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Autumn 2017 Newsetter

KEN BENHAM'S LEEWARD ISLANDS POSTMARK COLLECTION

IAN JAKES

The collection of postmarks is not everyone’s idea of mainstream philately. It can, however, be extremely rewarding and a relatively inexpensive exercise. The quality of the postmark impression on the stamp is largely dependent upon the person who applied it. Struck by hand with implements made with and from different materials such as rubber or metal with varying inks and application pressures, often not perpendicularly, and on to uneven surfaces- stamps are raised and envelopes have folds- results in a wide range of quality. Furthermore, the postmark can appear partly on the stamp and partly on the envelope. In any event, most postmarks are larger in size than the stamps themselves. This means that in most cases the whole postmark does not appear on the face of the stamp.

Postmarks on stamps can be acquired for a few pence if common, for $10 - £50 if scarce or up to a few hundred pounds for a rare one. (You are unlikely to see two!) Quality and clarity of impression also have a bearing on price. There are a few expert postmark collectors who will buy a common postage stamp bearing an incomplete, hardly legible postmark because they know that the postmark is not common and could be rare. However, most of these stamps will bear part of an image which the expert has not seen before. Upon returning home, he will identify the postmark from images in philatelic literature. If identification is impossible, he will retain the stamp until identification eventually becomes possible. I have seen articles in magazines asking for help with identification.

Ken Benham’s Leeward Islands postmark collection takes the hobby to new heights. Ken only collected postmarks of the highest quality and clarity on covers, except where postmarks are rare and unlikely to be seen elsewhere. There is no chance here of wondering what the whole postmark would look like. Stamps on cover can acquire a premium and with an interesting postmark, a higher premium. Ken’s postmark collection is extensive and includes most of the known postmarks of the Leeward Islands and of each of the presidencies of Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla and Virgin Islands.

One page from Ken’s collection shows two covers bearing federal postage stamps cancelled respectively by St. Joseph and Mahaut Dominica postmarks.

Ken’s note reads ‘Two philatelic covers correctly rated 4½d …,posted 8th January1940, eight days after the stamps were invalidated (31 Dec 1939), hence the blotted out ‘due’ marks. The St. Joseph envelope was apparently not registered in Dominica, hence the London registered label and handstamp ‘Posted out/of course’.

Oliver’s ‘Leeward Islands Notes for Philatelists Second Edition’ states that St. Joseph Post Office was closed in "1920?" but then goes on to state, inrespect of this St. Joseph postmark, ‘Earliest known date 6 Dec 00’ and ‘latest known date 25 Dec 37’. Oliver states that Mahaut Post Office closed on 30 June 1905, but then goes on to say in respect of this Mahaut postmark, EKD 26 Mar 35 and LKD 31 Dec 39. Both envelopes were to Roger Wells, the Grimsby architect and ‘Postmark King’. Some readers will recall that in the Spring 2015 Newsletter I stated that some Caribbean postmarks were being used in WW2 by the Secret Service. Since this time, a Julian Chapman Scholarship award from the RPSL has been made (alas not to me!) to allow further investigation to be made. The results of this investigation have still to be published. However, leaks lead me to believe that some POs were reopened, especially in remote areas, to speed up delivery of the mail. I am also led to believe that scarce philatelic material was made for sale to philatelists for much needed income. A lot of the philatelic activity in WW2 was organised by the Crown Agents.

THE FIRST IRISH TAX DISC - A RARE FIND

Chris Tennant

Background: The 1903 Motor Car Act (3, Edw.7, ch. 36) required all motor vehicles to be registered with their local council and issued with a number plate, which was to be attached to the vehicle. Registration fees were 20/- for a car and 5/- for a motorcycle. The Act also allowed for manufacturers and dealers in motor vehicles to be issued with a General Identification Mark (for a fee not exceeding £3), which could be attached to any unregistered vehicles being tested or demonstrated. The 1929 road Act (10 &11, Geo 5, ch. 72) imposed Excise Duty on mechanically propelled vehicles and introduced the Tax Disc as visible proof of payment. Under the Act, Trade Licences (discs) and Trade Plates were to be made available to motor traders for the purpose of moving otherwise unlicensed vehicles on the road. These Trade Plates (special red on white number plates which could be fitted temporarily to any vehicle) were carried in pairs with a holder for the licence disc on the front plate for cars and on the rear plate for motor cycles. Fees for Trade Licences were £10 for cars and £1.10.0 for motor cycles. While ordinary tax discs were circular, trade discs were issued in various distinctive shapes over the years (triangular, rectangular/oblong, trapezium and square), but always printed in the same annual or quarterly colour schemes as the current tax disc. Figure 1 provides an example of these trade plates.

Figure 1. Trade plate which was mounted on the rear plate on the rear of a motor cycle.

The Find: A recent purchase of an Irish (Tipperary) driving licence proved to be very fortunate as the lot included a previously unseen 1921 first-issue trade licence. It is in the form of an inverted triangle and inscribed CYCLE G.I.M and as it has not been cut or folded to shape, it was probably never attached to a number plate. The term G.I.M. (General Identification Mark} was replaced after 1922 by ‘Trade Plate’, although G.I.M. is still used in Australia. The shape of the equivalent 1921 G.I.M. for cars is unknown (to me), but following the 1922 Finance Act, a new category of Limited Trade Plate (L.T.P.) was added and this was in the form of an upright triangle, while the General Trade Plate (G.T.P) was a rectangle/oblong.

Figure 2. A 1921 G.M.T. licence prior to cutting, folding and inserting in the trade plate.

What increases the interest in this item is the fact that it was issued on 2 June 1921 in County Tipperary in the North Riding of Ireland during the Irish War of Independence. At this time, Ireland was under British rule and as a result of the unrest and IRA violence, the British Government’s Restoration of Order in Ireland Act (10 7 11 Geo 5 ch.31) came into force in August 1920. After even more violence, in December 1920 Martial Law was declared in County Tipperary together with Cork, Kerry and Limerick, extended in January 1921 to Clare Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford. Under these Restoration Regulations, a permit was required for a driver to have, keep or use any motor vehicle in Ireland and, as seen in Figure 3, the conditions were quite strict. A photograph of the driver (this one is a bit faded) was also to be attached to the permit.

In May 1921, Ireland was partitioned and the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 ended British rule in 26 counties of Ireland. The Irish Free state was created in December 1922 as a self-governing state with Dominion status. Later, Irish trade plate issues are not known but after 1922 (until the early 1930s) ordinary tax discs were issued in the British patterns and colours with Irish Gaelic script in the outer ring but with the inscription in English, as seen in Figure 4.

CINDERELLA CONGRESS (2016): FREE GIFT

SANDRA POOLE

You have probably never heard of the Antarctica Confederation of City Republics but the postcard featured shows the ACCR and the ‘stamp’ on the left shows the ‘Republic of Grahamia’ founded in 1981. Of course, it is all a load of rubbish and a bit of fun for collectors of fantasy stamps.

This particular ‘fantasy land’ was created by Bruce Henderson and a lot of the stamps are of high quality and humour. It also has its own web site. The item shown was a gift at last year’s World Cinderella Congress. Note the ‘Grahamia’ postmark!

UPU PICTURE POSTCARDS

ALAN SQUIRES

The Universal Postal Union was formed in 1874 by the Treaty of Berne. It is a specialised agency of the United Nations that coordinates postal policies among member states. The first picture postcard was a painting on card sent by Theodore Hooker to himself in London in 1840. It bore a penny black stamp and is thought to have been made as a joke as it parodied the postal workers of the day.

By the mid-1890s, they were becoming very popular as tourist souvenirs. The UPU regulations stated that the card could be sent through the postal service, but they only had to have the address on one side and a picture on the other. There was no space for a message from the sender. Often the producers would leave a small space next to the picture so that a message could be included. (See fig.1) The reverse had the instruction that only the address was to be written on the back. (See fig. 2)

It was not until 1907 that the UPU amended the regulation to allow a message to be written on the same side as the address. These became known as the ‘divided back’ picture postcards. (See fig.3) By this time, there were a number of PPCs being used in America which had a space for a message and the address on the same side.

The anomaly from my collection of St. Helena picture postcards is shown in fig.4. This is a UPU divided back picture postcard of St. Helena sent from Porthcawl to Cardiff. It bears a halfpenny Edward VII stamp which was cancelled ‘OC1/02. This is five years before the regulations allowed the divided back picture postcards to be used.

The box above, in Nottingham, has been converted to a ‘café’ and has been in business for 6-7 months. Appetising cakes, advertised on one of the blackboards, are also available.

The box on the left, in Tollerton, is used as a library- this is fairly common, but I haven’t seen a ‘swap box’ for books before. This one on the right is at Cutthorpe (near Chesterfield) and is beautifully maintained. Another one that I have seen has a defibrillator. Not seen: a cinema and an art gallery!

MISCELLANY

Quick off the Mark- Sandra Poole. This slogan congratulates the 2017 winner of the Man Booker Prize, awarded to George Saunders on, I believe, 17 March. This is dated 18th March 2017.

Posting a Letter- Alan Squires.

The postal services are always complaining that they are getting fewer letters as their prices go up and they have to compete with other delivery companies. Why are we sending less mail? Is it due to the ease of electronic communications? Or is it too much hassle now to post a letter? I had to post three letters, one of which was bigger than the standard envelopes. I had put first class stamps on two of them as they were ready to go. My nearest pillar box is 200 yards down the road.; my nearest post office is 1¼ miles away. I would have to visit the PO to find out what the larger envelopes would cost. I know from previous experience that the car journey to the PO and back takes about 45 minutes. If I walk, it takes about 75 minutes, but it is healthier for me and the climate and is stress free as I do not need to worry about traffic or parking etc. When weighed and measured, the postage was 65p, First Class mail. I thought that was a reasonable price to pay and started to leave. My PO is in a convenience store and as I passed the tills, a range of confectionery caught my eye. I realised I just fancied a bar of chocolate to boost my metabolism for the walk home. There it was, a Mars Bar. Not having had any chocolate for many months (honest), I was about to pick one up with mouth starting to salivate (probably due to the ringing in my ears from my Tinnitus) and noted the price- at 72p about the same as 1st class mail. I reached into my pocket for a £1 coin, when it struck me.15/-for a Mars Bar. 15/- shillings for a piece of chocolate. My letters were travelling the length and breadth of the country for less than 15/-. Needless to say, I left the Mars Bar where it was.

Please Keep for your Future Reference- Alan Squires.

I know that it is important to keep certain documentation and some material should be kept for a set period of time. Receipts are a good example. You may want to return an article under its warranty, which in most cases was not date-stamped by the vendor because it was already packaged with the goods.

A set of instructions on how to use an item can be useful. Strangely enough, the instruction manual is very important if you are burgled. The company will ask for it as proof that you actually had the item that you are claiming for. With modern technology, it is useful to keep this manual in case anything goes wrong or you simply forget how to access a certain function. I recently purchased for the princely sum of £2.95 a small tube of cyanoacrylic glue from a well-known internet trading company. Inside the packaging was a small piece of paper 80mm long by 40mm wide. This was the list of instructions for returning the product if it was damaged. There was a lot of information on this important piece of paper, so the type-face was about 6 point. The very last line, in much bigger font, said ‘Retain for future reference’.

Either the product is damaged when I get it or it isn’t. If it’s in good order, as it was, I no longer need instructions to send it back. If I do need to send it back, I’ve got to go back and buy a really good magnifying glass to decipher their instructions.

Painted Doors in Madeira- Sandra Poole

We have been to Madeira several times, but on a recent visit we saw for the first time a small street with most, if not all, front doors decorated with pictures-some 3D- in many different styles. The one below seemed a fitting one with which to end the newsletter. The chair, incidentally, is not part of the picture, but belongs to the café!

DISPLAY REPORTS BY DOUGLAS HARVEY

Overseas for ½ d- Peter Mellor, 4 August 2017

Between 1892 and 1949, it was possible to send mail overseas for the minimum price of ½d. Initially introduced as a newspaper rate, it was expanded in 1901 to ‘printed paper rate’ and subsequently further expanded to include postcards, subject to specific rules. The original postcards were plain card, which included the printed word ‘postcard’. To qualify for the ½d overseas rate, the sender was required to cross out ‘postcard’. This requirement was removed in 1906. When in 1894 illustrated postcards appeared, three rates applied. A fully written postcard required letter rate postage; a short message on the picture side required postcard rate, which was reduced to the ½d rate if the word ‘Postcard’ was crossed out. In a three-part display, Peter Mellor showed over 200 examples of mail that had been sent overseas, nearly all with ½d postage, either in the form of a stamp or as pre-stamped postal stationery. A few examples had censor marks and many had the appropriate included printed matter attached.

European Potpourri- Tony Sibley, 1 September 2017

The principal theme of the latest ‘potpourri’ from Tony Sibley was European postal disruption and difficulties. The first board of the display related to the 1982 Falklands conflict. A collection of postal history items relating to the Separation of Ireland from the UK followed with examples of IRA intervention and disruption, culminating in the outcome of the 1916 uprising. Then with the Second World War came a collection of letters addressed to some of the famous German war criminals and a reference to the youth and women movements in Nazi Germany. In Part 2, the display concentrated on the disruption of mail services in Europe during the Second World War, with examples from several countries. Suspended mail, detained mail, undelivered mail, censored mail and mail passing through undercover agencies all illustrated the difficulties which were experienced at the time. Some correspondence had been identified as originating from collaborators and some involved wartime internees. The final part showed the plight of the Channel Islands.

Society Visit to Alfreton PS, 15 September 2017

Eleven members of the Notts Philatelic Society went to Pentrich Village Hall and eight of these displayed items. A minute’s silence in memory of Ron Stammers preceded the displays. The items on show were: German Posts pre-stamp correspondence, postcards of lace-making in Belgium, April Fish cards from France, miniature sheets from France, trade plate licence tax discs for motor vehicles, East Essex Scout Christmas stamps, miscellaneous USA philatelic items and part of the late Derrick Avery’s collection. The interval refreshments complemented an enjoyable meeting.

Members’ Evening- New Acquisitions and Recently Mounted, 22 September 2017

Whilst most of the members are consolidating their collection, a few recent stamp issues were shown. In Part 1, the display items included Canada (1946-1989) and (2016-17), elephants on stamps, biro-cancelled GB, local post forgeries of Germany and USA, hat tax, Nottingham horse-drawn trams, covers from the Crimea War, maps on stamps and miscellaneous items from Australia, Mexico, South America and North Korea. The Part 2 displays included the classic GB £2 Machin error, more elephants, recent Europa covers and a study of phosphor bands in GB commemorative issues up to 1966.

GB Used in Malta- Martin Lloyd, 20 October 2017

The first local post in Malta and Gozo was established in 1858 and mail was carried without charge. From 1860, a ½d Malta stamp was required. For overseas mail, GB stamps were used and from 1857, these were cancelled with an ‘M’. Subsequently in 1859, the ‘A25’ cancel mark was applied. Martin Lloyd showed a remarkable display of these stamps, many of which were on covers. The principal destinations were Italian ports. With the penny reds (1858-79), most plate numbers were used in Malta and, in addition, International Postal Stationery was available. When the surface printed issues were introduced, most values were available in Malta, the exception being the 2/6d. When Maltese stamps became acceptable for international mail, GB stamps cancelled ‘Malta’ continued to appear occasionally, but only for ‘paquebot’ usage.

SOCIETY NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Welcome to Adam Spencer, who joined our Society on 20 October.

Members displaying to other societies: Allen Wood gave a display on Basutoland to Loughborough Philatelic Society on 14 September. Brian Clayton presented his ‘Four Collections’ at Derby on 12 October and Mick Inger, showed ‘History of the USA’ on 20 October at Alfreton.

Subscriptions-these are due on 1 January. Please help the Treasurer, David Shipstone, by paying promptly, either at the first meeting of the year (or before) or by post at: 296 Derby Road, Bramcote, Nottingham, NG9 3JN.

Egg Cup Competition- one sheet only on any subject preferably, but not compulsorily, with a Christmas connection. Members vote for the winner, with the President having the casting vote in the event of a tie.

Forthcoming meetings at our Society (7 for 7.15pm)

3 Nov Visit from Leicester PS

17 Nov Competition Evening , Members

1 Dec Members' evening: Asia and Australasia

15 Dec Christmas Social and Eggcup Competition Members

5 Jan Not a stamp in sight (16 sheets max) Members

19 Jan President’s Evening -Allen Wood

2 Feb Jersey- Andrew Pearson and Guernsey- Douglas Harvey

Meetings at the Greater Nottingham Co-operative Society (7pm)

8 Nov Hungary- The First Inflation Ken Dyke

14 Dec Christmas Quiz and Fuddle Members

Meetings at Radcliffe-on-Trent PS (7.30pm)

9 Nov Unusual Postmarks Members

23 Nov Big Business on the China Coast Brian Pugh

14 Dec Christmas Theme Members

11 Jan New or Recently Mounted Members

25 Jan TBA

Meetings at Chesterfield PS

7 Nov Europe Members

21 Nov Christmas Cards of the Armed Forces Bert Orwin

12 Dec Christmas Social, Memories Members

9 Jan Mother and Child John Barwick

23 Jan Annual Auction

Stamp Fairs at Nuthall Temple Centre, Nottingham Road., NG16 1DP: 6 Dec 2017, 14 Feb, 11 Apr, 6 Jun, 8 Aug, 10 Oct. 12 Dec 2018. 9.30 am-3.30 pm.

York Stamp Fair: Friday 19 Jan 2018, 11am-6pm. Sat 20 Jan, 10am-4pm at York Racecourse, YO23 1EX

Spring Stampex: 14-17 February 2018, Business Design Centre, London.

Note that at this event, there will not just be a Cinderella Class included, but also an inaugural class featuring Ephemera. This is defined on the ABPS website as: ‘the minor transient, printed or handwritten documents of everyday life that were generally expected to be discarded.’ It does go on to explain what that actually means as far as the Stampex experiment is concerned, but space does not allow me to quote further. See web site. Social Philately and the Open Class: what I also noticed on the ABPS site and which is important to several of our members is the following: “Social Philately entries are no longer accepted. Exhibitors who have previously shown in this class are encouraged to enter in ‘Open Philately’.So we have got our Open Class back at last! This is defined as: giving “an exhibitor complete freedom to present an exhibit on any subject using up to 50% of non-philatelic items. The non-philatelic items must not be thicker than 5mm so as to be able to fit into standard exhibition frames.” I still cannot understand why there is not an official Cinderella Class, while there is one for Revenues, which are accepted as cinderellas anyway.

Society Competition, 17 Nov- Full rules may be viewed on the NPS web site. There are four classes-Traditional, Postal History, Thematic and Open. Entries should be 16 sheets, including the introductory sheet.

DISCLAIMER: While every care is taken during the production of the reports, neither the editor or Society Officers can accept any liability for views or unintentional publication errors that may occur.

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