by the war.

I know of your loyalty and courage under Japanese oppression and, with sorrow, how much you have suffered from the losses and destruction of war, and, although immediate tasks of reconstruction and repair must be long and difficult, I look forward, with confidence, to the restoration, in even greater measure, of that prosperity and happiness which you all so richly deserve.

To this inhabitants of Labuan also, which today becomes part of the Colony of North Borneo, I extend my greeting and with it, my earnest wish that this closer relationship with the mainland will be greatly to your benefit.

Labuan Postal Stationery with St. Settlements Overprint

2012-01-29T14:46:00.002Z

Labuan Postal Stationery

People say that good wine needs no introduction, but this postcard remained the source of my amazement for the weekend primarily because of the final end price . The card was auctioned in ebay in a 7-day format and ended on the 28 January 2012 with a stagerring US$1,001.60 (£637) after 15 bids! Superficially, the card is a simple enough item with an overprint of the Straits Settlement and a nice Labuan cds - but philatelically speaking, surely it's one of the rarest Labuan/St. Settlement gems!

In July 2011, similar postal stationary of 4 cent was auctioned and reached an even higher final price of £870!

History

Labuan (and Brunei) officially became part of the Straits Settlements administration in 1st January 1907 to 1st January 1942, when the Japanese first landed in Labuan. By letters Patent dated 30 October 1906, Labuan was incorporated with Straits Settlements and ceased issuing its own stamps. It became part of the Colony of North Borneo again in July 1946.

In the initial period within this 35-years-span within the Straits Settlement, most Labuan stamps and postal stationeries were overprinted with the word "Straits Settlements". In a short period of time however, this soon was replaced with the St. Settlements stamps of KEVII and KGV. This then became the norm and explains why some St. Settlement stamps used today bear Labuan cancels.

Sarawak First Air Service 1930s

2012-01-08T15:03:00.003Z

Sarawak First Air Service, 1930s

I recently stumbled onto this curious, yet amazing document from the Postmaster General of Sarawak to presumably a collector in airmail philately. It first appeared in ebay with an opening bid of £199.99 on 26 December 2011, and ended with a jaw dropping price of £515.67 on 3 January 2012 after 5 bids.

We know that in 1930, there was a seaplane expedition to various cities in British Borneo including Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo. The plane started their voyage in Singapore in 26 May 1930 to Kuching. From there they flew to Sibu and Miri on 30th May 1930 before continued on and reached Kuala Belait and Brunei capital on 1st June 1930. They landed in Jesselton on 2nd June 1930.

The Document

The document is written by the Postmaster General of Sarawak as an Officer in Charge of the new Sarawak Airmail chop. There are three marks in the middle of the letter, the left one bears the Seal of Baram, Sarawak circular mark with the PMG's signature and "o-in-c" below it. The middle aspect is affixed with Sarawak's 4c stamp of Brooke and is cancelled with the circular "Air Service" postmark, the left side then bears the air service mark alone.

The document reads:

"I got yesterday, the new air postmark stamp of Sarawak which is left by the o-in-c [officer in charge?] to stamp such letters, official, as he wishes to send by airmail. The services consist of two months and is the first ever run in Borneo. Though it has not really started yet, I send you a Sarawak chop as in future(?) it may be of interest as the first air service in Borneo. It is put on with my own fair hand and I'm not sure if it isn't against the law?! "

This is certainly a great document and surely it's an illegal one? :)

50 Fabulous Stamps of the British Empire

2012-01-07T13:49:00.011Z

"A Selection of the most historic, most beautiful, oddest and rarest philatelic items from British territories overseas"

Fabulous Stamps of British Empire

Stamp magazine UK recently published a 116-page guide magazine on the 50 Fabulous Stamps of the British Empire. The guide came about for the first time in a celebration of the philatelic achievement of the British Empire.

50 great stamps/issues from 50 different colonies were chosen for us to marvel at their legacy - stamps that combined artistic beauty with eminent practicality with fascinating stories and wonderful rarities.

And of course, Sarawak and North Borneo stamps issues were among the 50 distinctive list.

No 18 - Sarawak's first stamp issue - Portrait of Rajah Sir James Brooke

Queen Victoria's face is perhaps the most recognised portrait in philately due to extensive portrayal in early British (and Empire) stamps. The penny black for example portrays the Queen's face for the first time in philatelic history. However, her majerty's face wasn't the only British sovereign portrayed on the early stamps. In 1869, Sarawak's first stamp was issued depicting the face of the white rajah - Sir James Brooke.

James Brooke was born in India to English parents. He gained control of Sarawak from the Sultan of Brunei by helping to quell an uprising against the sultan. He later became the Governor of the neighbouring British Colony of Labuan and introduced reforms, fought off pirate attacks and brought greater stability to the region.

James' Brooke personal correspondence, which he transported personally in his yacht to Singapore before posting in the normal way, graced and enriched Sarawak philately today. Before the first stamp was issued in 1869, Indian stamps were used for overseas postage. Unfortunately, James Brooke never lived to see his face on the stamps. He died nine months before they went on sale...

Example of Rajah Brooke's personal letter written in 1863 to Mrs Browne in London, bearing India stamps.

No 25 - North Borneo's 1894 Issue

Low values of 1894 issue of North Borneo

The low values of North Borneo's 1894 issue was selected among the list. It is a story between beauty and overexploitation in stamps marketing. North Borneo's 1894 issue broke the traditional designs of the 19th century stamps by introducing unrivalled eye-catching designs and noted to be among the most attractive and innovative design around that time. The depictions of Dyak chief, a Malay dhow, a sambar stag, a great argus pheasant, a sago palm tree, an estuarine crocodile and the majestic Mount Kinabalu created desirable philatelic results, delivering a romantic insight into island life.

However, the British North Borneo Company's overexplaitation by means of selling excess material to stamp trade, encouraging varieties, and special ties with a philatelic dealer in London, Mr Parker, tarnished the philatelic reputation of North Borneo.

Today, the stamps market of North Borneo is flooded with an endless myriad of cancelled-to-order remainders, printer's waste, improbable perforations, spurious overprints and of course blatant forgeries. While the market value of North Borneo and Labuan are rising steadily, the presence of the CTOs necessitate the third column in many worldwide stamps catalogue. The many pitfalls faced in collecting North Borneo stamps cause many aspiring collectors to avoid this country altogether...

Happy New Year 2012!!!

2011-12-31T17:29:00.001Z

Wishing everyone a prosperous New Year 2012!

May this new year brings us more exciting collectibles, stamps and new philatelic discoveries!

Have a fun celebration!!!

Salvaged North Borneo Mail - Comet Crash near Calcutta 1953

2011-12-22T08:10:00.000Z

Type 1: "Comet" Crash, Near Calcutta

Type 2: "Comet" Crash, Near Galcutta.

Salvaged Mail, Comet Crash, 1953

Anthony must be a happy man to have in his possession, the two types of Salvaged mails of the Comet crash near Calcutta in 2nd May 1953. There are two types of such cachet, the first one has the right spelling of "Calcutta" while the second one has a wrong spelling of "Galcutta". Both are usually strucked in violet/blue ink.

There is no official record as to how many mails from North Borneo were on board in the ill-fated flight, certainly very few have been seen so far. The topmost cover appeared in ebay on December 2011 with a final price of GBP 182, while the one above appeared in September 2010. There is a water staining on both covers, more notable in the topmost cover - this should perhaps be preserved and should serve as a vivid reminder of the devastating tragedy.

In May 2, 1953, a BOAC comet-1 brought 43 people on board from Calcutta airport to London. It was thought that the plane then crashed 6 minutes after taking off from Calcutta airport due to 'exceptionally' severe tropical storm. This killed all 43 passengers abroad.

Interesting Postmarks/ Fiscal Cancels

2011-12-18T13:02:00.002Z

Serene Mount Kinabalu seen from Pekan Nabalu

I finally had 2 weeks holiday, a perfect timing to escape the bitter European winter. Although planned at the very last minute, I eventually decided to spend sometime traversing the jungles of Mount Kinabalu and to enjoy the relaxing steammy hot spring at Poring as well as to amazed myself at the Langanan waterfall some 3.5 Km deeper in the jungle from Poring. My holiday in Sabah was very brief (barely a week) so I had no chance to meet the other fellow stamp collectors of which I quite regretted. Nevertheless, everything else went well and the short break was fun and clearly the right choice for me..

Nonetheless, ebay went on as usual. Many new lots listed daily, some are notably rare while many are just the usual 'bread and butter' of stamps business. Some of the interesting lots are as follows:

1. Sandakan Double Ring CDS on $10

This near-perfect $10 stamp with nice Sandakan double ring cds attracted 20 bids from 14 bidders. Sold by Philip Malcolm of Principalityauctions, it presents a 'rare example of used' SG86 and ended with a final price of US$203.50. This is certainly a 'cheap' ending price, considering that people nowadays are willing to pay a handsome sum of money even for a $10 with CTO (as Nancy would tell).

Now, all this is assuming that the postmark is genuine, which in this case looks suspicious enough. The date, especially the month and year are unclear. The year is probably 1908, which if true, would be totally a give out to its authenticity because double ring cds of Sandakan are used only starting in 1930s. There are a few other distortions in the year which would be an anomaly if genuine.

2. Jesselton CDS on Postage Due Stamp

These two stamps present a blatant postmark forgery of Jesselton. The date of 20 AU 49 is arranged in horizontal line within the single ring cds, mimicking Jesselton D32. The upper half of the cds is inscribed "JESSELTON" while the lower half is inscribed "NORTH BORNEO". Of note there is a dash before the Jesselton, seen on the 2c stamp. The 8c stamp ended with GBP98 and the 2c stamp with GBP41.

3. The Seal of The General Court of Labuan on $1

The $1 with the seal of the general court of Labuan was listed in ebay, hidden among other less inspiring North Borneo stamps. It was sold by a French seller from Lyon, and ended with a surprisingly low value of US$67 after 23 bids. The postmark, although appear small in the overall lots, presents a sharp and clear struck, quite clearly showing the two unicorns supporting a shield at the centre with a crown on top. Below there is a Latin inscription 'DIEU ET MON DROIT'. The $10 Labuan stamp on the right, also bearing the same seal is for comparison (not mine), selling at multi thousands US dollars if you're interested. :)

4. The Residency of Sillam on $2

This $2 stamp bears a large violet fiscal cancel, presumed to be THE RESIDENCY OF SILLAM. The cancel is unclear, only showing part of the inscription above (THE RESIDEN..). There is some smudgy appearance of the arms of the company at the centre. Ended with a final price of GBP45 after 8 bids.

Vintage Photos of North Borneo 1900-20s

2011-12-05T13:46:00.001Z

Vintage Photos of North Borneo

Nothing is more thrilling than to discover the early vintage pictures of North Borneo! An album full of vintage photos appeared recently in ebay with an final price of close to GBP500. The album is presented to Mr. E. Horton, the editor and superintendent of Government Printing Office on his retirement (1902-23). These unique black and white photos present an interesting glimpse into the historical North Borneo and some would not only stir your emotions but also brings you into a journey back in 100 years or so:

Check out more photos:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33 34

1883 Provisionals: 8 Cents Surcharge

2011-11-26T16:10:00.004Z

SG 2: Vertical 8 cents surcharge

SG2 with 15 bars red obliterator

SG2 with Sandakan D2 (Genuine?)

The 2 cents stamp with a vertical 8 cents surcharge is among the scarce stamp issue of North Borneo. It is not even listed in Scotts catalogue and at some point in history was thought to be a total fake altogether. It is no doubt however that the issue is genuine and that authentic examples do exist, although a postally used example on cover has never been seen.

The perforation should be 12 and that the overprint should be followed by a full stop.The length of the overprint from "8" to "s" of cents should be 10.5 mm (or to the stop, 11.75mm). The height of the "8" and "C" should be 2.5mm, while the "e", "n" and "s" should be 1.5mm. The letter "t" is 2mm high.

Copies do show some slight variation in alignment and are not usually perfectly vertical. Only stamps of Transfer A were surcharged with this vertical overprint, and that by default all other surcharges appearing in any other transfers must be forgeries. Furthermore, most forgeries of this issue appear on a wrong perforation of 14, and has no stop after the surcharge. The one on the left shown above is listed in ebay with an opening price of GBP 80.00. The one on the right bears a blue undated Sandakan postmark (D2) - Genuine?

SG3: Horizontal 8 cents surcharge

SG3 with AC mark

SG3 with AC and Singapore P.O. marks

SG3 with Sandakan D2 and Singapore P.O. marks

The 8 cents horizontal surcharge is another rare issue of North Borneo stamp, although perhaps not as scarce as the vertical one. The stamp above on the left appeared in ebay recently and still active. The one on the most right was underpriced at GBP50 and was won by our fellow collector. Three of the stamps bear the blue ink oval "AC" postmark, and three of the stamps bear the Singapore P.O mark as well.

Because the 8 cents definitive stamps were sent in the same case as the second consignment of the 2 cents stamp (transfer B), the provisionals would only be required for about a month, and as such only a small amount of stamps were surcharged. The perforation should be 12. The surcharge is arranged in two lines and consisted of the words "EIGHT CENTS" with the "EIGHT" being 10.5mm in length and "CENTS" being about 10mm, followed by a fullstop. Because of the type setting, there are ten variations of the surcharge in each row across the sheet.

Forgeries exist in a large number, usually on 1886 stamps with perf 14, and mostly on Transfer D. The example below show an interesting forgery :-

What The Fake?

2011-11-06T23:58:00.002Z

Le Philatelist by Francois Barroud (1929)

Fakey Fakey

Fake and forged stamps are nothing new - they have been around for almost as long as the postage stamp itself. The first stamp was issued in Britain in 1840 while the first classical forgeries began around 1860 - Sperati and Fournier being the two notorious master forgers. Stamps are not only fun collectibles but also form important, high-value commodities. Like many rare or high value items, stamps are targeted by unscrupulous counterfeiters for easy lucrative money from unsuspecting buyers. North Borneo are far from spared.

Ebay and Fakes

There is no better place to find a large amounts of fakes/forged stamps than in ebay. The following stamps are fake/forged North Borneo stamps I found in ebay, just for future references:

1. $10 and $5 with obvious forged postmark

These stamps were both sold by the same seller. The $10 was sold for £17.89, about £10 less than the $5 stamp which ended with a price of £28. The forged postmarks are notably blurry and don't appear to be legible enough. The most obvious give away though was the presence of the obliterator marks (the CTO marks). The forged postmarks are applied on top of the CTO marks to mask it from unsuspecting buyers.

2. Fake Japanese Overprints

This pair of Postage due stamps with Japanese overprint was offered for £50 (under Buy it Now format). The stamps are genuine but the overprint are forged. This is mentioned by the seller in his/her description. Compared to genuine overprints, the faked overprint in this pair appear markedly thicker and looked too 'rigid' as well.

3. Fake "Two Cents" Overprint

This one is still ongoing in ebay at the time this is written. What's interesting about this lot is the 'new variety' of the "RED CROSS / TWO CENTS". The font is markedly different from the genuine overprint and the "TWO" is simply replaced by numeral "2". The genuine overprint is issued in Aug 1918 on stamps of 1909-1911, strangely enough though, the overprint in the lot above also appear in the 2 cents of 1894 issue.

Straits Settlement Stamps with Borneo/Sarawak postmark

2011-10-29T23:28:00.001+01:00

Straits Settlement Stamps used in North Borneo

Historically, before North Borneo joined the Universal Postal Union (U.P.U) in 1st January 1891, its postage stamps were only valid to far as Labuan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Letters going beyond these countries had to be franked with either Labuan, Straits Settlement or Hong Kong stamps, which at that time were available in Sandakan, Gaya and Kudat post offices. As Jesselton was only opened as a new settlement after the burning of Gaya in 1897, I find the Jesselton cancels both on the Perak stamps (SG19a,1891) and on the St. Settlement stamp (SG104, 1892) to be very unusual if genuine. There is no doubt, however, that the blue-ink Sandakan double ring cds may be genuine...

The two lots above appeared in ebay recently. The Perak stamps ended with a mere C$15.49 while the other lot was suddenly no longer available. The seller obviously received, as the famous Godfather movie quotes, an offer he could not refuse. Happy Halloween.

Picture Postcards of North Borneo

2011-10-15T14:50:00.004+01:00

Picture Postcards

Deltiology is a term referring to the study and collection of postcards. Related closely to philately, collecting postcards is said to be the third largest hobby worldwide (after stamps and coin/banknotes). In those days of 1900s, where internet, email, telephone and even camera are not available, picture postcards would have been the only sensible way of communication between families and friends. The depiction of scenes/old towns/local people in many of those postcards now give us some invaluable historical images and a rough glimpse into the life, activity and scenery of North Borneo in the olden days.

In the last few weeks, several interesting North Borneo postcards have been listed in ebay. As the ancient saying goes 'A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words', here's some of the nice postcards of North Borneo/Labuan to be admired and appreciated:

1. Harbour Office, Labuan coloured Postcard

This coloured postcard depicts the Harbour Offices of Labuan. The backside is not shown. It reached a remarkable final price of US$ 400.50 with 9 bids. The top right is affixed with two stamps of 2 cents and cancelled with what possibly a Jesselton cancel to me. The seller mentions the year to be 1917. I'm not sure which one is the publisher but possibly from Singapore.

2. Sandakan Fishing Boat

This one ended with C$255 after 3 bids. It shows two native fishing boats and a bigger ship at the horizon. There is no caption or reference on the front side apart from number '66' at the right lower corner. At the back, the postcard is franked with 8 cents stamp and cancelled Sandakan, 20 Jun 1927. The message is written in English but surprisingly sent to one of the most uncommon European destination - Talinn, Estonia. There is no mention of publisher at the back but based on the heading "Postcard" above, this is probably produced in Singapore by Japanese photographers and artists in the 1920s. This can be confirmed by finding a triangular space for affixing stamp at the top right - covered in this postcard.

3. Jesselton Scene, North Borneo

Sold for £54.10 by a seller from Poland. This one depicts a view of Jesselton in the olden days. Published by Phillippe & Sons, Sandakan. The back has two 1c. stamps - both uncancelled. Sent to Germany. Curiously, the above right is scripted 'Registered'.

4. Type of Native Children (Bajau Tribe), North Borneo

The postcard captures a nice atmosphere within the sea-dwelling Bajau tribe of North Borneo. There are about 22 children shown in the picture (I might be wrong) - The hero must be the one at the very front! There are also several boats characteristic to the sea-Bajaus shown in the picture. 2 cents stamp of the British Protectorate issue is affixed on the front. The postcards is published by Phillippe & Sons, Sandakan (No.40) Final price US$ 174.95.

5. Maxi Card of a Native Riding a Buffalo

Maximaphily is a special branch in philately related to the study and collection of Maxi Card (or Maximum card). This is a type of card whereby the photo depicted resembles the picture shown in the stamps. The above postcard is pretty much the best possible example - the stamps used depict a native riding a buffalo - the card shows the exact same scene. The stamps are cancelled with Sandakan double ring cds dated 1 Jan 1939 - Earliest possible use. At the back shows some scribbles. The postcard is published by K Ltd (Kodak Limited).

6. Liwan Dusuns (or Hill Dusuns) of North Borneo

The postcard presents the Liwan tribe called Dagas (or Hill Dusuns) of North Borneo. This group of 10 women and men are carrying their produce - possibly for a trade in a local market (Tamu). One guy is carrying a gong - the most important musical instrument among the natives of North Borneo. The postcard is sent to the US but I'm not sure if 3 cents is the right rate for such a destination. Nonetheless it's a nice collectible. This postcard is published by Funk & Sons, Sandakan (No.49) but note also that the same picture is also published by another postcard publisher in Singapore, S.P.G (series 21) with a capital that reads 'Carriers in North Borneo'. Final price: US$ 192.50.

7. Mount Kinabalu, B.N.B

An interesting real photo postcard sent by Mr. Fung Shong Kong of Sandakan - a renowned name in postcard collection. This one depicts the majestic Mount Kinabalu (13,450 ft.) franked with two stamps of 3 cents and 5 cents. The card is type-written on 11.1.37 and sent to New Jersey, US. Final price: US$ 167.50.

8. Dyak, Wild Men of Borneo

Shows two Dyak men of Borneo with their traditional headhunting dress. Both men have their weapon at the sides. Franked with multiple North Borneo stamps (7) and sent to an uncommon destination of Zamboanga, Philippines. Unknown publisher.

Agnes Keith Letter Sold for over £1000

2011-10-10T22:19:00.003+01:00

Agnes Keith Letter 1943

This cover appeared in ebay on 29/09/2011 and ended on 09/10/2011 with a jaw dropping price of £1022! Surprisingly there were only 6 bidders involved in the whole 10-day frenzy with a total of 16 bids. Unfortunately the auction was privately listed where the bidders' identities were completely unknown.

The cover itself is a remarkable piece of history and antiquity from Agnes Keith. It was sent from Los Angeles, California (cds dated Oct 30, 1943) to Kuching, Sarawak, during the occupation of Borneo. It was received in the women and children's camp at Batu Lintang, Kuching. The letter itself brings that warm sentimental feeling because it was sent by Agnes Keith's aunt from California (Mrs. H. M. Kimball) who would have been distressed by the news of their captivity by the Japanese - I wonder what the content of the letter would have been.

The cover is marked with two censors - the US and the Japanese censor markings. The U.S. censor is strucked at the left lower corner in circle numbered 849, while there is a rare boxed Japanese censor mark at the centre left. The cover also bears an unusual "Ag" (Auslandprufstelle) transit mark indicating a transit to Vienna, Austria. A transparent examiner's tape was applied at the left aspect of the cover numbered 793.

Another examples of Agnes Keith's letter here.

Introducing A Brilliant North Borneo Blog!

2011-10-03T20:31:00.001+01:00

I would like to thank G. Express for introducing a new blog on North Borneo stamps. I find the blog to be very informative, well written and a great pleasure altogether. It is a great blog to learn about some rarities, postmarks, forgeries etc. Please visit the blog at:

http://mynorthborneostamps.blogspot.com/

I would like to welcome our new friend and I'm looking forward for his writings, sharings and above all his excellent North Borneo stamps collection!

Review of the Spink Singapore Auction Sept 2011 - Stolz Collection II

2011-09-25T15:32:00.003+01:00

Introduction

On September 24, 2011, Spink Singapore held an important philatelic auction on collections from British Southeast Asia. This includes rare items from Sarawak, Malaya and states, Singapore and North Borneo. A total of 1244 lots incorporating postal histories, stamps and collection lots were auctioned and only about 58% (730) of these were sold and the remaining 514 lots remained unsold. A bigger proportion of the lots were from Malaya/Straits Settlement, Sarawak representing about 20% and North Borneo/Labuan approximately 10%. There were negligible Brunei lots in the auction.

Cumulative price realisation (excluding buyer's premium) was £418,612. Spink had a similar auction a year ago with a cumulative price of £584,827 - The Stolz I collection.

The most expensive item in that auction was a historical cover of 1863 written by the ruler of Sarawak, James Brooke to Ms. Browne in London. It managed to topped the entire auction with a remarkable hammer price of S$40,000 (£20,127). Another interesting postal history, also from Sarawak, was the outstanding 1897 cover from Baram to Vienna which managed to reach the final price of S$29,000 (£14,625). From North Borneo/Labuan, a cover postmarked Silam was the highlight of the auction.

The Highlights:

1. The Rajah Brooke Cover

Kuching G.P.O.

1863 (10 Mar.) envelope written by Rajah Brooke to Mrs Brown in London, marked "Marseilles", bearing India 2a. and 4a. pair (one damaged prior to use) tied by very rare "office of registry/sarawak" double-ring handstamp (Type PS2, earliest recorded date) and additionally cancelled "B/172" in transit at Singapore, showing red crayon "1/2" and London Paid arrival c.d.s. (27.4) with, on reverse, red "singapore/p.o" double-ring d.s.; the envelope with recipient's notation at left.

Sold for S$ 40,000

Note: This cover was carried on the P&O "Singapore", which left Singapore on 23 March and arrived at Galle on 30 March, transhipped to "S.S. Mooltan" which left the next day and arrived at Suez on 16 April. It then went overland to Alexandria for the "S.S. Euxine", which left on 19 April and arrived at Marseilles on 25 April.

2. 1897 Baram cover to Austria

Sarawak
Baram
1897 (20 Mar.) to Vienna, bearing 1895 2c. tied by "baram" c.d.s. (Type D1) in violet, in combination with Straits Settlements 1894 8c. tied by Singapore c.d.s. (7.4), showing clear Sarawak c.d.s. (5.4) with Singapore and arrival datestamps on reverse. Extremely rare and attractive.
Sold for S$ 29,000

3. Straits Settlement Block of 1 and half cents on half cent

Straits Settlements
— 1 1/2c. on 1/2a. blue, a magnificent block of sixteen (4x4) from the lower left corner of the lower right pane with sheet margin at foot and interpanneau margin at left, unused with mainly large part or full original gum; some splitting/re-enforcing, nevertheless in a fine state of preservation. The second largest unused multiple. A splendid exhibition item. S.G. 1.
Sold for S$ 19,000.

4. Sarawak 1895 Postal Stationery with fine Bintulu cds

Sarawak
Bintulu
1895 (1 Mar.) Straits Settlements 3c. stationery card to London, showing fine "bintulu" c.d.s. (Type D2) at lower left, violet Sarawak c.d.s. and the stamp impression cancelled in transit at Singapore (18.3); the card with corner creases. An extremely rare usage and the only known example of Straits Settlements stationery used at Bintulu.
Sold for S$ 18,000

5. North Borneo 1888 cover with Silam cancel and St. Settlements stamp

North Borneo
Silam
1888 envelope to London and redirected locally, bearing 1886 2c. (2) and 8c. tied by circular "silam post office/Lion/b n borneo" intaglio h.s. in blue, upon redirection GB 1d. lilac applied and cancelled by London "s.w./19" duplex, red Sandakan transit c.d.s. on reverse; the envelope a little soiled and with surface abrasion at foot. Very rare.
Sold for S$ 17,000.

Interesting Revenue/Fiscal Cancellations

2011-09-18T11:46:00.003+01:00

Introduction

This week we've got the opportunity to see some of the rarest fiscal/revenue cancellations on North Borneo stamps. These were listed by owley1879, a known member of the SSS. Many bidders participated and some were luckier than the others. Other items listed in the same auction were BMA covers, some revenue stamps (mint and used), a postcard, and stamps lots. Some of the exciting cancels are the following:

The Residency of Sillam

The cancels are strucked in either black or red ink. It is a large double ring oval mark with North Borneo Company crest at the centre. The upper half is inscribed with "THE RESIDENCY OF SILLAM" while the lower half inscribed with Arabic (Jawi) inscription. Note that the Sillam spelling has a double "LL" rather than the usual single "L". The $5 stamp ended with a final price of AU$ 82.00 while the one bearing the red cancel AU$ 51.00. The cancel on the $5 stamp only shows the word "SILLAM" and nothing else while the one with the red cancel is only presumed to be a Sillam cancel because of the writing "THE R" implying "The Residency of Sillam".

