tps.org.au

Mike, thanks for showing us these cards. They are all new to me. The last card in particular is a beauty from a fishing point of view. It would be interested to know where it is.
I'll post a few more as soon as time permits.
Pete

John Hardinge could probably tell us but I am not certain. I think its a machine cancel, fig 108 in the Green Books. Maybe a Krag machine. They did gather dust and lint at times maybe due to the large volume of mail processed. Just a guess but it could be the die was clogged - in some cancels the st...

I can see what you mean.
I think it is a "C" however.

Pete

They are very likely to be lined numeral 4 but I dont think you can be quite 100% certain. You can sometimes check the watermark by getting an extremely bright light - a good LED torch for instance, in behind the stamp via the inside of the envelope, assuming you can do this without damaging it. If ...

To some extent the following is based on supposition. More cancelers would be needed as the volume increases simply because there would have been more than one person at the same time cancelling letters. Each clerk would need their own canceler. It could be also that there were different sections in...

Its a good question and dont worry about posting questions here as no doubt there are others with the same query. I cant necessarily answer this fully but when the first allocation numeral were first issued, they we provided to the offices in relation to the current volume of business. There were so...

Background I have been collecting cards depicting various aspects of trout fishing in Tasmania for a few years now. While there are only a few common cards showing this subject, there is fact quite wide range that can be collected with patient searching. I include not only obvious scenes showing a ...

A couple of images of a Promissory note with a Commercial Bank handstamp, though not the one on the 4d block, above.

The use of private handstamps by Banks was to officially endorse a deposit into the bank amongst other things. Some of the most common forms of documents subject to Stamp Duty in the 1860s and beyond were Promissory Notes and Bills of Exchange. These both involved a creditor and a debtor. A sum of m...

Interesting cover Jerry. Similar patchy cds stike.

Hi Laurent, Yes, its a private handstamp from some business, such as an insurance company or bank. I see the word "Commercial" which could be "The Commercial Bank of Tasmania" which was a Tasmanian bank in business in the 19th Century and founded in 1829. As the total is 3/- its possible the origina...

Welcome Harry. I hope you find the Board useful and please feel free to post a question or something interesting.
Pete

Now that Jerry mentions it, I tend to agree. I have seen similar fonts/size numerals on Sydney covers but thought they were some some sort of machine cancels. I have seen them through the 1930s and 1940s but never taken much notice. I dont recall seeing anything like this from other States and defin...

John,
I dont think so. I am not even sure its a postmark.
Pete

The one person I know who might provide an I.D. is regrettably no longer with us. Interesting to see what the well-dressed bush walker was wearing in those days! Great image.

Stamps are not my area and I have not seen anything like this. However it is a most interesting item. There is a record of a very faint printing of the 4d yellow where it was re-printed on the reverse to achieve a stronger impression. It might assist of you could indicate the watermark so as to iden...

You should see Green Book II, p 115 where the Paid Hobart CDS is recorded in two types, one with small 5-point star stops and also with dot stops. However the two types are only recorded with codes H and L. Yours has the "S" code. By a coincidence I have a number of copies ( its a common cancel) and...

Neal, in my opinion its only a curiosity rather than a rare item for a Tasmanian collector ( others may disagree). If it was on a cover it would be a different story. Maybe it has some interest to collectors in the country where the postmark originated if you can pin it down. My brief internet searc...

There’s a 6-circle postmark of Dominica which looks almost identical. I think it may have been used in maritime mail handling. Up-date - it appears Gambia and a number of other British colonies also used concentric circle postmarks. How such a cancel would get on a Tas stamp is difficult but not imp...

John
I think most likely postal cancellation but I very much doubt the actual post office can be identified.
Pete

Welcome John.
Hope you find the Board useful.
Pete

Based on current evidence, the Free circular datestamp of Launceston would have to be rated 4R until such time as more examples are recorded. The diamond-shaped Free Launceston datestamp is listed as 2R by Hardinge and is seen over a long period from 1855 to 1885 when use seems to have ceased. The s...

Neal, have just checked the listings and yes, the cds at the top of your rates receipt is not listed. Here are another two examples and there is at least one more dated 1890 but perhaps that is the example you have. The ERD is 21 Aug 1888. The LRD is presumably yours 18 Jun 1890 . Pete Free-Lton.jpg

Neal, I believe this cds is not actually in John's book which is highly unusual. It should be listed under Free Markings and is only the second Free datestamp recorded for Launceston. It had not been recorded when the book was being put together. I think its probably rare. I'm aware of three or 4 ex...

Hi Neal, glad you finally made it to the Board! What you have is half of a duplex, the other half showing three bars top and bottom with TASMANIA in the middle. For some reason, it was common practice to place one half or the other of the duplex over the stamp. When the stamp is removed from the cov...