myStampJourney

In 1971, a set of Butterfly themed stamps were issued in each state replacing the use of the former Orchids definitive stamps.  These stamps were initially printed by Bradbury Wilkinson, and designed by Victor Whiteley. Later on, a change in printing contract in 1977 meant that subsequent prints were handled by Harrisons and Sons Limited, for a limited period. Differences are subtle, however, distinguishing them is manageable since both Bradbury Wilkinson and Harrison had different printing approaches.  At times, the color of the right column is a giveaway, which in the case for the 2c and 5c denomination, Harrison and Sons print has a light blue colored column instead of white.  Harrison and Sons on the left, Bradbury Wilkinson on the right. Harrison and Sons on the left, Bradbury Wilkinson on the right. As for the 10c denomination, another noticeable feature is that the black veins seen on the wings of the butterfly of the Harrison and Sons print were more prominent. Harrison and Son

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

Established by the British Government in 1896, the Federated Malay States (FMS) comprised of four independent Malay states: Selangor, Negri Sembilan (Negeri Sembilan), Pahang, and Perak with Kuala Lumpur as the designated administrative capital. The flag of the FMS consisted of stripes of white, red, yellow, and black from top to bottom - in the same order as mentioned - with a leaping Malayan Tiger in the middle. The stripes represented all the states of FMS.  The reason of merging these four protected states mostly, if not, majorly gravitate around the need to secure, safeguard, and strengthen commercial interests. Local administrators strongly opted for the establishment of FMS since their economic motives could be quickly realized. Going deeper into this subject would result in writing (and ranting) more hence let me just quote a few references used at the end of this post.  Flag of the FMS This article will feature just the earlier issues (1891 or 1892) of leaping tigers in these

The general issue of the Malayan Federation are four denominations: 6c, 12c, 25c and 30c that are all multicolored issued on 5th May 1957.  General Issue of Malayan Federation Clockwise from the top left, they are listed as ISC 1-4. In the same catalogue, varieties are majorly colors with the exception for 12c, which I have yet to come across.  Known varieties and shades of the 1957 General Issue.  On the first row are three known shades of the 6c: i. Deep-blue, red, yellow, & grey-blue (ISC1); ii. Indigo, red, yellow, & grey-blue (ISC1b); and iii. Indigo, red, yellow, & slate-blue (ISC1c). On the second row, somewhat interesting, yet unconfirmed is what I believe to be an offset of the red dye on the gum.  Nothing peculiar on the 12c of the third row, that is just a normal piece. Next to it is an irregularity of the 25c, in which it should have appear in shades of maroon just like the three stamps arranged on the fourth row. It seems to be a shade of mauve to violet (?). 

As listed on ISC, there are several notable shades for some denominations (well, there are just 6 to be honest). Since I do not own any specialized catalogues for North Borneo, I guess the references listed on ISC would do just for now.  An overview of all the listed shades 1 cent Red-brown (left) and Lake-brown (right) The 1 cent Red-brown (listed as ISC336) appears with a reddish to rosy-looking sky while the Lake-brown (listed as ISC336a) has a flat brown look. The foliage in the foreground of ISC336a appears brighter. Generally, the features of both Mount Kinabalu and its foreground are more visible.  3 cents Green (left) and Deep Green (right) The 3 cents Deep Green (listed as ISC338a) appears more intense compared to the 3 cents Green (ISC338). ISC338 definitely looks grainier while ISc338 appears to have a smoother look - compare the portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. In person, it is fairly easy to distinguish between the two.  15 cents Bright blue (left) and Pale blue (right) Th

Christmas falls on 25th December worldwide but the spirit of giving spans almost the entire month, and perhaps even longer in some parts of the world as I was told. Christmas, as popularized by mainstream media, plays out with snow falling, jingling bells, a warm fireplace, and wrapped presents under a decorated tree - the good kind of Christmas in family movies. Relatives and close friends that are far away are reached through mails and postcards sent throughout the season. And as stamps were affixed onto mailed letters and postcards, a Danish postal clerk,  Einar Holbøll, thought it would be better to incorporate additional stamps to raise fund for charity.  Einar Holbøll; portrait obtained from Seal Society Holbøll worked as a clerk at the post office. He had long been interested in philanthropic work and thought to himself, "If we could only catch people while they are in this holiday mood and filled with kind sentiments, I am sure that they would buy a charity stamp to be put

Agro-based product definitives were issued in 25 October 1986 in all states of Malaysia featuring a set of seven stamps depicting agricultural products: Coffee, Coconut, Cocoa, Black Pepper, Rubber, Oil Palm, and Rice. Throughout the years, these stamps ran from sheet 1A to 14A, signifying the massive reprints as definitive stamps before it was eventually replaced by the new state definitives issued in 2007.  Initially, the Agro-based state definitive stamps were lithographically printed on SPM watermarked phosphor coated paper with a perforation of 11.75 (listed as 12 in both Scott and Stanley Gibbons). Each state shared a similar design type except the state name, emblem/ coat of arms, and portraits of respective rulers.  Perlis 20c, P. 11.75 Reprints, later on, had more interesting changes to perforation, watermark, gum, and denomination. Varieties in perforation always the easiest to distinguish, at times, even without a perforation gauge. I have had no luck with finding an unwater