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.

The Great St Helena Rip-Off

Beware Cancelled Remainders!

I scanned through over 2,500 St Helena items on Delcampe today, and one of my pet peeves re-surfaced. I made mention of this on my Facebook page, so my apologies for repeating myself!

These stamps from St Helena (1896 SG51 and SG52) have catalogue values of £30 and £60 respectively

However, the cancellations make them virtually worthless. The diamond grill in violet is a remainder cancellation done in 1904, and the stamps were cancelled solely for sale to collectors. This cancel was never postally used.

There are dozens of stamps with these cancellations for sale. Catalogue prices are being quoted, and hefty prices being asked. Do NOT pay high prices on Ebay, Delcampe or anywhere else for any stamp from St Helena with this cancellation!