Happy New Year 2012!!!

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Wishing everyone a prosperous New Year 2012!
May this new year brings us more exciting collectibles, stamps and new philatelic discoveries!
Have a fun celebration!!!

Salvaged North Borneo Mail - Comet Crash near Calcutta 1953

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Type 1: "Comet" Crash, Near Calcutta

Type 2: "Comet" Crash, Near Galcutta.

Salvaged Mail, Comet Crash, 1953


Anthony must be a happy man to have in his possession, the two types of Salvaged mails of the Comet crash near Calcutta in 2nd May 1953. There are two types of such cachet, the first one has the right spelling of "Calcutta" while the second one has a wrong spelling of "Galcutta". Both are usually strucked in violet/blue ink.

There is no official record as to how many mails from North Borneo were on board in the ill-fated flight, certainly very few have been seen so far. The topmost cover appeared in ebay on December 2011 with a final price of GBP 182, while the one above appeared in September 2010. There is a water staining on both covers, more notable in the topmost cover - this should perhaps be preserved and should serve as a vivid reminder of the devastating tragedy.

In May 2, 1953, a BOAC comet-1 brought 43 people on board from Calcutta airport to London. It was thought that the plane then crashed 6 minutes after taking off from Calcutta airport due to 'exceptionally' severe tropical storm. This killed all 43 passengers abroad.

Related reading:
Comet Crash near Calcutta 1953
North Borneo Stamps

Interesting Postmarks/ Fiscal Cancels

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Serene Mount Kinabalu seen from Pekan Nabalu

I finally had 2 weeks holiday, a perfect timing to escape the bitter European winter. Although planned at the very last minute, I eventually decided to spend sometime traversing the jungles of Mount Kinabalu and to enjoy the relaxing steammy hot spring at Poring as well as to amazed myself at the Langanan waterfall some 3.5 Km deeper in the jungle from Poring. My holiday in Sabah was very brief (barely a week) so I had no chance to meet the other fellow stamp collectors of which I quite regretted. Nevertheless, everything else went well and the short break was fun and clearly the right choice for me..

Nonetheless, ebay went on as usual. Many new lots listed daily, some are notably rare while many are just the usual 'bread and butter' of stamps business. Some of the interesting lots are as follows:

1. Sandakan Double Ring CDS on $10

This near-perfect $10 stamp with nice Sandakan double ring cds attracted 20 bids from 14 bidders. Sold by Philip Malcolm of Principalityauctions, it presents a 'rare example of used' SG86 and ended with a final price of US$203.50. This is certainly a 'cheap' ending price, considering that people nowadays are willing to pay a handsome sum of money even for a $10 with CTO (as Nancy would tell).
Now, all this is assuming that the postmark is genuine, which in this case looks suspicious enough. The date, especially the month and year are unclear. The year is probably 1908, which if true, would be totally a give out to its authenticity because double ring cds of Sandakan are used only starting in 1930s. There are a few other distortions in the year which would be an anomaly if genuine.

2. Jesselton CDS on Postage Due Stamp



These two stamps present a blatant postmark forgery of Jesselton. The date of 20 AU 49 is arranged in horizontal line within the single ring cds, mimicking Jesselton D32. The upper half of the cds is inscribed "JESSELTON" while the lower half is inscribed "NORTH BORNEO". Of note there is a dash before the Jesselton, seen on the 2c stamp. The 8c stamp ended with GBP98 and the 2c stamp with GBP41.

3. The Seal of The General Court of Labuan on $1


                                                   



The $1 with the seal of the general court of Labuan was listed in ebay, hidden among other less inspiring North Borneo stamps. It was sold by a French seller from Lyon, and ended with a surprisingly low value of US$67 after 23 bids. The postmark, although appear small in the overall lots, presents a sharp and clear struck, quite clearly showing the two unicorns supporting a shield at the centre with a crown on top. Below there is a Latin inscription 'DIEU ET MON DROIT'. The $10 Labuan stamp on the right, also bearing the same seal is for comparison (not mine), selling at multi thousands US dollars if you're interested. :)

4. The Residency of Sillam on $2

This $2 stamp bears a large violet fiscal cancel, presumed to be THE RESIDENCY OF SILLAM. The cancel is unclear, only showing part of the inscription above (THE RESIDEN..). There is some smudgy appearance of the arms of the company at the centre. Ended with a final price of GBP45 after 8 bids.

Vintage Photos of North Borneo 1900-20s

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Vintage Photos of North Borneo

Nothing is more thrilling than to discover the early vintage pictures of North Borneo! An album full of vintage photos appeared recently in ebay with an final price of close to GBP500. The album is presented to Mr. E. Horton, the editor and superintendent of Government Printing Office on his retirement (1902-23). These unique black and white photos present an interesting glimpse into the historical North Borneo and some would not only stir your emotions but also brings you into a journey back in 100 years or so:







Check out more photos:
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