NORTH BORNEO 1883-1886

Return To Catalogue - North Borneo 1887-1894 - North Borneo 1893-1910 - North Borneo 1911 onwards and miscellaneous

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Remarks on cancelled to order stamps; many of the stamps of North Borneo are cancelled to order. In this condition they are much more common than genuinly used stamps. These stamps never saw North Borneo, but were sold straight from the London headquarters of the British North Borneo Company to a stamp dealer (Henry Grieve Parker, see the courtcase of the forged North Borneo stamps of Lowden). The company also sold printer's waste (imperforate stamps) to this dealer and even made new printings solely to be supplied to stamp collectors. This Parker also doctered philatelic covers (see for example http://northborneostamps.blogspot.com/2011/02/labuan-registered-cover-1905-parker.html, where a cover with Labuan stamps is shown addressed to Mr. Fred R. Parker 35 Linthorpe Road London N.)
After 1931 the practice of selling stamps cancelled to order was stopped in North Borneo.

1883 Arms, inscription "NORTH BORNEO POSTAGE"

  1/2 c lilac
  1 c orange
  2 c brown
  4 c red
  8 c green
  10 c blue

The 1 c orange is very rare. Imperforated remainders of the 1 c exist, they exist with forged perforation pretending to be a genuine 1 c orange. Two fiscal stamps exist: "Three Cents. Revenue" on 4 c and "Five Cents. Revenue" on 8 c. For similar stamps with inscription British North Borneo, click here, or here.

"Three Cents. Revenue" on 4 c revenue stamp and "Five Cents Revenue" on 8 c.

A 1 c stamp with a much finer perforation, probably a 'doctored' imperforate remainder.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Larger size

  50 c violet
  1 $ red

A fiscal stamp exist: "Ten Cents Revenue." or "Ten Cent Revenue." (placement of dot different) on 50 c violet.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged

  '3 CENTS' on 4 c red (2 types of overprint, 1886)
  '5 CENTS' on 8 c green (1886)
  'EIGHT CENTS' on 2 c brown (1883)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

"EIGHT CENTS" on 2 c, inverted overprint, might be a forgery

('8 Cents' on 2 c bogus issue?)

I've been told that the '8 Cents' (vertical or horizontal) on 2 c brown issues are bogus issues! Nevertheless they are listed as genuine in the 'Standard Catalogue of Malaysia - Singapore - Brunei' (value: RR).

Overprinted "and Revenue"

  1/2 c lilac
  10 c blue

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Forgery of the 5 c on 8 c green stamp, the surcharge (too broad) and cancel are forged. The right hand side Chinese characters and the left hand side Arabic inscriptions are those of the 2 c value and not of the 8 c value! I've also seen this forgery without the '5 CENTS' surcharge. It might have been made by the forger Oneglia, since I've seen it offered in a batch with many Oneglia forgeries.

A 1 c orange stamp in a completely different design (the side inscriptions are identical to the 2 c value); probably a forgery. Next to it a 10 c with 'and Revenue' overprint and a 2 c with '8 Cents' overprint. All forgeries are probably from the same source as the above shown 5 c on 8 c forgery (Oneglia?).

Another forgery, probably made by the same forger as above (Oneglia?). The words 'NORTH BORNEO' are too tall when compared to a genuine stamp.

Apparently the forger Nino Imperato also made forgeries of these stamps (they are not the above shown Oneglia forgeries). I have no further information.

A Fournier forgery of the 50 c can be found on Bill Claghorns forgery site: http://www.geocities.com/claghorn1p/NorthBorneo/index.htm. The letters "PERGO ET PARAGO" touch the border in this forgery. Fournier has used the cancel "SANDAKAN 23 JUN 1886" in a single circle (the cancel can be found in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'). I've seen this forged cancel on both the 50 c and 1 $ 1894 forgery (see there; with a very unclear '86' in '1886' to cover up the year mistake). Fournier also made forgeries of the '5 CENTS' surcharge.

Fournier forgeries of the 50 c and 1 $ values

The Sandakan forged Fournier cancel.

1886 Arms, inscription "BRITISH NORTH BORNEO POSTAGE", "POSTAGE" below the shield

  1/2 c lilac
  1 c orange
  2 c brown
  4 c red
  8 c green
  10 c blue

The perforation of these stamps is 14 unless otherwise stated. All stamps have no watermark. Imperforate stamps exist (same value as perforated stamps).

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged

  '6 cents.' on 8 c green (1890)
  '6 cents.' on 10 c blue (1890)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Dubious items

Forgeries exist of these stamps. For example, the forger Fournier made a forgery of the '6 cents.' surcharge (an image can be found in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries').

Forged Fournier surcharges.

Philatelitically motivated postcard to Adolph Bauer in Erfurt, Germany. I've seen more of such postcards addressed to the same stamp dealer.

Stamp of North Borneo used together with a stamp of Straits Settlements.

1886 Larger size, inscription "POSTAGE & REVENUE"

  25 c grey
  50 c violet
  1 $ red
  2 $ green
  5 $ lilac (larger size)
  10 $ brown (larger size)
  25 $ blue (only fiscally used)

The stamps above have perforation 14. They exist cancelled to order (elliptic bar cancel with 9 or 14 bars), stamps so cancelled are worth considerably less than genuine used stamps. The stamps were re-engraved in 1889 and give rise to slightly different types. Imperforate stamps exist (same value as perforated stamps, much cheaper for 5 $ and 10$ values).

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Surcharged

  'Two Cents.' (red) on 25 c blue
  'Eight Cents.' (red) on 25 c grey
  '8 Cents.' (red) on 25 c grey

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Forgeries exist of these stamps. For example, the forger Fournier made a forgery of the 'Two Cents.' surcharge (an image can be found in 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries').

Forged Fournier surcharges.

For stamps of North Borneo issued afterwards, click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer