I have only now returned to this thread. I am very grateful for the image announcing Mr. Robinson's passing. Since my local club here in San Antonio has had no meeting place for a year and has resisted establishing a ZOOM capability, I am preparing a brief presentation on this cover for my previous ...

I am resuming my research on the cover, trying to answer the question "why does it exist?" My brief research revealed that Prince George had passed a few weeks before this item was sent. That certainly appears to be a candidate for why a mourning cover was used [was it customary to keep a ...

Thank you very much. I do not plan to collect this genre but I would like to learn more about it, especially during this early period. Are there any publications that treat the subject in some depth?

Please see the attachment. I have had this mysterious embossed stamp for years but I cannot find it in any catalogue. It's wording is "POSTAGE ONE PENNY". i have altered the image to bring out details. The true color is pink. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

I am seeking information on how to detect and differentiate the three different phosphor bar inks on Wilding definitives. I have a Lighthouse UV source that I believe is “long wave” and a very old Raytech Industries Model BS-1 source, intended to reveal phosphorescent minerals in rockl samples and p...

Thank you. I had assumed incorrectly the piece was received and cancelled by a post office very near the palace. This adds an unexpected detail to the item's history.

I think I've succeeded in adding the requested scan. Whose passing prompted the use of a mourning envelope?

I'll be happy to once I learn how to do so.

I thought I posted this recently but I don’t see it so I’ll try again. I have a mourning cover from St. James Palace franked with a 1d. R. H. stamp. It is cancelled with a squared circle device. It shows “HO” at the 9 o’clock position and a faint “W” at the 3 o’clock position. It was cancelled 29 Ap...

Question has been answered.

A stamp club friend showed me a Newspaper stamp, "The Times Newspaper" (Philbrick and Amos, type 5 bearing the marks K and 3.) and asked about its value. It is cut to shape and a bit tattered. Anyone care to venture a value range?

I have been "old school" for decades, using fluid and a tray. My fluid's about run out so I am considering purchasing a modern detector. Does anyone have experience with the Detectamark Spectrum detector? Any other recommendations? If it is important, I collect older GB and BNA, mostly 19t...

Thank you for your reply. I admit I am perplexed at the lack of information on this marking. I assumed it was not unusual; that appears to have been a bad assumption!

I am seeking information about the partially hidden marking on this cover. The full marking reads "Cage Stand 233". What is the meaning of this marking? Where was it likely applied (point of origin, censor station? somewhere else?). There are no backstamps.

Thanks for any information.

I’ve resumed my study of quantities printed. With the exception of three entries in Astley’s 2005 article in the GB Journal, I find very close and often exact agreement with Wiseman’s figures in his The De La Rue Years. The simplest exception first. For O33, Astley shows 297 sheets created but Wisem...

Any idea why the Victorian Army Official stamps were omitted from Mr. Astley's "Vetting..." article? Based on the statistics presented regarding "Bad" vs. "OK" opinions, I will have to send several more to the Royal. Do you know if they use a Comparascope or similar equ...

As of this moment, yes, you may presume I have seen this article. An hour ago I couldn't have said so. Thank you for the pointer. The next article, on L30a, caught my eye as well; I bought a copy with a certificate at NY2016 from Bill Barrell. There was a second copy for sale at the same show. I cou...

I can upload my results when I am satisfied with them. For the majority of issues, I am using Tony Wiseman's production figures [updates would be appreciated!]. Of course many stamps were destroyed when their use was discontinued; I have not been particularly successful in determining how many of ea...

The specialized catalogue includes individual specimen entries for varieties of stamps listed together; for example, L8 (S.G. O9c/O10b) exists in four combinations of color and paper but only three of them bearing specimen overprints are listed. From this I assume the unlisted variety, L8(3), is not...

I am borrowing a copy of Wiseman's book from the Northwest Philatelic Library. It is the only copy that appears in the philatelic union catalogue and I feel fortunate to find it.

Thank you!

I have been compiling statistics on how many of each GB official stamp were printed. Tony Wiseman’s two volume work on the De La Rue years is my primary reference. Volume 2 omits Royal Household, Board of Education and Admiralty overprints. Did Mr. Wiseman ever publish the statistics for those issue...

Thank you for your reply. A philatelic phriend here inquired with a dealer in the UK, Sidney Fenemore, who made inquiries among revenue specialists. The only thing everyone agrees on is that these markings are NOT postal but are related to revenue activities. Beyond that, little else is sure. I hope...

This stamp is being offered on eBay. I would like to know if the "cancellations" are postal, fiscal or some other kind of marking.

I have two 9d Jubilee Government Parcels Specimen type 9 stamps in different shades. Does anyone know the correlation between the 16 Government Parcels over-printings on this stamp between July 1888 and January 1902 and the shade combinations? Curiously and unhelpfully, the shade identifications in ...

I recently had an opportunity to check the watermark on a Signoscope T1. It revealed a very prominent thistle even through the paper on which the stamp was attached. The thistle was strikingly more prominent than the other three bits, suggesting a very recent correction in the paper-making process.

New member has a question - I have a Great Britain SG Spec J103 on piece. It has corner letters TA. I need to know if it has watermark W6a which would make it a J103d. The piece bears an 1860 “normal” black duplex cancel postmark dated 18OC1865 (Liverpool 466), an indistinct red circular marking tyi...