This week we've got the opportunity to see some of the rarest fiscal/revenue cancellations on North Borneo stamps. These were listed by owley1879, a known member of the SSS. Many bidders participated and some were luckier than the others. Other items listed in the same auction were BMA covers, some revenue stamps (mint and used), a postcard, and stamps lots. Some of the exciting cancels are the following:

The cancels are strucked in either black or red ink. It is a large double ring oval mark with North Borneo Company crest at the centre. The upper half is inscribed with "THE RESIDENCY OF SILLAM" while the lower half inscribed with Arabic (Jawi) inscription. Note that the Sillam spelling has a double "LL" rather than the usual single "L". The $5 stamp ended with a final price of AU$ 82.00 while the one bearing the red cancel AU$ 51.00. The cancel on the $5 stamp only shows the word "SILLAM" and nothing else while the one with the red cancel is only presumed to be a Sillam cancel because of the writing "THE R" implying "The Residency of Sillam".

This is probably type 1 cancel of Magistrate Court, Jesselton. The cancel itself is very clear and nicely strucked on the 50c stamp perfinned "REV/ENUE". It is a large double ring mark with the Company's crest in the centre. This one ended with AU$ 98.85 - something expected for such a fine cancel.

Another interesting fiscal cancel of what's possibly the largest cancel in North Borneo - the "SUPERINTENDANT OF IMMIGRATION SANDAKAN". This one is strucked in violet ink and comprises of a double ring cancel with the outer ring being about 5.5cm in diameter and the inner ring about 4.0 cm. It has the company's arms at the centre with a coarse outline and generally lacking in detail compared to other fiscal cancels incorporating the company's arms. Final price: AU$ 45.00.

Typical Judicial Department cancel with a violet oval-shape cancel. This one is type 1 with "JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT" inscribed above and "SANDAKAN" occupying the lower half. Note the eight pointed stars separating the writings above and below. Compared to type 2, the Judicial Dept type 1 has no "B.N.B" inscription following Sandakan and has distinctive stars rather than asterisk. Ended with a decent price of AU$ 21.50.

Everyone probably noticed this unique POW cover sent to Mr. & Mrs. H.G Keith. As the "M.r" was crossed out with pencil, it is natural to assume that it was sent to Mrs. Agnes Keith herself. The accompanying description for the cover is pretty much sufficient to tell the story behind the cover. Of note the cover reached a high end price of £321 although the listing was in private. Another interesting aspect about this cover is that it was resealed with Canadian censor label and handstamped with long box of Japanese violet censor mark "Borneo Prisoner of War Camp" - certainly not a very common feat.

Agnes Keith of course was well known in North Borneo history for writing several autobiographical accounts of life in North Borneo/Sarawak during the World War II. Among these is an account as Japanese POW in North Borneo and Sarawak. This cover was sent to Batu Lintang internee camp when Agnes Keith, her husband and her son were held captive by the Japanese. Silamstar had one of Agnes Keith covers shown in his blog. This one was sent from Sandakan to British Columbia, Canada:

These stamps are supposed to have identical overprint but they don't. The one on the left is mint with the overprint appears thicker than the one on the right. There is also other inelligible violet overprint at the back of the second line overprint. The stamp on the right is used, with visible Sandakan double ring cds. The overprints are thinner compared to the left one.

The stamp on the left is claimed to have a certificate of authenticity but the appearance is very similar to the ones known for being fake (Compare the overprint here). The one on the right on the other hand, appeared in ebay some weeks ago with an opening bid of only GBP 0.50!

The most interesting of all three covers with eye-catching and colourful illustration showing The Knight Defeated. Similarly addressed to Miss A. Keasberry in Tirau. Also franked with St. Settlement stamp of 4 cents and tied with two Labuan D8 cds dated 5 Sep 1912. Backstamped with Singapore transit mark dated 9 Sep 1912 and arrival cds of Morrinsville 17 Oct and Tirau 18 Oct 1912.
Overall, all three covers appeared tatty with some toning and tears but should very well be great collectibles. Seller also mentioned that the original letters were enclosed, I wonder what the contents were. A quick google of "J.P. Keasberry" indicated that he operated a hotel in Victoria, Labuan and that the middle name is "Peach". There is also an obituary section in Singapore Free Press announcing the death of Mr. Keasberry on 29.01.1920 at age 72 years old. If this is indeed referring to him, these envelopes would have been painted when he was about 64.

For some reason this particular postmark appear just far too often particularly in ebay but also elsewhere. Just a few days ago the $10 stamp on the left ended with a final price of $66. There are also $2 and $5 stamps bearing the same postmark and are still currently ongoing in ebay. Last week, another $5 stamp, also with the same postamark was sold for £26.

Curiously the postmark would only appear on the 1904-05 stamps issue with the 4 cents surcharge. I haven't seen the same date appear in any other North Borneo stamps issues.

The postmark is supposed to be the Sandakan D11, in use from 29.9.04 to 14.10.15. It is strange that within about 11 years of usage, 11 Aug 1905 seems to occur far more frequently than the whole 11 years usage combined.

Now look at your Sandakan D11, is it 11 AUG 1905?

Note: The Sandakan 11 AUG 1905 is now known to be a CTO instead of a fake cancel. Read more about it here.

For a final price of £117, this must be one of the best bargain in ebay. The catalogue value for mint stamp in SG is approx. £450. With the Basel certificate of authenticity, I would expect this one to reach at least half the catalogue value but it didn't. The perforation is 12, easily counted from the horizontal perforations which is roughly about 2cm in length. The feet of H are joined together as are all genuine examples.

In 1886, the governor of North Borneo W.H. Treacher realised that the company was losing money by the avoidance of Revenue duties by bussinesses, merchants and traders. The receipts under the Revenue Stamp Ordinance were close to naught. In view of this, several North Borneo stamps were overprinted with various 2-lines or 3-lines "Revenue" overprints. There are five types of such overprints.

The magenta 1/2 cent and the blue 10 cents stamps of 1886 issue were overprinted with "and Revenue" overprints in 2 lines - the arrangements were such that the letter "d" in "and" is either  above the "n" or "nu" of the "revenue". In general 4 out of 5 has the letter "d" above "n" making it the commoner variety.

Three stamps were overprinted with the three-lines revenue overprints that read "(value)/Cents/Revenue". Note that all initial letters of each line is in capital. The position of stop correspond to the varieties. This can either be after the "Cents" or after the "Revenue".

Four of the stamps pictured above were listed in ebay several days/weeks ago and reach (not suprisingly) high final prices.