Magistrate Court, Jesselton

This is probably type 1 cancel of Magistrate Court, Jesselton. The cancel itself is very clear and nicely strucked on the 50c stamp perfinned "REV/ENUE". It is a large double ring mark with the Company's crest in the centre. This one ended with AU$ 98.85 - something expected for such a fine cancel.

Superintendant of Immigration, Sandakan

Another interesting fiscal cancel of what's possibly the largest cancel in North Borneo - the "SUPERINTENDANT OF IMMIGRATION SANDAKAN". This one is strucked in violet ink and comprises of a double ring cancel with the outer ring being about 5.5cm in diameter and the inner ring about 4.0 cm. It has the company's arms at the centre with a coarse outline and generally lacking in detail compared to other fiscal cancels incorporating the company's arms. Final price: AU$ 45.00.

Judicial Department, Sandakan

Typical Judicial Department cancel with a violet oval-shape cancel. This one is type 1 with "JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT" inscribed above and "SANDAKAN" occupying the lower half. Note the eight pointed stars separating the writings above and below. Compared to type 2, the Judicial Dept type 1 has no "B.N.B" inscription following Sandakan and has distinctive stars rather than asterisk. Ended with a decent price of AU$ 21.50.

Cover with Character - Agnes Keith Letter 1943

2011-09-12T18:11:00.004+01:00

Agnes Keith Letter

Everyone probably noticed this unique POW cover sent to Mr. & Mrs. H.G Keith. As the "M.r" was crossed out with pencil, it is natural to assume that it was sent to Mrs. Agnes Keith herself. The accompanying description for the cover is pretty much sufficient to tell the story behind the cover. Of note the cover reached a high end price of £321 although the listing was in private. Another interesting aspect about this cover is that it was resealed with Canadian censor label and handstamped with long box of Japanese violet censor mark "Borneo Prisoner of War Camp" - certainly not a very common feat.

Agnes Keith of course was well known in North Borneo history for writing several autobiographical accounts of life in North Borneo/Sarawak during the World War II. Among these is an account as Japanese POW in North Borneo and Sarawak. This cover was sent to Batu Lintang internee camp when Agnes Keith, her husband and her son were held captive by the Japanese. Silamstar had one of Agnes Keith covers shown in his blog. This one was sent from Sandakan to British Columbia, Canada:

Japanese Occupation Overprint $2 on 1cent

2011-09-10T14:07:00.003+01:00

Which One is the Fake Overprint?

These stamps are supposed to have identical overprint but they don't. The one on the left is mint with the overprint appears thicker than the one on the right. There is also other inelligible violet overprint at the back of the second line overprint. The stamp on the right is used, with visible Sandakan double ring cds. The overprints are thinner compared to the left one.

The stamp on the left is claimed to have a certificate of authenticity but the appearance is very similar to the ones known for being fake (Compare the overprint here). The one on the right on the other hand, appeared in ebay some weeks ago with an opening bid of only GBP 0.50!

Beautiful Hand-Illustrated covers from Labuan to NZ 1912

2011-09-04T23:24:00.004+01:00

Cover 1: Labuan to New Zealand 1912 Shakespeare's Illustration

These covers appeared in ebay recenty and I thought they were quite eye-catching and beautiful. This one is a nice black and white illustration of Shakespeare's novel As you like it. There is a small writing at the bottom part of the illustration and signed by the painter with letters J, P and K. The cover is addressed to Miss Keasberry of Tirau, Auckland, New Zealand on 21 FE 1912. The sender's rubber stamp is also found at the back reading Labuan B.N.B in violet oval belt with presumably the sender's name, J.P. Keasberry. The cover is franked with Straits Settlement stamp 4 cents and tied with double ring Labuan D8 - the only Labuan postmark with "Post Office" inscription. Backstamped Singapore 26 Feb 1912.

Cover 2: Labuan to New Zealand 1912 Two Doves

Another cover painted in black and white showing two doves facing each other. Also addressed to Miss A. Keasberry with the sender's handstamp at the back reads Labuan B.N.B, J.P Keasberry. The cover is franked with 4 cents Straits Settlement stamp and tied neatly with Labuan double ring D8 postmark dated A 1 AU 1912. The cover was originally sent to Hamilton, Auckland New Zealand but redirected to Tirau (the red writing). Backstamped Singapore 5 AU 1912 and Hamilton 5 SEP 1912.

Cover 3: Labuan to New Zealand 1912 "The Knight Defeated"

The most interesting of all three covers with eye-catching and colourful illustration showing The Knight Defeated. Similarly addressed to Miss A. Keasberry in Tirau. Also franked with St. Settlement stamp of 4 cents and tied with two Labuan D8 cds dated 5 Sep 1912. Backstamped with Singapore transit mark dated 9 Sep 1912 and arrival cds of Morrinsville 17 Oct and Tirau 18 Oct 1912.
Overall, all three covers appeared tatty with some toning and tears but should very well be great collectibles. Seller also mentioned that the original letters were enclosed, I wonder what the contents were. A quick google of "J.P. Keasberry" indicated that he operated a hotel in Victoria, Labuan and that the middle name is "Peach". There is also an obituary section in Singapore Free Press announcing the death of Mr. Keasberry on 29.01.1920 at age 72 years old. If this is indeed referring to him, these envelopes would have been painted when he was about 64.

Case Study: Sandakan 11 AUG 1905 - A fake?

2011-09-04T16:23:00.002+01:00

SANDAKAN 11 AUG 1905

For some reason this particular postmark appear just far too often particularly in ebay but also elsewhere. Just a few days ago the $10 stamp on the left ended with a final price of $66. There are also $2 and $5 stamps bearing the same postmark and are still currently ongoing in ebay. Last week, another $5 stamp, also with the same postamark was sold for £26.

Curiously the postmark would only appear on the 1904-05 stamps issue with the 4 cents surcharge. I haven't seen the same date appear in any other North Borneo stamps issues.

The postmark is supposed to be the Sandakan D11, in use from 29.9.04 to 14.10.15. It is strange that within about 11 years of usage, 11 Aug 1905 seems to occur far more frequently than the whole 11 years usage combined.

Now look at your Sandakan D11, is it 11 AUG 1905?

Sg3 North Borneo Stamp with Cert!

2011-08-21T12:08:00.002+01:00

1883 "EIGHT CENTS" Surcharge on 2 cents

For a final price of £117, this must be one of the best bargain in ebay. The catalogue value for mint stamp in SG is approx. £450. With the Basel certificate of authenticity, I would expect this one to reach at least half the catalogue value but it didn't. The perforation is 12, easily counted from the horizontal perforations which is roughly about 2cm in length. The feet of H are joined together as are all genuine examples.

The Revenues Overprints

2011-08-20T13:35:00.002+01:00

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

The Revenue Overprints 1886

In 1886, the governor of North Borneo W.H. Treacher realised that the company was losing money by the avoidance of Revenue duties by bussinesses, merchants and traders. The receipts under the Revenue Stamp Ordinance were close to naught. In view of this, several North Borneo stamps were overprinted with various 2-lines or 3-lines "Revenue" overprints. There are five types of such overprints.

The magenta 1/2 cent and the blue 10 cents stamps of 1886 issue were overprinted with "and Revenue" overprints in 2 lines - the arrangements were such that the letter "d" in "and" is either above the "n" or "nu" of the "revenue". In general 4 out of 5 has the letter "d" above "n" making it the commoner variety.

Three stamps were overprinted with the three-lines revenue overprints that read "(value)/Cents/Revenue". Note that all initial letters of each line is in capital. The position of stop correspond to the varieties. This can either be after the "Cents" or after the "Revenue".

Four of the stamps pictured above were listed in ebay several days/weeks ago and reach (not suprisingly) high final prices.

Interesting items in ebay July 2011

2011-08-07T18:16:00.004+01:00

Postal History

1. Labuan Registered cover 1913 with Straits Settlement Stamp

I thought the cover was pretty interesting in that it is franked with the 1906-12 Straits Settlement stamp SG160. The cds is not very clear but probably shows the date of 20 8 1913. The lower left quadrant is affixed with the Labuan label no 2298. The is also an interesting AR mark on the top aspect of the cover - representing AR for Advice of Receipt. The cover ended in 4 July 2011 with a final price of £232.

2. Uncommon Franking of North Borneo cover, 1889

This cover is interesting because of several reasons. The first one is the uncommon combination of frankings. You don't see SG63 and SG108 being used together very often. It shows a contrast between North Borneo earlier stamps and the beginning of pictorials. The second reason is the neat postal markings - the Sandakan D6 dated 15 May 1899 and the R3 registration mark no 4. The back tells more stories including the transit to Labuan, to Brindisi and to its uncommon destination, Hohenstein, Germany. Ended sale in 10.07.11 with a final price of US$260.55.

3. The Rayoh Gorge PPC from Kudat, 1906

This classic black & white postcard brings that sentimental feeling of being in the steam train running from Beaufort to Tenom, where the Rayoh Gorge would have been seen. Although the picture is quite boring and probably not the best depiction there is, the postcard itself is nicely franked with four stamps overprinted British Protectorate and tied with good Kudat cancels. The card bears the sender's message, written in Kudat in 15 Jan 1906, although not entirely visible. This postcard is one of the few pictured postcards produced by the company and as such bears the Arms of the Chartered Company. Sold in ebay for £118 and ended in 12.07.11.

4. Beaufort to St. Gall, Switzerland censored cover, 1917

This cover is exciting because it is an uncommon cover franked 16 cents , registered at Beaufort,10 FEB 17, to St. Gall, Switzerland. The feint Beaufort strikes are in a blue- black ink. The cover was censored 9 in France) with remnants of censor tape on the front ( tied by 'Ouvert' strike partially over the 10 cents value to the right of which is a violet '17' censor number). The interesting part is the handstamped Registration 'label' dated 10 FE 17 and numbered 183, currently not listed in Proud's. It could represent either R2 or R3. The back has more censor tape also tied with an oval '117' Ouvert strike. There is a Jeselton transit ( 10 FEB 1917), Singapore transit ( 20 FE) and St.Gallen receiver ( 31 III 17). There is the remnants of a black wax seal which may have had a Beaufort Borneo Rubber Company impression. Although has many faults and generally looked messy, the cover reached US$217.50 final price on 17.07.11.

Postmarks

1. Kudat cds ?D2 on $10 stamp

This stamp reached a final price of AU $172.50 on 25.07.11. What's intriguing about this stamp is that it has two marks, one black Kudat cds and another, faint circular violet mark on top right corner. So what is this then? A fiscally used stamp, a postally used stamp or a forgery? The black-ink cds has an uncommon format for D2. The time code (i.e. A) is followed by the month (i.e. MY) rather than the day. The year is unclear but probably "95" i.e 1895. If the date of 23 May 1895 is correct, then there are several anomalies with regard to this postmark. Proud mentions that for D2, the time code is nearly always omitted from 9.6.95 and that from 10.3.94 to 9.6.95, the cancel is usually strucked in blue ink. To add to that confusion is the violet mark on the background. Hopefully, someone with an explanation can elaborate.

2. Kudat Fiscal cancel and blue Government seal?

The first stamp on the lot is cancelled with Kudat fiscal cancellation, possibly representing D5 of Proud. Of note, it is only seen on high value stamps off cover. This cancel is similar to Sandakan fiscal cancel but the letters and cross are rather heavier and the year is a full four-figured number. In this example, the cds is strucked in blue ink with black pen cancel. Another interesting mark is the one on the $2 stamp, it shows part of a large double-ring cancel with the Arms of the Company. This is strucked in blue ink but the inscription is not legible for me, I'm guessing that this could be the Government of British North Borneo seal...

The Karl Lewis Cover of Sarawak

2011-07-30T20:11:00.002+01:00

The Karl Lewis Cover

This beautiful hand-painted cover was recently listed in ebay and reached an impressive final price of US$1,975.50! So what makes this cover so special? Well, the answer is pretty obvious - the Karl Lewis factor! This legendary American is well known in the philatelic world for producing many marvellous hand-painted covers. Based in Yokohama Japan, Lewis made arrangements for covers to be mailed from exotic countries to stamps collectors, primarily in the US. His advertisement reads "COVERS FROM THE RADIANT ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH SEAS &c. TYPICALLY hand-painted of these islands from photographs and sketches I have made of many of them. Franked with the stamps of these islands &c. MAILED DIRECT TO YOU at TWENTY FIVE CENTS EACH..."

The cover above is postmarked November 20 1940. There is a brown censor tape on the right side with "Passed By Cenor 106 Singapore" rubber stamp on the front and reverse. It also includes a typed and signed letter from Karl Lewis to the addressee on his illustrated letterhead from Yokohama Japan dated October 31 1940. The scene depicted in the cover is a village by the river in Kuching, different from the other scene he usually depicts for Sarawak - The Datu's Road.

