This lot of very interesting North Borneo postmarks appeared in one of the internet auction sites about a week ago. Ebay of course is not the only source to find good quality stamps. In this lot, there are several very interesting postmark which I think are rarely offered as a lot.

Gayah
The first one is the "Gayah" postmark probably the D2 type (1886-1897). The postmark on the stamp is not clear but I'm sure if you look carefull you can make out the faded "YAH" on the top. I can't seem to be able to decipher the date or year.

Tangkulap

The next interesting postmark is the "Tangkulap" postmark on the green 2 cent stamp. The postmark is very clear and shows "TANGK..". No other North Borneo postmark starts this caption. The date is visible but not very clear, my guess is "8 AU 1911". Tangkulap is a small town situated in the Sandakan residency. The post office was closed by 1916, presumably due to not having received enough mails. This is the only example of postmark from Tangkulap.

Others

The other interesting postmark is the Paquebot postmark on the bottom stamp in the picture. This is very likely to be from Sandakan due to the characteristic of the postmark itself. The other postmarks that require special mention include the train mail, and mail train (not quite the same), the tawao postmark and the clear Tenom postmark on the 2 cent British Protectorate stamp.

Comment

Very lucky for the winner to win this lot at a very good price of $66 with 5 bids, competing with just another enthusiastic chap. This emphasizes the point that while ebay is an excellent site to look for great stamps, it is not the only good site out there. In fact, you'll face more competition, and more 'snipers' than you can ever imagine, making you pay more.