Tuesday 7 August 2012

The Great St Helena Rip Off - Part 2

Cancelled Remainders - Quantities

Subsequent to my blog of 24 July, I received some information about the quantities of key-plate remainders that were cancelled with the violet diamond-grill cancel in 1904.

The information was confirmed, with the following details from an article published in 1981:

  • 1½d - 49,409
  • 2d - 58,394
  • 2½d - 29,229
  • 5d - 39,588
  • 10d - 43,376
That's a staggering 219,996 stamps, with a combined face value of over £3,700!

There are two types of diamond, one with five bars and one with four, with the former being the scarcer. So, I suppose, if you really want to collect these abominations, you could focus on the scarcer ones!

The violet cancel can also be removed, and fake cancels exist.

For illustrations of genuine cancels, I would recommend The Postal History of Ascension, St Helena and Tristan de Cunha by Proud.


6 comments:

  1. I believe the quantity 49,409 relates to the penny halfpenny value rather than the halfpenny value as shown.

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    1. The blog's been here for seven weeks and you've spotted a typo that I missed! Thank you for the correction. I've amended the post.

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  2. On the subject of St Helena Remainders, only 3015 copies of the Sg20 5/- value were Remaindered. It is reasonable to assume that some of these subsequently had the violet cancellations removed and that others have been lost or destroyed. As a result the SG20 5/- remainder has by default become one of the rarer St Helena stamps.

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  3. That's a very fair and sensible assumption. It's a shame the same can't be said about the key-plate remainders that flood online auction sites

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    1. This is very true I have been unsuccessfully looking for a postally used copy of SG51 5d Mauve for many months now. If I had been unaware of this problem I am sure I would have purchased one of the many remaindered copies of this stamp which are being offered for sale as 'used'.

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    2. I'm delighted that the blog has helped at least one collector! Thanks for your post. Good luck with your search!

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