Oxen and Buffaloes of North Borneo

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Although this year's festive season would be celebrated quite differently considering that the pandemic is still around, I hope everyone out there adheres to the standard operating procedures set. After all, it is always a priority to keep all our loved ones safe. 

Celebrating the Year of the Ox this year, I thought it would be great to showcase the main character itself portrayed in North Borneo stamps, which first appeared in the 1909 definitives in both denominations of 8 cents and 18 cents; inclusively, an 20 cents overprint in red of the latter. 

1909-1922 ISC147 8c Lake 

1909-1922 ISC151 18c Blue-green

(Left) 1909 ISC153 20c on 18c 
(Right) 1925-1928 ISC251 20c on 18c 

(Left) 1945 ISC284 1c Green & red-brown
(Mid) 1947 ISC299 1c Green & red-brown
(Right) 1941 ISC282 1c Green & red-brown ovpt 'WAR TAX'

1950 ISC324 5c Violet 


1954 ISC340 Reddish-violet


1961 ISC360 Brown & grey-green


1961 ISC365 Emerald & yellow-brown


1963 ISC371 Ultramarine



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bar Cancels of Labuan: Part 1

Image
Labuan is an island off the coasts of Sabah (then, known as North Borneo). Though small in size, it is in fact the first (earlier than North Borneo and Sarawak) to have a proper post office in the mid 1800s.  Labuan joined the Universal Postal Union on 16 April 1877 while British North Borneo joined on 1 January 1891. Concurrently, upon joining the Universal Postal Union, Labuan also adopted the postage rates of Straits Settlements as well as stamps of Straits Settlements by purchasing it from Singapore until it issued its own in 1879.  The postage stamps, prior to datestamps, were cancelled with dumb-type obliterators such that was used in Straits Settlements. The first two obliterators are round dumb-types while the third, which is also the last before the usage of datestamps, is a 9-bar obliterator.  I have not been the biggest fan of bar cancels prior to recent years since they are challenging to identify, especially for a beginner like me. It became easier now with a reference boo
Read more

Train Mail postmarks of North Borneo (1)

Image
Train mail postmark is another interesting area in marcophily (a fancy word that describes collecting and the study of postmarks).  When I first learnt about train mails, it became so much more interesting because who knew letters could be posted on trains, and ships even! (that's for another day).  Letters posted on trains were subjected to ordinary postal rates.  Here's what I have in my collection so far: Proud D6 'TRAIN MAil' on ISC270 Proud D6 'train MAIL' on ISC270, with a discolored center probably light bleached.  Proud D6 Another D6. Would be a really stunning bullseye if the bottom part of the postmark was struck clearer.  Proud D6 Proud D5 on ISC242. Other than the larger gap between 'NORTH BORNEO', T of 'NORTH' was also seen to be shorter lengthwise.  Proud D8 'rAILWAY p.o.' on ISC358. I remembered paying RM6 for this piece 5 years ago.  In this never-ending quest to find, collect, and learn more, I hope to be able to own a fe
Read more

Identifying Paper Types of the B.M.A Malaya Overprint: Substitute, Chalk, and Thin Striated Paper

Image
Initially, chalk paper was the default paper type introduced as means to combat the re-use of stamps. The chalky coating used enabled ink, conveniently both the prints and postal markings, to adhere better to which re-use of stamps via removal of the cancellation would damage the stamp design. Due to war-time shortages during and after World War II, chalk paper was replaced by what is known as ‘ordinary paper’ as a substitute (hence, it was also known as substitute paper). Generally, this BMA Malaya series was seen in three paper types: a. Substitute paper / Ordinary paper b. Thin striated paper c. Chalk paper  The quickest way in identifying paper types, specifically in distinguishing between ordinary paper and chalk paper is by the silver scratch test. Upon scratching the surface of a chalk-coated paper with silver, a faint dull grey line will appear. This technique was mentioned in Stanley Gibbons' catalogue. However, it was also discredited since scratching the surface of the s
Read more