During the lockdown last year I took the opportunity to photograph and catalogue my collection of machine tokens. This year I have taken the opportunity to work on a large number of early Victorian stamps to identify the postmarks.
There was a concern when stamps were introduced in 1840 that the stamp could continue to be used time and time again by the public, defrauding government coffers. To combat this methods were devised to “cancel” the stamp with a mark that would be unmistakable.
Initially the mark used was a Maltese cross, to start with red, later progressing to black (presumably as the stamps on sale changed from black to red, although other colours were used).
Later designs progressed to a date stamp usually on the letter and on the stamp itself a number in some form of design that designated a city, town or district.
My collection covers 1840 to 1870 and is only to be regarded as embryonic as many, many marks are still missing. The condition of the stamp is immaterial to me, what counts is the cancellation.
