Stamp & Coin Mart - April 2016_

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http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk APRIL 2016^61

What is your favourite item in the collection?

I have a special liking for the complete

sheet of the second Receipt stamp issued by

Sarawak. It is the only known complete sheet

and, as a result, I have been able to study

it in detail and finish the plating of all the

positions of each stamp, something that had

not been possible before.

Which item has been the most difficult to find?

There are a number of difficult items including

village postmarks and temporary stamps made

by postmasters dealing with the problems of

setting up a postal system after the Japanese

surrender, but among the Revenue stamps the

most difficult to find are the 1918 Revenue

stamps overprinted ‘TELEGRAPH’. The reason

is that they appeared for a very short time in

1933 and were attached to the telegram receipt

• these were held in the Postal/Telegraph files
  so when no longer required were officially
  destroyed. A few appear to have been removed
  from official telegram receipts, it is thought by
  a young Cadet Officer as the village postmarks
  of the few surviving examples exactly conform
  with dates of his appointments in the same
  place – he also left a photographic record of his
  stamp collection that included these stamps.

What advice would you give to fellow collectors?

Specialise in a single area. Find something that

really interests you as our hobby is not just

about collecting individual stamps but also

enjoying the world that those stamps represent.

It’s one of the reasons I like stamps attached to

documents that tell interesting stories. It is also

highly likely that there will be other collectors

interested in the same area and one of the

enjoyments of our hobby is the sharing of stories

and finds with other like-minded people.

What would you say to encourage others to

start displaying stamps?

It’s very enjoyable showing your collection that

you know so much about to others and being

able to share your knowledge. The discipline

of having to show your stamps means that you

will have to mount them in a logical order

but this is good as you can see what you have

and what you need. That alone will make your

collection come alive. If you are showing to a

local club or even a specialist society, do add

non-philatelic items that explain and enhance

your display, be it photographs, newspaper

cuttings or maps. Of course, should you wish

to display competitively these would have to

be removed but the pleasure it gives makes the

effort well worthwhile.

One of the reasons for the Chinese

immigration in the 1930s was the

expansion of gold mining. A new stamp

duty was introduced to apply to the

establishment of corporations.

In 1934 the postage and revenue stamps were combined into a single stamp. This period saw

large Chinese immigration as seen on this Certificate of Identity.

The 1927 stamps overprinted ‘TELEGRAPHS’,

also known without the ‘S’. Cancelled with

‘TRUSAN’ cds a very remote village on

the borders of Sarawak. Included in the SG

catalogue for the first time in 2015.

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