From the letter to the recepient, it is quite apparent that Lewis wasn't aware of the difference between British North Borneo and Sarawak. He writes "...but cannot send from Jesselton; as I have no correspondent there, and it would be impossible to send different cities from one island." The sender's address is Kuching, Sarawak, British North Borneo suggesting that Lewis must have thought that Sarawak was part of North Borneo rather than a separate country in British Borneo. From the letter, Lewis wrote that he had no correspondent in Jesselton, therefore, it follows that we won't have any hand-painted covers of scenes in North Borneo - Neither do we have any North Borneo/Labuan stamps franked on Lewis covers.

Another interesting aspect of this letter is that it was written in 31 Oct 1940 and mailed from Kuching on 20 November 1940. We know that in Dec. 29, 1939, at the age of 74, Lewis suffered a paralytic stroke. This means the letter and the cover above must have been produced while he was battling with the disease with possible limitations in movements. In two letters written Feb 8 and 10, 1940, he said he was only able to sit up for two hours in the mornings and afternoons. Lewis died in 19 May 1942 while still under Japanese house arrest, leaving behind great treasures in philatelic world and beautiful hand-painted covers to be admired for many generations to come.

The other scene of Karl Lewis cover of Sarawak - The Datu's Road - Mailed on 28 Sept 1936.

Review of Spink's 2011 Auction of "Walter Bickly's Labuan & N. Borneo Collection"

2011-07-21T22:30:00.002+01:00

Introduction

On July 14, 2011, Spink London held an important philatelic auction of Walter Bickly's Labuan and North Borneo collection. Of the 722 lots auctioned, 475 were North Borneo lots and 247 were Labuan. There was a wide array of lots ranging from a single stamp to important covers and specimen stamps. Of note was the De Saumarez cover, one of the earliest known covers from Labuan. But this didn't even come close to the most expensive item sold during the auction.

Of the 722 lots auctioned, only 47 lots (6.5%) remained unsold at the conclusion of the auction. Cumulative price realisation excluding buyer's premium was £508,025. The most expensive lot in the whole auction was the 1904 $10 Labuan stamp (SG142) which managed to topped the list with an eye popping figure of £32,000. The cheapest lots sold in the auction was £40 (several lots).

The Spotlights:

1. 1904-05 $10 Brown Labuan Stamp with RPS Certificate

Sold for: £32,000

Description: Officially the rarest and most expensive Labuan stamp known. This fine unused stamp comes without gum as usual. The stamp also comes with RPS certificate no: 18,949 - perhaps the reason why the stamp sold for £7,000 more than the catalogue value in Stanley Gibbons. This one piece of paper, being the most coveted material in the auction, would need an average middle class worker to work for at least 3-5 years before being able to afford for such a gem. At £32,000 this piece of stamp can buy 1 kg of pure gold at a current market price! It also tripled the estimated price of £10,000 at the start of the auction.

2. Strip of 1883 stamps with 3 cents surcharges

Sold for: £10,000

Description: Described by the auctioneer as being extremely rare. This strip of three stamps with provisional surcharge of 3c. on the pink 4c. stamps shows a small "3" in the middle stamp, being neatly cancelled by oval of bars and part of the red circular date stamp. Auctioneer estimated the price to be between £4,000-5,000 but this rare gem managed to eventually push the hammer price to a staggering £10K. Although the perforations look dodgy and the fact that the stamps are cancelled with the 'hated' oval of bars, this strip of stamps reached an amazing final price nonetheless.

2. North Borneo 1918-30 Postage Due stamps in block of 6.

Sold for: £10,000

Description: This one shares the second place with the strip of three stamps above. Although £2,000 below the minimum estimated price, this lot reiterates the tenet of stamps collecting - "To err is Divine". The more obvious and major the error is, the more expensive the stamp becomes. In fact, the most expensive stamp in the world also follows the same basic rule. This lot consists of a block of six postage due stamps. The middle row however has the overprint ommited making it one of the rarest North Borneo philatelic collection. It is also great for a showpiece and perhaps should be displayed in a major philatelic museum!

For the complete list of items auctioned, click here.

Stamp Travelling: A walk in Rome

2011-07-17T13:43:00.001+01:00

A philatelic shop in Rome

Stamp Hunting in Rome?

North Borneo stamps in Rome? That doesn't sound right at all. I don't recall many Italian sellers selling British Borneo materials, neither in ebay nor elsewhere. So my main target to Rome was simply to eat authentic Italian spaghetti, attending the Pope's mass and to admire the artistic masterpieces of the likes of Michaelangelo, Raphael, Bernini etc. Stamps came tenth in my to-do list.

Nevertheless I did manage to find a philatelic shop in the middle of the bustling city of Rome. Who would have tought that the shop was just a stone throw away from the hotel where I stayed. I went inside the shop, trying to pick up any hint suggesting the presence of rare philatelic gems hidden somewhere in the mountainous stamp albums. I was duly greeted by the shopkeeper with "buongiorno", an Italian formal way of saying hello. I wanted to ask him about North Borneo or even Malaya stamps, but because there wasn't anything in the shop suggesting non-Italian items, I started with a very broad question - "Do you have stamps from the British Commonwealth?" He gave me a blunt "No". "What about British stamps?" I asked again "No, we don't have that either...".

So yeah, no luck in Rome. I went to several other smaller shops but the answers were practically the same. "No!". I didn't stay long in Rome, perhaps if I had a longer stay I might, with luck, find some stamps r covers from British Borneo. I remember buying two covers of North Borneo BMA stamps from an Italian seller long time ago but that was it..

Vatican Philatelic Museum

Because Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, everyhing you expect a country should possess can be found without difficulty in this 0.44 km² area. This includes its two post offices; and the philatelic museum located in the bigger museo vaticani. I knew nothing about the Vatican philately but a visit there was quite interesting because you get to see the Pope's picture everywhere in the coins and in the stamps and the tendency to depict religious-related design (Angels, cross, Saints etc). Many of the older Vatican stamps are engraved which give that nice classical feeling and high aesthetical value.

Many pre-1900 covers were also shown but because I don't have the knowledge of the Papal states philately I didn't get to appreciate their values and beauties. Perhaps they are as rare as the older cover we have in North Borneo such as those with Gantian postmark, Silam, the early entire and the early Labuan covers. Here are some of the exhibited items in the museum:

Cover with Character: 1946 Proclamation of N. Borneo as Crown Colony

2011-07-03T14:03:00.001+01:00

Proclamation of N. Borneo as a Crown Colony

I saw this cover/document listed in ebay several days back. It thought it's a very nice historical document pertaining to the change of status of North Borneo from British Protectorate to a Crown Colony. Along with the declaration of His Majesty King George is a black and white portrait of their Majesties. Apart from the main issue of status change, his majesty also acknowleged the post-war effects (which was essentially the primary factor for the change in status), and finally an announcement about Labuan island as being part of North Borneo.

So what does it mean to be a Crown Colony rather than a British Protectorate? Well, after the WWII, the British North Borneo Company became virtually paralysed financially. The destruction of the towns and infrastucture was so great that the Chartered Company was unable to reconstruct North Borneo. Sandakan as a capital was totally wiped out such that Jesselton was chosen as the new capital. That's when the Company decided to sell its interests to the British government, and in doing so, afforded North Borneo a Crown status on July 15, 1946. Protectorate simply means that the British government is protecting North Borneo both diplomatically and militarily, but the administration remained entirely in the hands of the Chartered Company. So when North Borneo became the Crown Colony, the British government not only controlled the administration but also safeguard North Borneo interests.

The cover/document ended with an expected final price of US$355.50. It is franked with various North Borneo and Sarawak BMA stamps and tied with Jesselton cds dated 15 JY 46. There are also translations of the proclamation in Malay and Chinese according to the seller.

On A Lighter Note...

Silamstar noticed this lot in ebay and everyone starts asking why would these common CTO stamps ended with a very high final price? About a year ago, I sold the exact same copies of stamps (CTOs) and I got US$18 for both. I thought that was pretty ok until I see this one. Perhaps Anthony was right, while North Borneo stamps are getting more expensive in the current market, those who have started collecting long time ago will be rich if they start selling their stamps now. Are North Borneo stamps on the rise?

The Saumarez Cover - The Earliest Known Cover from Labuan!

2011-07-02T14:34:00.003+01:00

The cover to Behold - the De Saumarez Cover

The Earliest Cover from Labuan!

It was only a few months back that we were discussing about the Saumarez cover, and now here it is appearing with all its glory! It is of course a great pleasure to see one of the philatelic treasures of North Borneo/Labuan - the coveted De Saumarez cover! Until recently, very few people have heard about the cover save the experts from the SSS; and fewer still, have ever set eyes on the cover with all its colour and luminosity. This cover is, of course, the earliest known cover from the island of Labuan, being posted in July 13, 1864. This makes the cover comparable to the three early covers from Labuan, known as the Stafford covers, all of which were sent in 1864 as well.

This stampless De Saumarez cover was carried by private ship to Singapore, showing two impressions of red-ink "LABUAN" double-ring cds (Proud's D1) along with boxed "SINGAPORE/SHIP LETTER/1864 AG 4/BG ____" with manuscript of "2as" indicating that 2 annas was charged in Singapore on arrival. If I'm not mistaken, Aug 4, 1864 is the arrival date in Singapore. According to the auctionner, an endorsement on the inside flap reads "72 dollars being charged for bringing the store which came by the 'Rainbow' from the beach to the store close by? - Ask Major Elphinstone to show you the Labuan agents abstract for June".

From 1861-1867 the Straits Settlement (incl. Singapore) was administered by the Burma circle, whereby according to the Indian Post Office Act (1837), letters carried by a private ship is to be stamped with black-inked box that reads "SHIP LETTER BEARING___". This is in contrast to the 3 Stafford covers where stamps from India and Hong Kong were used, the former being supplied in Singapore. One of the covers is franked with Indian stamps ammounting to 8As.

The Stafford Cover with 8As India Stamps

The Saumarez cover above is up for an auction at an estimated price of £ 6,000 - 8,000. It would be interesting to see the hammer price on this great piece of philatelic gem, which would be known after 12 Jul 2011. Comments are appreciated.

Stamp Travelling: Stanley Gibbons, London

2011-06-26T09:06:00.001+01:00

For a stamp collector, a visit to London is never complete until you reach the 399, Strand - the Stanley Gibbons shop. Located in one of the high streets in London, Stanley Gibbons is one of the few stamps shops that remain in central London. As the world's biggest stamp shop, Stanley Gibbons is certainly the collector's paradise offering anything philatelic from the basic hinges material to rare stamps and collections.

Stanley Gibbons shop, famed for its comprehensive stamps catalogue especially for the British stamps and Commonwealth stamps, is not hard to find. From the famous Big Ben, you can walk pass the Trafalgar square towards the strand street. Ths may take a mere 10 minutes or so. Other alternative is to take the underground tube to Embankment or the Charing Cross which are very close to the shop.

Completely refurbished in 2010 providing a multi-level retail space, stamp collectors now enjoy a fully interactive service, with dedicated display areas, the world renowned specialist stamp counter, internet pod, and multi-purpose meeting room for the bi-annual public auctions and investment consultations. The display area places some of most interesting collections, divided into British section and the Commonwealth section.

On my visit, there are several materials from British Borneo being displayed such as the Brunei Japanese occupation stamp, a complete sheet of Labuan overprinted with 2 cents, Sabah stamps and some Sarawak stamps. There are also many stamps from the Malaya and states, and of course other British Commonwealth countries. Because many of the collections are sold for a high price (as usual), I didn't buy anything from the shop. Visiting the shop is like visiting a philatelic museum for British stamps and British Commonwealth. With a stock ammounting to more than 3 million stamps from mixed packets and kiloware, Stanley Gibbons is definetely a place to go for a serious stamp hunting.

There is also a team of dedicated staffs at the counter for specialist stamps collections. I didn't bother to ask them to show me the British Borneo collections as they were occupied with many enthusiastic serious collectors. I know I wouldn't buy any of the collections as they reach a multi thousand pound sterling. I would rather spend my little pocket money to go for a ride in London eye or to eat a nice buffet in the Chinatown, London. :)

Overall a visit to the shop is rewarding. Stanley Gibbons shop is like an institution for stamps, unlike many of the traditional stamps shops elsewhere. For serious stamp collectors, this is certainly the best place to be. You always get something from the shop. For me, I would rather go to a more less well known stamp shop, the one usually located at the back alley with floors literally flooded with boxes of stamps.

Next Feature: A Visit to Vatican Philatelic Museum!

Post War 3-line postmark

2011-05-21T12:02:00.001+01:00

BMA Postmark

After being relatively inactive in stamps for about 2 months, I am now back into the usual stamps hunting. The latest addition to my collection are these 8 covers with the 3-line post-war cancels of Sandakan and Brunei. These postmarks were supplied by the New Straits, Singapore after the war and thus would usually appear on the BMA stamps, commonly from 1945-1946.

In North Borneo, there are postmarks for Jesselton, Tenom, Tawao, Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Labuan, Kudat and Beaufort. The Jesselton mark is only for proof strike and not seen postally used. The postmark from Beaufort and Tawao are probably the rarer ones among these. The Labuan postmark on the other hand has a morse code for "B.M.A" which is relatively unique among the others.

The 3-line postmarks were also produced for use in Brunei and Sarawak. For Brunei, there are 4 varieties of postmarks from the two towns - Brunei and Kuala Belait. In Sarawak there are postmarks produced for Sibu, Marudi, Bintulu and Lawas. The Lawas postmark has only 2 lines.

Why Cassowary depicted in North Borneo Stamps?

2011-04-21T17:59:00.006+01:00

Introduction

It's not like we have any cassowary, palm cockatoo or tapir in North Borneo, but why would these animals depicted in North Borneo stamps? One reason is that the North Borneo Company had a philatelic market in mind when designing these stamps. They are designed not only for postal purposes but also serve as collectibles, which of course increases the government's revenue further.

