http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk APRIL 2016^29Stamp sidelines
In past columns we have featured Royal Mail covers, but with that little bit
extra, writes Brian Austin. For example the 1985 Post Office issue flown by
the Prince of Wales or, on a smaller scale, the 1972 BBC Post Office cover,
where a local collector took his home printing set and made the cover also
commemorate the opening of Brighton Post Office Counter.
This month has seen a few new examples land on my desk, the 1974 Fire
Service with a Science Museum cachet, the 1983 Army cover, carried (and
jumped) by the Red Devils and the 1993 Canals issue with a posted at Gas
Street Basin cachet. My favourite though is the illustrated 1986 RAF cover
flown in a Hurricane. Originally it was just signed by James Lacey in a limited
edition of 500, and even comes with a picture inside of the covers piled up for
signing, but as you can see since then a number of others have signed it.
From the signatures we can tell they were organised by the late Colin Smith,
who has added Victoria Cross winner Bill Reid, George Cross winner Ken
Farrow and seven Battle of Britain pilots. Colin would have organised this to
raise funds for RAF charities, but he did sometimes get a little carried away
with the signatures, making for a unique collectable.Delivered, sealed
and signed
FIRST DAY COVERS
For a series issued across fourteen states between 1986 and 2002, very
few major errors have been recorded for the Malaysian Agricultural
definitives, writes Tom Pierron. There are inverted watermark varieties,
but these are generally abundant. And of course there are scarce plate
printings (expect to pay dear for any plate 2A, 3A or 7A block). The
plate numbers provide a rough and ready guide to the year of printing.
Starting with 1A in 1986, 2A in 1987, 3A in 1988 and so on until 13A
in 1999. Plate 14A appeared from 2001 and was the last of the series.
Subsequent issues are denominated Sen rather than Cents.
Decent checks at source meant few errors escaped to post office counters.
And even if they did, the general practice in many larger post offices was to
remove the left and right margins from sheets to facilitate tearing of stamps.
The process inevitably prevented many errors reaching the market while
adding to the scarcity of certain plate blocks. However, not all hope is lost
as errors continue to be discovered long after the series has ceased to be.
The most recent find from a retired dealer’s stock being a sheet of the Sabah30c Rice imperforate to right margin. Caused by failure of the perforating
mechanism for any number of reasons, just ten stamps are affected. The 6A
plate numbers indicate the sheet was printed in 1991 which is when there
was a large reprinting of many values across the Malaysian states. Anything
produced in greater numbers and under pressure is likely to result in the
occasional hiccup. Good news for the error collector.Mistakes from Malaysia
ERRORS
Kariba
POSTMARKS
The Zambezi River today forms the border between Zambia and
Zimbabwe, writes David Gwynn. During the 1950s, though, it had no
such role as it was just the boundary between Northern and Southern
Rhodesia in the Central African Federation, or for philatelists Rhodesia
and Nyasaland.
The Federation came into being in 1953 and lasted barely ten years.
Prior to this, the Northern Rhodesian government had proposed a
dam on the Kafue River with an associated hydro-electric scheme.
The government of Southern Rhodesia insisted that a larger dam and
electricity generating scheme be constructed at Kariba on the Zambezi.
The dam was built between 1955 and 1959, and a small township
was constructed to house the workers involved. The town was given the
name Kariba, and a post office was opened there. The postmark in use
in the late 1950s is shown here, and only has the name ‘KARIBA’ with
no mention of the territory in which it lay.
The Central African Federation disbanded in 1963 and Kariba was
then part of a separate Southern Rhodesia, which in 1964 dropped the
‘Southern’ to become Rhodesia. There followed the period of UDI and
white minority rule. Today Kariba is an important tourist destination in
Rhodesia’s successor state, Zimbabwe.Quick Links
Page 31 Gibraltar Post & Go
Page 31 Shakespeare Cinderellas
Page 32 Victorian postmarksp29 Sidelines.indd 29 01/03/2016 11:17