A.P. MILLER & SON CINDERELLA on POSTCARD

[Ross Ewington]

This cinderella used by A.P. Miller & Son featuring an image of their impressive
looking premises that were situated on the corner of Elizabeth & Liverpool Streets
Hobart has been reported previously in the The Courier, Stamp News and online.
[attachment=2]miller cinderella.jpg[/attachment]
Mention was also made in a companion topic in this forum:
http://tps.org.au/bb/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=196#p704

Several days ago I received notice from Rod Perry that the following item (that he reported
in his column in the August 2010 edition of Stamp News) is being offered for sale by online auction.
[attachment=1]miller cinderella on card.jpg[/attachment]

Link to auction lot description: http://www.rap.com.au/auctions/XcAPViewItem.asp?ID=57

Here's my tuppence worth of theory about this item.

I believe it to be a privately contrived item transmitted between friends outside of any official or private
postal facility. I have seen an online commentator assign it "local post" status based upon the "1/3" that
appears on the off-paper example ..... his theory is that it indicates a delivery rate of 1/3d and therefore
Miller & Son must have operated some form of local post service!! I think we can assign this hypothesis
to the "realms of fantasy".

The "intaglio" cancel is unusual but I have seen a similar marking on a cleaned fiscally used 3d St George & Dragon
offered (as a genuinely used example!!) on eBay a couple of years ago. It would be interesting to find out what
the device actually was that was used to produce this "cancel".
[attachment=0]bogus cancel on 3d St G&D.jpg[/attachment]

The postcard is an intriguing item and I think that the estimated value of $150 is "about right" but I won't be surprised if
it doesn't sell for a lot more.

So ...... what do you think? Have you seen other examples of the cinderella or the "cancel" or both? Do you
have a plausible explanation for the existence of this postcard?

[Ross Ewington]

This card is being offered for sale by Phoenix Auctions (Melbourne) in their Auction No.11 on Saturday, February 4th 2012 - see lot 786.

http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-b ... ot=786&f=1

[Ross Ewington]

The postcard is an intriguing item and I think that the estimated value of $150 is "about right" but I won't be surprised if
it doesn't sell for a lot more.

In retrospect, since making this statement, I think that I should downsize my estimated value of this item!

Considering the following:
1) the card has not been transmitted by the post office it is really not of interest to postal history collectors
2) the cancellation is not postal so therefore, postmark collectors won't be interested
3) the postcard is not of Tasmanian origin so that should exclude interest by collectors of Tassie postcards
4) it's just a moderately scarce cinderella on a postcard so collectors of this field may be interested but could just be happy just to have an off-cover example in their collection (purchased for under $50 probably)

I think the card has just minimal appeal and is really only a "conversation piece" that shouldn't be fought over for more than say $60-$80.

I am now standing by to be proved wrong!