As a result, many North Borneo stamps are considered to be among the most beautiful stamps compared to other Commonwealth countries but remain relatively unpopular among collectors because of the mass production not matched by authentic postal requirements. As a result, many of the North Borneo stamps available in the market today are cancelled-to-ordered, which sell for a fraction of the value of postally used or mint stamps. Nevertheless, there are some interesting stories of the design in the second pictorials especially the cassowary stamp.

1. The Cassowary Stamp

Cassowary in general, is native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and not found anywhere in North Borneo. So why would this flightless bird chosen for North Borneo stamps instead of other birds? The answer is, it's a mistake in design! According to L. Shipman's Postal History of North Borneo (part III), the bird intended was Megapode (Megapodius freycinet) not a cassowary.

The intended bird - the megapode

According to Bertram E. Smythies in his book "Birds of Borneo", the megapode family is mainly found in Australo-Papuan region but they are also found in North Borneo by one island species on Labuan and its sattelites; and on the islands off the north coast of North Borneo, and in coastal jungle not far from Sandakan.

Supporting the theory that megapode was the intended bird, in the "Laws of North Borneo" published in 1936, the 24 cents stamp is referred to as megapode rather than a cassowary. It is therefore apparent that the intended bird was a megapode rather than a cassowary but an error in choosing the design may have occured resulting in the wrong design altogether. The stamps were recess-printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd, but unfortunately, there is no record of the name of the craftsman who engraved the dies.

2. The Palm Cockatoo

The depiction of the Great Black Cockatoo is deliberate and not a mistake like the cassowary stamp. It is an unfortunate choice because it is never found in North Borneo and mainly found in Papua New Guinea-Australia region. Although undeniably the cockatoo stamp is beautiful and adds to the approximately 20 animals depicted in the whole North Borneo philatelic zoo, it lacks originality and real representation of North Borneo. Nevertheless, the depiction of palm cockatoo does not end for the 1909-1923 issues only but also re-engraved for the 1939 issue of the 2 cents stamp. Someone in the North Borneo company must love this bird so much!

3. The Malaya Tapir

The Malaya tapir is another unwise choice for the North Borneo stamp. It does not exist in North Borneo although fossils have been excavated at the Niah caves in Sarawak. But tapir is certainly a better choice than the cassowary and the palm cockatoo...

Interesting Labuan cover 1893 to Channel Islands

2011-03-26T12:00:00.002Z

Description

Labuan stamps on cover remain elusive among the British Borneo philatelic collection. The early covers from this region are very scarce that to see some example of their usage would be a priviledge. The cover above shows the early usage of such stamp. In this example, the cover is franked with 6c. on 16c. stamp of 1891-1892 issue. This stamp off cover is priced at £1800 in Stanley Gibbons.

The stamp is affixed upside down and cancelled with the 9-bars Labuan obliterator cancel. It is also tied with the Labuan D5 circular cancel dated FE 4 1893. Of note, the cover is addressed to the Columbian consulate, Jersey, Channel Islands - certainly not the traditional postal destination from this region. On the reverse is the seal of the Government of British North Borneo, along with Jersey arrival (Mar 9). Overall the cover is preseved well, although with some toning and stains.

The Fake Japanese Overprints!

2011-03-25T12:43:00.002Z

Fake Japanese Overprints on North Borneo Stamps

Over the last couple of months, many sets of fake North Borneo stamps with Japanese overprints appeared periodically in ebay. When it first started in mid January this year, many people were more than happy to bid for them, perhaps for reference purposes. The final prices for these forged overprints when they were first introduced in ebay were relatively high, more so than you would expect in genuine mint copies without the overprints. Obviously many people are interested in possessing copies of these 'rare gems'. Some copies are evidently quite attractive and mouth-watering...

Nevertheless, a quick glance on the overprints shows very obvious forgery. The forged Japanese letters are thicker and appear too smooth compared to the authenthic overprints. The ink colour is in stark contrast to the genuine example.

The seller, sandraa4073, rightfully indicate that the stamps and overprints are not genuine and serve as spacefillers only. This though, was mentioned only in the description in a small letters and not in the heading of the items listed. The heading often read something like "Rare Japanese Occupation Overprint in Mint Selection", avoiding the term "forged or fake". This is potentially dangerous for buyers who don't bother to read the description. The fake Japanese overprints appear not only for North Borneo stamps but also for other countries, notably Malaya, Sarawak, and Brunei among others.

As there is a very limited amount of literature or reference regarding the forged Japanese overprint, it is vital for everyone to get used to and become familiar with the normal authentic overprints. I think it is also important to keep that small grain of suspicions especially when something seemingly very rare appear, especially in ebay. All the stamps shown here are forgeries - I'll keep them for future reference.

Review of the Most Wanted January and February 2011 ebay

2011-03-17T13:35:00.003Z

"Notable lots/items of January and February 2011"

I have finally managed to spare sometime to post this list due to St. Patrick's Day public holiday in Ireland. Although there are many interesting stuffs and items being listed in the past two months, these are essentially quite common and as such fetched relatively average prices. Some covers and postcards, as expected, reached good final prices. Even though in January there are other lots of MNH stamps that purpotedly reached hammer prices of $800 and $500 etc, these are essentially due to shill bidding and do not represent real legitimate transactions (detail here, seller has been kicked out off ebay!), as such these are not included in the list. Comments are always welcomed.

Rank	Picture	Description	Remarks
1		GBP 315 (€362) A nice cover franked with a complete set of the 1909-1923 North Borneo stamps from 1c. to 25c. (without the rare 18c. Banteng). Cancelled with Sandakan cds dated 30 Sep 1911. The date suggests that this might be Sandakan D12. A nice showpiece on cover!	Ended 09.02.2011 SG Cat price ? Seller: Dublin-stamps Ireland 3 bids
2		$273.50 (€171.60) This is a black and white real photo postcard depicting the native boys of North Borneo. Sent in 1908 from Sandakan to Mill Valley, Ca, US. At the back shows the 4 cents and two cents stamps overprinted "British Protectorate". Tied with Sandakan cds.	Ended 14.02.2011 SG Cat price ? Seller: zebediah1 USA 5 bids
3		GBP123.00 (€142) North Borneo registered cover from Jesselton to Washinton DC, USA. Franked with 4c, 5c, 8c, and 24c stamps of the definitive 1909-1922 stamps issue. Cancelled neatly with the D24 narrow double ring postmark of Jesselton dated 20 Jul 1935.	Ended 16.01.11 SG Cat Price (?) Seller: London-stamps UK 7 bids
4		$182.50 (€132) Another black and white real photo postcard showing a picture of some Europeans on a suspension bridge with the forest at the back. At the back, the postcard is franked with the 1c and 3c stamps of British Protectorate. Tied with the Sandakan cds dated 27 Jul 193?. Also sent to California, US.	Ended 14.01.2011 SG Cat Price ? Seller: zebediah1 USA 4 bids
5		$180.28 (€130) A picture postcard showing the North Borneo natives carrying water in large bamboo compartments. This is probably the method of carrying water in those days at least prior to the production of this postcard in 1908. At the back, the postcard is franked with a single stamp of 12c. British Protectorate and tied with Sandakan cds (unclear).	Ended 14.01.2011 SG Cat Price ? Seller: zebediah1 USA 5 bids

The selection criteria for this list include (a) stamps/philatelic items of North Borneo appearing in ebay, (b) must be available internationally and (c) must be on auction format only.

North Borneo Postcards: A walk to remember...

2011-03-01T12:21:00.004Z

Introduction

On January this year, several interesting North Borneo postcards have been listed in ebay. The whole collection is altogether impressive with magnificient frankings on some of the rarest black and white real photo postcards. These fine postcards merit appreciation and it is no wonder the hammer prices were high. Many of these postcards were won by a sole winner except for a number of other postcards. The pictures are all amazing and sheer historical, so I thought I'll post them here for future reference or simply for a closer look and an in-depth appreciation:

1. Sandakan St. Michael Church

2. Native House with Suspension Bridge

3. A Giant Tree in Borneo Forest

4. View in forest with Suspension Bridge

5. Fisherman's Village, Sandakan

6. Native Boys of North Borneo

7. Natives of BNB Carrying water

8. Natives tapping Ruber Tree, BNB.

9. Fashionable Dyak Women, Borneo

10. Dayak Women, Borneo

Enjoy it!

Scams and Shill Bidding in ebay!

2011-02-26T13:26:00.002Z

Ended for $856.22?

Ended for $587?

Beware the Trap!

The two stamps above are neither faked nor forged, they are genuine in every respect and would certainly get a certificate of authenticity from the Royal Philatelic Society (RPSL) or whatever authoritative body there is. The issue is not the stamp but the seller. These two stamps along with other high value stamps of North Borneo and other countries have been listed periodically in ebay by a seller named marys-gems.

If you look at the first stamp:

The stamp was listed in ebay and ended on 2 Jan 2011. There are 10 bids placed on the stamp and apparently managed to push the price to a whooping end price of US$856.22! The catalogue price for the stamp in S. Gibbons is GBP750 and in Scotts is $450. Seems so far everything is benign until you click at the bids for top bidders of the item:

And when you click at the top bidder, here's what you find:

All activities of this particular bidder revovles around only two sellers! From Jan 02 to Feb 25 2011, approximately in two months period, this remain unchanged, showing that the bidder only bid on this one seller and I suspect the other account of the same seller (emmastamps). It is of course quite unlikely to bid stamps just from one or two sellers and not from the other sellers. Surely there are many more cheaper stuffs in ebay that the bidder can bid on. This raises the suspicion of shill bidding. Pay close attention on the second highest bidder as well.

Now if we look at the other example of the North Borneo $10 stamp, we'll see that:

We'll see that the top winner was the second highest bidder on the previous item! This bidder, incidentally, is no longer a registered user. And when you click on the his account, you'll see that all (100%) bidding activity is placed on the seller marys-gems involving items such from Fiji, Ireland, Malaya etc. This pushes the possibility of shill bidding even further...

What have we Known from the Seller so far?

From various discussion in stamps forum or general online site, the seller marys-gems is quite well known among other philatelic bidders in ebay. In Stampboards.com for example, there's a specific thread dedicated to this seller and some other dodgy sellers. Click here for more information on the tricks and shameful shill bidding techniques employed by the seller. From the discussions, we also know that the seller uses another account by the name of emmastamps!

All this, I believe, is to scam the non-suspecting bidders, especially the ones without good knowledge on the general market price of a particular item. Ebay of course would not care much about the rampant shill bidding because they still get their 10% revenue when items are sold. The more people spent on the item, the richer ebay will become. So why would they employ they resources to police these activities when they can pretend not to know and at the same time increasing their profit? Of course if you report these shameful acts to them under the much touted buyer protection scheme, you may actually get some seller kicked off, but many people have reported this particular seller, but I still see him/her doing his/her uusual shill bidding and scam.

As a conclusion, for a safer online bidding experience and transaction, please don't forget to regularly check the seller as well as the bidders. This will protect you against rip-off and online scams! Ebay is not protecting you enough...

A Trip Through North Borneo 1907

2011-02-20T14:15:00.002Z

A Trip Through North Borneo, 1907

This is a very old black and white film of various scenes throughout North Borneo, filmed in 1907 by Charles Urban Trading Ltd, and sponsored by the British North Borneo Company. The original film has no audio (silent throughout) and I didn't bother to put any music on it. So here's the clip in its originality.

The clips starts with a train journey and views from the train as it passes through a village and crosses a bridge. Note that the locomotive train is the one depicted in the first North Borneo pictorial stamps as opposed to the one we still have in Sabah today. Next, the film shows rapids, most likely to be in Padas river. It also films locals on a raft and members of the expedition fording the stream. This is then followed by scenes of the local industries. Locals quarry for manganese ore, gather rubber from a tree (watched by Europeans) and pick and sort tobacco leaves from the fields.

Further scenes reveal locals at a trading post and performing for the camera. Next, Chinese convicts collect their food, before a sequence showing a European supervising two locals as they chop a sago palm tree. Once felled, the trunk is sawed off and buffaloes (ridden by locals) haul the logs off screen. Local boys take part in a swimming race - diving off a gangway, watched by a European figure rowing alongside - before the film concludes with further shots of the buffaloes, driven into, and crossing, the water.

I think that it is a very informative film, showing how North Borneo looked like about 100 years ago. This is the time which, if given some supernatural power, we would go back and collect all the North Borneo stamps, revenue documents, the coins and banknotes etc and would travel to remote areas such as Silam, Mempakul, Gayah etc to post our letters franked with the rare North Borneo stamps as we know today...:)

Labuan Registered Cover 1905 (Parker Cover)

2011-02-15T22:23:00.001Z

There is not much going on in ebay recently - much the same kind of items except for a few notable and unusual postmarks. The CNY celebration in Ireland as well as other stuffs mean that I spent less time on the internet in the past few weeks, explaining the lack of entry. :) Nevertheless, I'll share with you the most recent cover I acquired - a registered Labuan cover addressed to Mr. Fred Parker. The cover is franked with Labuan stamps of 1904 issue from 4c on 5c. to 4c. on $1 (Complete set of 9). The cover bears the violet Labuan boxed registration mark numbered 2216 and is strucked with a black single ring Labuan cds dated 2 OCT 1905. The stamps are cancelled with the 9 bars obliterator in black. At the back shows London arrival registration mark dated 8 Nov 1905.

