People say that good wine needs no introduction, but this postcard remained the source of my amazement for the weekend primarily because of the final end price . The card was auctioned in ebay in a 7-day format and ended on the 28 January 2012 with a stagerring US$1,001.60 (£637) after 15 bids! Superficially, the card is a simple enough item with an overprint of the Straits Settlement and a nice Labuan cds - but philatelically speaking, surely it's one of the rarest Labuan/St. Settlement gems!

In July 2011, similar postal stationary of 4 cent was auctioned and reached an even higher final price of £870!

Labuan (and Brunei) officially became part of the Straits Settlements administration in 1st January 1907 to 1st January 1942, when the Japanese first landed in Labuan. By letters Patent dated 30 October 1906, Labuan was incorporated with Straits Settlements and ceased issuing its own stamps. It became part of the Colony of North Borneo again in July 1946.

In the initial period within this 35-years-span within the Straits Settlement, most Labuan stamps and postal stationeries were overprinted with the word "Straits Settlements". In a short period of time however, this soon was replaced with the St. Settlements stamps of KEVII and KGV. This then became the norm and explains why some St. Settlement stamps used today bear Labuan cancels.