The Brunswick Star :

A very courteous gentleman, wrote to me off list
regarding the above, when I posted some information
on this in another thread, Washington on Siam.

There is a dedicated book on the Brunswick Star
http://www.philatelicsannex.org/ref...wickstar.pdf
which I have known about for some years.

My example does not show in this booklet, and there may be some
evidence my information may be incorrect
The gentleman who wrote was protecting any
potential embarrassment if I was found incorrect.

This brings up a good point for SCF members,
Philately is experience, and knowledge interchanged
between the brotherhood and sisterhood,
even the best of us get it wrong sometimes, and I
don't think there should ever be embarrassment or shame
in making a bad judgement, what should always prevail
is the truth.
The gentleman was honourable in his intentions,
it is appreciated, but I will always be happy
to be "nudged" publicly if I get something awry.

Back to the Brunswick Star.

Although this postmark impression does not appear in
the compendium, I am led to believe similar
impressions were used in towns and districts in Scotland

My example A over 320 I am told belongs to a village called "Tain"
in Scotland which has a deep history:

Tain was granted its first royal charter in 1066, making Tain Scotland's oldest Royal Burgh, an event commemorated in 1966 with the opening of the Rose Garden by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The 1066 charter, granted by King Malcolm III, confirmed Tain both as a sanctuary, where people could claim the protection of the church, and an "immunity", whose resident merchants and traders were exempt from certain types of taxes. These important ideas carried through the centuries and led to the development of the town as it is today.

An email from a British Collector Mr. Tim Burgess

( I am not sure.. I think it was in reply to a query I sent to the
Royal Phil Society in London, even this gentleman was surprised
to find "local" Brunswick stars)

Dear Rodney

Re: German Stamp

I was surprised to learn that these were also produced with the town
numbers with letters under horizontal lines. Here is what I found out:

1. This cancel was never applied in Germany but in the UK.
"320" = Tain.

2. I suspect that the cover was sent to the UK where the mail may or
may not have been properly canceled. The post office clerk may
have simply canceled the stamp in the UK, if un-canceled, or the
cover was forwarded to some other location in the UK or returned to
Germany. Since you do not have the cover, you cannot determine the
real history.

3. The 9 Kreuzer = 25 Pfennig (rate overseas..UPU) and applicable
for 1874 or early 1875 only. Stamp was issued on January 1, 1874,
and new 'Pfennige' issue appeared on January 1, 1875. Kreuzer
monetary values were used only in southern Germany (of a united
Germany) until the currency was unified into Pfennig and Marks in
1975.

Without question, the cover on which this stamp was used would
probably have been spectacular postal history.

Best regards,

Tim Burgess

Fabulous information, rod, and I couldn't agree more that the cover would have been a wonderful piece of history.

The theory relies on a German postmaster missing an opportunity to cancel a stamp...seemingly a capital offense in early German postal circles.

Are there other examples of numeral obliterators in the UK that also contain letter codes? Off the top of my head, I can't recall seeing any, but then I haven't been looking, either...

I've been waiting for the long-promised new edition of Collect British Postmarks, and this sort of discussion pushes me to stop waiting and pick up an older edition.

No Collin, my investigations ran dry
following Pearson Hill (Rowland Hill's son)
developing the Parallel motion canceller, he was developing
in Scotland.
This is deep stuff and one needs to find and purchase
appropriate published material.

Going by the reply from Mr. Burgess, there is knowledge
of them out there somewhere.

I agree whole heartedly about the correcting business. I open my mouth on this forum in the deepest hope that people will confirm or correct me about my knowledge of stamps. If I am not corrected, then I can't learn and I would be doing nothing but sticking little pieces of paper in a book and wasting my time. I welcome the correction and recorrection sometimes, and continue to look forward to it. Oh, and by the way Rod, those Cinderellas you bid on from me, we both made a mistake, it should have been $100 not $1.

That's right!
I sent the $100,
you mean you didn't get it?