The cover is definetely philatelic in nature and quite obviously contrived with the printed address and the "Registered" capital on top left corner. In Stanley Gibbons' catalogue, there is a brief note mentioning this - "The barred cancels can be found used on 'Philatelic' covers of this issue". I guess the note must be referring to this example. The cover itself is not unusually rare as such, and I certainly have seen at least one other example of similar cover (also franked with the 1904 complete set stamps) also addressed to Mr. Parker. In North Borneo philatelic circle, the Parker covers are quite well-known possibly because they are among the few philatelic covers from North Borneo and Labuan. Some early German dealers concentrated on the earlier postcards (eg. Kiederlen, Adolf Bauer etc) as well as the early North Borneo and Labuan covers. Nonetheless, I find the cover above particularly attractive not only because it is borne to be attractive and collected but also because I don't have many early covers from Labuan.

On a lighter note, I have started casual collection on other philatelic items outside the British Borneo and Malaya states. Some people collect China because of anticipation of increasing prices in the future, I certainly could not afford any of the Chinese stamps, so I'll collect Ireland and Great Britain as well as the works of the master engraver from Sweden, Cz. Slania (deceased). The most recent auction of an inverted overprint on China stamp by Spink reached an amazing realization of GBP 95,000 whereas the inverted India stamp reached GBP 80,000...which means I shouldn't venture on those areas at all, at least not for the time being...:)

Happy Chinese New Year 2011

2011-02-04T18:15:00.002Z

To all my stamps-enthusiast friends in Sabah and other parts of Malaysia, as well as to the rest of the worldwide community,

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Have a Good one!

Once in a Blue Moon...

2011-01-30T13:07:00.002Z

Jesselton blue cds, 1931

Got new additions to my postmark collection of Jesselton cds, strucked in blue ink dated 9 Feb (?) 1931. Not sure if it's common or not or if it's genuine at all. I got these among the complete set of the used 1931 stamps. From the 8 stamps that I received, only the $1 and $5 have the blue cds, the rest are marked with various black cds of Jesselton and Sandakan.

Blue postmark is generally a rare occurence in North Borneo stamps. You only get to see it once in a while. I haven't seen much of these in recent years, perhaps more will turn up this year? Nevertheless, I'm still not entirely sure whether the cancel is genuine or indeed a forgery, hopefully someone can shed some light...

New Views on the Labuan Stampless cover, 1858

2011-01-28T13:43:00.005Z

Introduction

I posted this in my blog sometime ago and received some interesting comments that it could very likely to be fake. The cover first appeared in ebay around December 2010 and was listed by a French seller. Around that time I had some correspondence with the SSS committee including the then president, Mr. Peter Cockburn, the Labuan specialist Mr. Jeremy Dickson, the current president and librarian of the society Mr. Simon Martin-Redman and the Vice President, Mr. Chan Kee Tex. From the collective correspondence, there are several interesting views that have surfaced, and I thought it is worthwhile to share them here.

Genuine or Fake?

This was the primary question regarding the stampless cover as pictured above - is it genuine or fake? Jeremy Dickson has provided a wealth of information on whether the cover is genuine or not. We know that so far, only six known covers that bear the earliest Labuan postmark as illustrated in Proud's book. This Harvey cover is dated "Feb 24, 1858" which means that if it's genuine, it predates all the other six known covers. In Proud's, there's a reference on a cenceller sent by the Colonial Office in London to Labuan on 15 September 1851, so the date on the Harvey cover is not at all impossible.

Jeremy had compared the dimension of the genuine cancellation (30mm for the outer ring and 29mm for the inner ring) with the one in the Harvey cover above. There is no way of telling what the dimension is in the Harvey cover so he reduced the size of the picture to match the 30/29 cancellation dimension. This resulted in the cover being measured around 100mm x 60mm - a rather small cover, but not altogether impossible.

Comparison to the other known cancellations based on the numerals was not conclusive either, as there are some parts of the lettering and numerals that are not replicated on the six known examples. Furthermore, Proud's cancellation is not accurate in terms of the lettering and numerals, making such comparison a difficult one. Nevertheless, a lack of evidence does not necessarily means that the cover is fake, as Jeremy pointed.

Regarding the comments sent by anonymous, Jeremy pointed that:

1. The red cancellation on the Stafford covers has no bearing on whether the Harvey cover is or is not genuine. The Stafford covers were datestamped in July, September and November 1864; whereas the Harvey cover is datestamped in February 1858 - over six years previously. All the other two ring cancellations (including - I think - the earlier De Saumarez July 1864 cover) are in black. It is entirely possible that over the six plus year period (1858 to 1865) different coloured ink pads would have been used. The 1864 De Saumarez cover has a rectangular boxed Singapore Ship Letter handstamp. By itself, I do not see this as any evidence that the Harvey cover is 'wrong'. It would however be helpful to consult Singapore philatelists to gain an understanding whether the boxed handstamp was used in 1858 and, if so, whether it was applied without fail to incoming mail.

2. I don't think that the suggested differences in the 8's is conclusive evidence the cover is 'wrong'; indeed I don't think that any conclusion can be drawn from this observation. Firstly, the copy I have looked at has been through the email system three times - you got it off eBay, then to Simon and then to me and each transmission would have resulted in the loss of some clarity. Secondly, there are no other known covers with '8' as the last slug in the year date. It is entirely possible that there would have been small differences between different slugs.

3. The fact that Mr Harvey was managing director of The Borneo Company could actually be said to provide authenticating evidence, rather than a reason to cast doubt on the cover. The alternative argument that, as Mr Harvey could be identified by trawling the internet, the cover is 'wrong' is inconclusive. The 'too good to be true' argument is a starting point - not the finishing line! Recently, there has been another amazing Labuan find, which goes to show that over the years covers and other material do emerge that none knew existed.

I have taken the liberty to post his comments verbatim here and I hope he wouldn't mind. :)

The Harvey Covers and French-connection

Mr Simon Martin-Redman added that in the Sarawak Journal vol 60 no 4 page 141 he described a pre stamp cover which appeared and was sold for £20,000 at a SPink auction after being touted by Lugdunum and Feldman Auctions. This was first discovered in France in 2007 and is addressed to Mrs Harvey.

Last year he saw on ebay another cover previously unrecorded bearing the Sarawak Post Office cancellation and bearing East India Stamps.. This has turned out to be the second earliest cover known from Sarawak bearing adhesives. It turned out that the cover is worth about £20,000! The interesting part was that the dealer was in France and the cover is to Mrs Harvey as well!

And now this Labuan cover from France and again Harvey. The two Sarawak covers are most definitely genuine and he therefore believes that this Labuan cover to also be genuine.

Mr Peter Cockburn and Mr Chan Kee Tex had similar view although with lesser explanations.

Conclusion

Although there are some good points to support that the cover could be genuine, these remain inconclusive as the only thing we have is the low resolution picture of the cover. It is obviously difficult to draw any firm conclusion based on this alone. I have recently emailed the French seller who listed the cover in ebay to give a higher resolition picture of the cover, but unfortunately he hasn't replied my message as yet. Perhaps we should just wait for the cover to re-appear again. At the meantime, I would appreciate your views and comments on this. Please let us know what you think.

Stamps Hunting: Cork, Ireland

2011-01-16T12:17:00.001Z

Raven stamps, Washington Street, Cork

Raven Stamps & Coins

I finally got the opportunity to re-visit the shop after extensive renovation last year. The first time I visited the shop was in 2005, about 5 years ago. At that time, the shop was still in its old location. In 2010, I got myself a nice assortment of low values Irish stamps and some British Commonwealth stamps. Unfortunately they didn't have any collectible stamps from British Borneo or Malaya.

Raven stamps' owner, Padraig O' Shea discussing about stamps

Raven stamps & Coins is the only philatelic shop in Ireland's second largest city, Cork. Situated in Washington Street, it is the centre for collectors from the southern province of Ireland, largely collecting Irish stamps, GB stamps overprinted the Irish Provisional Govt, as well as GB stamps used in Ireland. My favaourite Irish stamps is the engraved seahorse overprints (2/6, 5sh, and 10sh) but these are quite expensive and difficult to acquire. Another area of interest is the pre-stamps entire and Victorian covers used in Ireland.

Stocks of Irish stamps and GB stamps used in Ireland

The owner, Padraig O' Shea and his assistant are friendly gentlemen and would warmly welcome you to their shop. There's a radio interview by RTE to Mr. O' Shea a couple of years back, and you may listen the interview here. You can get an idea about the Irish stamps in general and listen to the Cork accent. :)

In my most recent visit, I asked about book reference relating to Irish postmarks as I'm getting more interested in collecting Irish stamps, especially the postmarks. His assistant handed me two books, one by David Feldman (1976) and another newer book but without reference on the postmarks. I didn't buy them as I already have my Stanley Gibbons for Irish stamps issues and the one by David Feldman is only for the shop's reference and not for sale. Nevertheless, it is quite unfortunate that I couldn't get any stamps from British Borneo esp. North Borneo. It would be nice to see covers sent from North Borneo to a rare destination like Ireland. Perhaps I should continue the hunt in Ireland's capital, Dublin!

The Seahorses overprinted "Irish Free State 1922"

What is A.V.2 Postmark?

2011-01-12T21:34:00.003Z

Brunei 1947 cover franked with 1c. to $1 stamps (12) bearing the circular A.V.2 mark in black ink

What is A.V.2 postmark?

I recently got this Brunei cover with A.V.2 mark on it. In ebay there're several North Borneo covers that appeared with the same circular mark, and I managed to get another one. A.V.2 stands for "Avion 2", a UPU term that signifies that the letter arrived at a transit point and had to be forwarded by air to its intended destination. It appears in airmail letters of certain countries between 1940s to 1960s. During and after the war, many countries tried to avoid the war zones routes and resulted in longer route requiring transits. A.V.2 is then applied on a letter on top of the bundle in the transit point, explaining the relative rarity of such postmark. The equivalent mark for A.V.2 is the O.A.T mark (usually in red) which means "Onward Air Transmission".

Registered cover from North Borneo bearing the A.V.2 circular mark, 1947.

Another registered cover from Jesselton franked with Sarawak BMA stamps with A.V.2 mark, 1947

A.V.2 and O.A.T postmark

A.V.2 and O.A.T marks are virtually the same. Murray Heifitz did a pioneering research on these and published his findings in the Airpost Journal (from American Airmail Society) in December 1992. According to him, A.V.2 mark was used in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Amman, Cairo, Tripoli and San Francisco from 1940 to 1957, and later in other places such as Prague in 1966. The O.A.T marking was used in London, Prestwick, Tangiers, Hong Kong and Amman from 1940 to 1945. Of these two, Heifitz estimates that about 1000 to 1500 of A.V.2 marks exist in collectors' hand (maybe even higher) while many more of letters with O.A.T mark exist, making the A.V.2 mark relatively rarer than the O.A.T mark. He lists 20 types of A.V.2 mark and 15 O.A.T marks based on about 500 letters.

Example of A.V.2 mark used in Bangkok, 1947

The circular O.A.T mark in red used in a cover from Canada to Switzerland, 1948

Collecting A.V.2 mark

Because there are about 20 types of A.V.2 used in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, the US etc., this should be an interesting area to explore and collect, knowing the fact that only letter on top of the bundle receives the marking, making it quite rare. The O.A.T mark is probably not as common as the A.V.2 mark with regards to letters from British Borneo (N.Borneo, Sarawak, Labuan, Brunei) but discovery may still be made! Happy hunting.

The North Borneo Gems of 2010 in ebay

2011-01-10T23:09:00.016Z

"The Gems of 2010"

<>As we left 2010 behind, the records remain. Over the year, many interesting items turned up and high realisation prices achieved. The following list shows the most wanted and coveted philatelic materials of North Borneo in ebay for the whole of 2010, based on the final price. Of course price alone does not necessarily reflects rarity, and other factors such as supply and demand as well as the economic condition at that time play a pivotal role in determinng the overall desirability. We've gone through the economic uncertainty at one stage in 2010, it probably has settled down a bit but around that time, although the rare items remained expensive, some of the common ones became much more affordable. This list serves as a future reference not only for the rare items of North Borneo and Labuan but also the price trend throughout the year.

Some items were expected to reign the top 10 while others may never reach the same realisation in ebay at least for the time being due to increasingly more supplies. This in general is good for the collector, items becoming cheaper and hopefully the trend will continue. The rare items though remain in their own class, not affected much by the economic conditions. As we are now in a new year, hopefully many interesting items turn up and listed.

Rank	Picture	Description	Remarks
1		$961 (£617) This lot surprisingly came first of all the other lots, stamps or covers. In January 2010, this is not very surprising but now after 1 year, this kind of mint lot, no matter how perfect they are, probably won't achieve the same realisation (at least not in ebay). This lot illustrates the steep downward trend of the price. It steadily devalues from $961 in Jan 2010 to $460 in August the same year. Now, the whole issue from 1c. to $5 probably won't even sell for $400. Nevertheless, the issue remains one of the most wanted North Borneo stamps issues. The engraved design gives it an extra appeal and the colourful designs make it one of the finest North Borneo engraved stamps.	Ended January 2010 Seller: arce12340 From: South Africa 3 bids
2		$898 (£577) This one stamp rules ebay in 2010. It is the single most expensive stamp in ebay throughout the year. This is SGJ15 in S. Gibbons with violet overprints. The catalogue value is only £500. We know that in ebay, prices rarely realised above the SG catalogue, but this stamp did. The perfect perforations, the mathematically centered design and the clean surface must be the primary reasons. Furthermore, in addition to that the seller also offered the certificate of authenticity from RPSL.	Ended October 2010 Seller: Marys-gems USA 23 bids
3		$762 (£489) This airmail cover of the first flight of North Borneo remains the most expensive cover in 2010. The unique boxed cachet is very attractive and eye-catching. For only a month in 1930, the airmail cover is one of the most celebrated and coveted cover of all. This particular cover is addressed to Mr. H. A. Dabell, the then postmaster of North Borneo.	Ended February 2010 Seller: apsguy88 USA 4 bids
4		$717 (£461) This is another interesting cover from the Japanese occupation period (1942-1945). The cover is addressed to the Lahad Datu post office (c/o postmaster) and is franked with 3 North Borneo stamps including the 1c. "War Tax" stamp overprinted with the Japanese characters which translate "Imperial Japanese Government or Dai Nippon Teikoku Seifu". Tied neatly with the circular Japanese cancels in violet from Sandakan dated "20.04.1942". The most remarkable aspect of the cover is probably the vivid censor mark in violet and red, applied in Sandakan Central Post Office.	Ended April 2010 Seller: Sarawakiana Malaysia 10+ bids
5		$676 (£434) Next comes this $10 stamp of 1911 issue overprinted with black "Red Cross two cents" for the 1918 issue. For mint, the SG Cat value is £425. This is again, in excess of the Gibbons' price although very slightly. The perfect centering and perforations as well as the fresh and clean look all contribute to the high realisation. Nevertheless, barely a month after being listed, a similar $10 stamp with the overprint was again listed in December and only managed to get £275 final price. Who knows what the price would be the next time the stamp appear again, could it be up or down or remains the same?	Ended October 2010 Seller: Marys-gems USA 21 bids
6		$655 (£421) This is to my knowledge one of the most interesting covers in ebay because not only that it bears the very rare "A.R." postmark, it also defies Proud's recorded usage of such postmark. Proud recorded the A.R. mark to be in use from 16.9.11 - 6.3.29, but this cover has it on 09.09.1901, which means that the cover probably bears the earliest usage of "A.R" mark known. I'm not sure though if there's any more information regarding the A.R. mark but I think this alone should be enough to make the cover one of the gems of North Borneo postal history. In addition to that the colourful frankings, the arrival registration mark in red and the general feel of the cover makes it a great showpiece!	Ended February 2010 Seller: apsguy88 USA 4 bids
7		$625 (£401) This lot is the complete set (almost) of 1909 and 1911 combined, just short the 18c. green stamp of Banteng without the "20 cents" surcharge. For mint never hinged and overall good condition, it is no surprise that the lot reached a high hammer price. In January 2010, the MLH $10 stamp reached $360 realisation, while in May it reached $310. In 2011, the market may remain strong for such a stamp.	Ended September 2010 Seller: angloamericanappraisal USA 4 bids
8		$620 (£398) The blue registered cover of Labuan is no. 8 in the list. It is an interesting showpiece, franked with Labuan stamps of 8c. 2 times 10c. and one 20c., with registration mark of Labuan and London.	Ended February 2010 Seller: apsguy88 USA 4 bids
9		$610 (£392) This cover is unique because of the mixed franking of Brunei stamps and Labuan stamp. It is a registered cover from Brunei to London via Labuan, dated 19 Jul 1895. $610 is a reasonable price realisation for such a cover as I have seen two similar mixed franking covers addressed to Mr. F. R. Parker on 22 and 23 July 1895, both of which ended with close to $800 final price. The fact that the cover is sold from Bulgaria is another interesting aspect about the cover (unrelated of course...).	Ended December 2010 Seller: Butterman3598 Bulgaria 14 bids
10		$599 (£385) Last but not least is this 1918 issue of $5 overprinted in black "red cross two cents". Beautiful stamp with well preserved perforations.	Ended January 2010 Seller: stampmalaya USA 1 bid

Comments, improvements and additional information are welcome!

Joke of New Year: Sarawak FDC 1953 offered for £1,579!

2011-01-07T13:09:00.001Z

Joke of the Year

Couldn't believe my eyes when I found this cover in ebay. The seller, apparently with just 13 feedbacks, tries to sell this very common, very typical generic FDC for an eye-poping price of £1,579! Even the opening bid is £1,200. In his description he writes: "This First Day Cover was released in conjunction of the coronation day of H.M Queen Elizabeth 2. In that year, Sarawak (now under Malaysia) was still under British ruling. This rare artifact is more than 50 years old and is highly valuable. If you have successfully purchased it, please handle with care."

Happy New Year 2011!

2010-12-31T20:00:00.006Z

Happy New Year 2011!

2010 passes with good and fond memories. As we usher the new year, may it brings prosperities and endless joys.
Happy Hunting and Have a Great New Year 2011!

Cover: WWII illustrated cover from Labuan to England sent by a soldier on active service in Labuan. Shows the red Maritime Mail mark and the circular cachet inscribed Post office. On lower left aspect shows the shield-shaped censor mark in violet.

Stamps Hunting: Amsterdam and Athens, Greece

2010-12-28T14:46:00.017Z

Amsterdam, Holland

First off, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011! May it bring prosperous and joyous year to you! So for my winter break I went to Amsterdam and Athens for one week. I finally get a break from busy schedule in the hospital everyday. The holiday is definetely a good excuse to escape the bitterly cold winter in Ireland where pipes get blocked or even burst. My visit to Amsterdam was very brief as it served only as a transit to Greece. Nevertheless, I had about one full day to spend in the city. Finding a stamp shop was one of my primary motives in Amsterdam as I've enjoyed all the fun in the city including the notorious red light district and the breathtaking windmills when I visited the city 2 years ago. This time I was determined to look for another attraction the city has to offer.

Stamps shop Amsterdam

Amsterdam on the 20th December was covered in snow. This made walking a bit difficult, slippery and wet. Finding philatelic shops without prior knowledge of the street was like finding rare stamps - you only find it if you are lucky. Fortunately I managed to find some 3 stamps shops in Nieuwezijds Voorbugwal Street after a long walk. The bad thing about stamps hunting in Christmas time is that many shops are closed and it was good enough that one of the three shops was open.

I went in and was duly greeted in Dutch. Then, realizing that I was clueless in Dutch the old man asked me "hello, how may I help you?". I said to him that I was looking for Borneo stamps and he then asked me "you mean Sarawak, Labuan, Brunei and North Borneo?" "Yes that", I replied, slightly amazed to the fact that he knows about the British Borneo. "Well I have some covers, postcards and some stamps, but unfortunately my assistant is not around today, he's usually the one handling that area of specialty, but you can come back again tomorrow...". I explained to him that I will be in Amsterdam only for the day and that I have to fly to Athens that night, so I requested to just see the collection, but unfortunately he didn't know where exactly the stamps were and insisted that I come back the next day.

After many futile attempts, I gave in and asked him whether he would take my email, but then being a traditional seller and IT-illiterate he said that he had no email and that he's not very familiar with selling stamps online. In the end, all I got was a picture of the shop :( The moral of the story is, plan your visit and stay longer in any one city.

Athens, Greece

Temple of Poseidon

I stayed in Athens for about a week visiting some Greek Islands, the ancient Greek ruins and temples. It was a fascinating country with beautiful panoramic scenes. But stamps-wise, it's no better than Amsterdam. I only started to look for stamps shops on Christmas eve which was of course pretty silly as many shops were closed. Finding a stamp shop in Athens was slightly more difficult than in Amsterdam as I didn't know much of the Greek letters, only relying from my vague Maths and Physics symbolisms. I had to look up in the internet so as not to waste my time wandering the many streets in the vast city. Nonetheless, I managed to find 2 stamps shops, both of which were closed. Both were situated in Stadiou street (10 and 39) between Syntagma and Omonia square.

Stamps shop in Stadiou 10

There are of course many other stamps shops in Athens but I didn't bother to visit them as I know they're closed. Even the philatelic museum in Fokianou street was closed around Christmas time. Many other shops were closed as well, but I still get the chance to visit some interesting shops selling antique stuffs such as old coins and banknotes. Although I'm not a big fan of collecting these, I ended up spending hours looking at the old Greek currencies from one street to another. They're just interesting with varying designs incorporating the ancient Greek gods and mythology. My personal favourite was the old coin depicting an owl, which resembles closely to the current 1 Euro coin from Greece.

A visit to Mediterranean Greece was supposed to be an escape of the Irish winter. Although a year back, we heard of a violent riot in the city against the police, the city was actually quite peaceful during my visit. Nevertheless, I've seen some remnants of vandalisms on public buildings and facilities - the post office included. A post office just facing the Syntagma square had its window broken and smeared with red paints. Its kiosk vending stamps was burnt to the point of non functionality. But overall, the city was pleasant enough that I would consider coming back again, that time perhaps I would hunt for the awe-inspiring Hermes head stamps of Greece!

Old Greek coins in Monastiraki area

The Greek Postboxes in Syntagma

To err is Divine: Labuan Inverted Centre

2010-12-16T14:39:00.006Z

Inverted centre

Inverted Centre

Philately is similar to fine art - it is the satisfaction, appreciation and understanding that count. In general, collectors have a special interest in rarity. Perfection is not the only big thing in collecting stamps, quite the opposite, freaks and errors also generate equal if not more interests.

The picture above shows a Labuan stamp with an inverted centre. This is basically an 8 cent postage due stamp of 1901 issue, with CTO mark on top right. Reportedly, less than 40 of such stamps exist, with a catalogue value (SG D6ba) of £ 9,500. It is currently auctioned in an auction house from US and has a bid of $6,500.

Labuan Stampless Cover 1858: A New Discovery? or a Fake?

2010-12-09T19:24:00.008Z

The Cover

The cover above appeared in ebay on 6 December 2010 with an opening bid of GBP9.00. A day after being listed, the seller ended the auction (without bids). I emailed him asking the reason behind it and here's what he replies "...just because due to its scarcity, I realized that eBay was not the best place to sell it maybe I will hand it over to Feldmann or another auctioneer".

The cover itself, from a quick glance, is not any attractive than the other earliest Labuan covers. In fact, there are no stamps found and apart from the postmark and the handwritten address, the cover is virtually void of any appeal. Nevertheless, from a more detailed inspection, the postmark shows a date of FEB 24, 1858 which means that the cover is probably one the earliest known covers from Labuan!

The Postmark

I'm not sure whether there's any reference about this particular cover or postmark in the literature or not. I have seen a number of early Labuan postmarks similar to this one, but typically show the year of 1864 or 1865 and may be strucked with either red or black ink. Proud mentions that a datestamp was ordered on 15.09.1851 with sliding dates plus ink pad and post office seal, but no other detailed note. The earliest Postal Regulation of Labuan was introduced in 1849 and free delivery to Singapore is only granted to letters on the public service (sent or received by authorized officers) and letters of non-commisioned officer, soldiers, seamen or marines.

Mr. Harvey of Borneo Co. Limited

The cover is addressed to Mr. Harvey of Borneo Co. Limited (BCL), Singapore. Mr. John Harvey was the then managing director of the company and one of its board members. BCL was founded in 8 May 1856 in London as a joint stock, limited liability company, doing import and export business including the formation of a shipping cartel. Singapore was the headquarter of the company in the Far East with braches in places like Borneo, China, Hong Kong, India, Java etc.

Note: Please read a further discussion on the cover HERE by the members of the Sarawak Specialist Society.

Land Ordinance Documents with Perfinned Revenue Stamps 1920

2010-12-07T18:10:00.003Z

The Perfinned Revenue Stamps

Both documents show the use of perfinned stamps with the word REV / ENUE, arranged in 2 lines of 73 holes. The perfins may be upright or inverted as seen in the second document (although sideways perfins are also recorded). Stamps from both documents are cancelled using the "Land Office, Jesselton, B.N. Borneo" oval double ring cancel in 16 June 1920. I think both documents are related to the transfer of land ownership. All stamps are faulted (as usually the case for revenue-related use) but in general, perfinned stamps from North Borneo are quite rare. These stamps appear only very rarely in ebay!

Similar But Not the Same

2010-12-05T13:39:00.002Z

Cover A

Cover B

Similar But Not the Same

Both covers are similar in many ways: they are both franked with a complete set of 1894 stamps from 1c. to 24c, they are both sent from Sandakan to Germany and tied with the same cds. Both are registered mails with reg. no 36 and 26 respectively, and both are philatelic in nature.

The main differences are the franking style, the cover used, and the address. Cover A is clean, fault-free cover with the address printed, definetely with philatelic market in mind; whereas cover B is handwritten with slight fault on top, but with a feel of genuine postally used cover.

The question is, if you were to choose from one of these covers, which one would you choose? Cover A or Cover B? I like a clean, fault-free cover but I also prefer a cover with a feel of genuine postally used rather than purely philatelic in nature. But what do you think? Cover A or Cover B and why?

Or follow the discussion in Stampboards here

The Pen Cancels of North Borneo

2010-11-28T16:53:00.006Z

2 cents stamps with 8 cents surcharge pen-cancelled with "Silam"

Pen Cancels

Pen cancellation is relatively common among the North Borneo stamps but currently there is a limited reference or study done on the subject. This resulted in very few attention or interest on the subject itself. If looked carefully, some pen cancels are actually quite interesting and possibly rare.

Most pen cancels are seen in revenue or fiscally used stamps. The cancels can range from a simple meaningless scribble to something describing the date and town, and in some case, the initials of the postmaster.

Pen cancels with Chinese characters?

Usage

Pen cancels are usually associated with fiscal or revenue stamps, however, in some instances it may be used as a substitute to handstamp on postally used stamps. It is not certain whether North Borneo ever necessitated pen cancels because of the shortage of handstamps, however in some countries a shortage of handstamps may be solved simply by using the pens. Nicaragua for example exclusively used pen cancels for seven years after its first stamps issue due to unavalability of handstamps.

Values

Of course because of the nature of the cancellation, pen cancels worth significantly lower than handstamped collection. Even a CTO stamp may worth more than a pen-cancelled stamp. It is probably the less desired cancels of all and some people even attempt to remove the cancels to make the used stamps appear mint.

A variety of pen cancels on fiscally used stamps

Nevertheless, pen cancel is still unique in its own way, and clearly someone has to do a research or study on the topic. It would be nice to know whether there is a regulation or guideline issued by the North Borneo Company on how to pen-cancel a stamp.

Buyer's Premium: A Rip Off?

2010-11-19T02:46:00.013Z

Buyer's Premium

Anyone participating in an online auction should notice this - the buyer's premium - an additional charge levied by the auction house to the successful bidder in addition to the final hammer price. This 'small' charge is paid by the bidder to the auctionhouse but not passed or shared with the vendor.

The majority of the stamps online auction charges this at 15%. Usually this also includes a Value Added Tax (VAT) but some auctionhouse charges separate VAT (eg. Stanley Gibbons), which makes the successful bidder pays more.

It is strange that we have to pay an additional amount just because we have the privilege of buying things from them. If we go shopping in a supermarket and buy a $1.00 pen, this 15% additional tax means we have to pay an extra 15c - but for what? For the pleasure and privilege of shopping in that shop?

A Rip Off?

So what do we get for the additional tax we pay? Certainly nothing because we don't get any extra service apart from the basic email correspondence and we don't get free catalogue either. The auctionhouse charge it only because they can and they'll make more money out of it.

Auctionhouse	Buyer's Premium
Stanley Gibbons	15%
Interasia	15%
Sandafayre	15%
Cherrystone	15%
David Feldman	15%
Status Int	16.5%
Cristoph Gartner	19%
Siegel	20%

Some buyer's premium from common auctionhouse

Surely they should charge the seller (or vendor) more because they are the ones using the service from the auctionhouse. For example if a consignment of stamps is received from a seller, the auctionhouse has to research for the stamps, revalue them, making estimation, take pictures and publicise them in a catalogue and then advertise the upcoming auction in stamp magazines or internet etc. So it is reasonable to charge the vendors a good percentage of the final price, but why charge the buyer?

The only reason I could think of is that they are taking the advantage of the fact that no two collections are the same. Scarcity is the keyword. Buyers would go an extra mile just to get hold of rare and good collections, and some buyers of course wouldn't mind paying a little more as long as they can get their desired items. This simply reflects the basic tenet of supply and demand. In order to get a quality supply, the auctioneer would not overcharge the seller, but because there is a strong demand in philatelic materials, they feel they should make full use of it by charging the buyer as well (and make them 15% richer).

A buyer's premium, as cool as it may sound, is simply a rip off. Nothing else. It is used by many auctionhouse elsewhere and not limited to the stamps business.

The question is, is it legal? Well no one has challenged the practice before so it could be legal. However, because the buyer gets nothing for the 15% charge (or whatever the rate is), it can be considered a "levy" or "tax" or "extortion" which is illegal by the standard of the European law. So maybe somehow someone would bring this matter into the attention of the European court and outlaw this shameful practice. Just my 2 cents...

Interesting Stampless North Borneo Covers

2010-11-13T11:54:00.004Z

Early cover from North Borneo?

Saw this cover in ebay sometime ago but I'm not sure what exactly it was. The heading says "THE BRITISH NORTH BORNEO COMPANY" similar to the government official cover eg. OHMS. The only postmark on the cover is the red ink London Paid postmark, 7 Dec 1890. No other postmarks from North Borneo. Is this kind of cover commonly used by the company in 1890s? Has anyone got any information about this?

*****

Jesselton 20c Paid Postmark

Another interesting stampless OHMS cover from North Borneo to Denmark. It is marked with Jesselton 20c Paid postmark dated 22 Feb 1956. The lower left corner of the cover is also strucked with violet cachet of the Department of Posts & Telegraphs, Colony of North Borneo, Jesselton. There is certainly no reference on this postmark in Proud's book, which makes it a nice collectable.

The Hunt for Great Postmarks II

2010-11-06T14:44:00.009Z

Introduction

Imagine you are given the task of presenting the essence of your country's philatelic history in one-page stock card. What sort of postmarks or stamps would you put and why?

A quick glance into this collection gives you that sense of historical appeal, capturing the very essence of North Borneo's rich philatelic history and not to mention the thrill of looking into some of the rarest North Borneo postmarks!

It appeared in an online auction site (not ebay) about 2 weeks ago and ended in 2 Nov 2010. The site's estimated price was way undervalued at £180-£220 (of course the final price was way beyond that range).

The rare Postmarks

Generally speaking the collection presents a nice mix of old and new postmarks. Some of the most notable postmarks are:

GANTIAN.

Gantian simply means a "replacement" or "substitution" in Malay. The town is so named because it was used as a substitution of the earlier settlement in Gaya island after being burned down by Mat Salleh. The Gantian cds in the collection is struked in black ink and shows a date of 13 FEB 1900, consistent with the D2 type postmark. Although there is a slight fault in the year on the postmark, it can be overlooked considering the fact that it is generally an excellent cds of this extremely rare town.

GAYAH.

Equally interesting postmark on the horizontal pair of violet 3 cents of the 1887-1892 stamps. The cds is strucked in black ink and shows the upper half of the cds. The date is not visible although the "B" code on top of the date can be seen (not sure what it indicates). The numbers of letters received or dispatched from the post office are not known but from Nov 1886 - Jan 1887 only about $ 24.50 of the stamps sold.

MEMPAKUL.

Mempakul town still exists today. It is situated on the shore of Brunei Bay facing the Labuan island. It is about 3 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu towards the more well-known town of Menumbok due to ferry service to Labuan. The Mempakul postmark in the collection is struked in black ink on the 5 cents stamp of 1892 issue, showing the right half of the cds. The date is 25 MAY 1897, consistent with the D2 type postmark. In general, there are 3 types of Mempakul cds, all of which are very rare.

ELOPURA.

Elopura postmark is used from 1884-1885 before the name Elopura being reverted back to Sandakan. Prior to 1884, oval of bars postmarks were used (or doted postmark). Even though the official usage of the above postmark was from 1884-1885, it is presumed that it was used unofficially to cancel some high values stamps up to 1890. The year in the Elopura cancellation in the lot is unclear, it could be the genuine postally used cds or that of favoured cancels.

LAHAT DATU.
There are two Lahat Datu cancels in the lot. The first one, which is probably the more notable one is the one with the blue ink bull's-eye cancel. The date is 2 APL 1903, consistent with the D3 Lahat Datu cancel. The second Lahat Datu cds is struked in black, dated 10(?) MAY 1908 which is also the D3 type.

OTHERS.

There are many more postmarks worth mentioning such as the nice TAWAO cds, the PAPAR, HONG KONG, SANDAKAN, BEAUFORT etc.

P/s: Comments are welcomed!

Pan American Airways Trans-Pacific Clipper Service (1935-1941)

2010-10-17T15:27:00.004+01:00

Map showing the Trans-Pacific route of the Pan-American Airways (PANAM-14 and PANAM-19)

Introduction

Terms such as trans-pacific, trans-atlantic, China clipper, Pacific clipper covers, Pan-American airways etc are very confusing to me; so I decided to read up on the topic and skim through the vast resources in the internet. These terms are quite important to know because many interesting and unique pre-WWII covers bear these words and not knowing them means you'll miss some of the greatest things in collecting postal history.

Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Clipper Service

Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic are just two of the many routes in the Pan American Airways service. The Pan American Airways (PanAm) was the premier American air carrier from 1920s before its collapse in 1991. "Clipper" simply refers to a 19th century sailing ship but the term is very synonymous to the company because they named their aircrafts with the word "clipper" (e.g. China clipper). This is probably to show the image of sailing through the blue sky to exotic and distant destinations.

The China Clipper passes over the San Francisco waterfront at the start of the inaugural commercial flight across the Pacific Ocean.

China clipper is the name for one of the company's aircraft, and is esentially a Martin M-130 flying boat. Only three M-130s were built: China clipper, Hawaii clipper and the Phillipine clipper. A fourth flying boat called the Russian clipper (designated M-156) was built for the Soviet Union. The China clipper, being the first of the four flying boats of the company, is important because it was the first airmail flight across the Pacific. On November 22, 1935, China clipper 'sailed' from San Francisco for Manila. This event marked the first trans-pacific airmail flight.

A cover sent to US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt from the trans-Pacific first flight

The Trans-Pacific Route

The first trans-Pacific route was designated FAM-14 (Foreign Air Mail Route). From 1935-1939, FAM-14 served as the only route connecting USA to Asia. However, as the World War II seemed inevitable and fears of normal delivery being attacked, the volume of mails carried in the Pacific clipper service began to increase. This prompted the Pan American Airways to open another route in the Pacific region, designated FAM-19, connecting the US and southern Pacific with Auckland as a base.

Cover from N. Borneo to USA on 3 November 1941

When Italy joined the WWII conflict in 1940, all existing Mediterranean routes for airmails were esentially stopped. This means letters from Asia could not be delivered to western European countries through the Mediterranean routes. As a result, two-oceans airmail service was developed, the trans-Pacific, trans-Atlantic route. In general, the Pacific clipper service was much safer, faster and reliable, but also more expensive. This explains why covers flown in the service are usually franked with high values stamps.

North Borneo and the Clipper service

The Pacific clipper service only became available in Singapore in May 1941. Several covers from North Borneo were sent using the service. This is usually characterised by high-value frankings and absence of incoming postmark (eg. Singapore). The last flight of the China clipper left Singapore on November 30, 1941 and arrived Manila the same day. It departed Manila on December 1 and arrived San Francisco on Dec 6. For only a brief period of availability, covers from North Borneo, Sarawak, Malaya etc flown via the clipper are considered very rare.

The rates for the service with regards to North Borneo depends on the service used. From May 26, 1941 ½ oz. letter to Europe via Egypt costs 55c, Europe destination with air to NY and then by sea costs $1.45, while with air throughout (i.e. trans-Pacific, trans-Atlantic) costs $2.05. US and Canada destinations costs $1.45 however, on July 3, 1941 the rate was raised to $1.55 per ½oz. Postcards have lower rates. In addition to the standard clipper rates, 2 cent War Tax stamp (for non-domestic destination) is also usually charged.

Summary

China clipper = Name of first flying boat Martin M-130 across the Pacific from USA

Trans- Pacific = Can be FAM-14 or FAM-19, routes of airmails across the Pacific

Trans-Pacific trans-Atlantic = Two oceans service crossing the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by air throughout

References:

Gracephilatelics

Wikipedia

Etc

$3 Million British Empire Collection in ebay?

2010-10-13T18:58:00.004+01:00

$3M collection of British Empire Collection?

Last week, a Russian seller listed this lot in ebay. It didn't sell the first time he listed it and had it relisted again. In the description, it says that the collection covers the British Commonwealth countries, organised from Aden to Zululand.

There are 3 parts in the collection, the first part consists of mostly of mint stamps from 1840-1955 in 90 volumes of album. This is estimated at £1.55 Million based on Stanley Gibbons 2010 catalogue. The second part is the used stamps particularly strong on the Queen Victoria, North Borneo and Western Australia and is estimated £0.32 Million. The third part consists of postal covers and stationaries said to be from as early as 1720-1955, and is estimated at $0.4 million.

Is this valid?

Now to the most important question - Is this whole thing a reliable business or is it just one of the biggest scams ever attempted in ebay? The seller put a but it now price of $880,000 and starting the bid for $800,000. But from the seller's feedback of merely 9 and the fact that the owner would not ship anywhere and requires the buyer to go to Moscow for local pick-up, raise some suspicions to say the least.

The owner provided about 10,000 pictures here. I only looked at the North Borneo, Labuan, Sarawak, Brunei and Malaya stamps and to be fair, the stamps are just perfect and some are exquisitely rare! It is possible that somehow, someone in Russia really has such a great collection, but who knows what would happen once you click the "Buy It Now" button and send your payment? This particular auction has also been discussed more thoroughly in Stampboards.com.

What About The British Borneo and Malaya Collection?

I don't know much about the other countries collection and I'm only interested in the British Borneo and to a little extent, the Malaya. So I went to look for these countries among the collection. There are literally thousands upon thousands of pictures provided and if you have an old computer, you'll risk crashing your machine in no time. Anyway, here's some of the pictures for the North Borneo and Labuan collection:

To look for more pictures click below:

1. Mint North Borneo & Labuan collection starting here.

2. Used and CTOs N. Borneo and Labuan starting here.

3. All other stamps in the collection here.

So what Now?

I've been waiting since last week to see if there's any wealthy bidder or buyer who has a spare $800,000 for this collection but nobody bided so far. I certainly don't have that much fund to begin with unless I can steal the CT scan or the MRI scan in my hospital and sell it in ebay for a fraction of it's original value. :) But then again, even if I manage to get the money, I'll still be hesitant to bid for the lot...So I'll stick with what's normal rather than an unpromising venture.