Britain I.r.official O/P.

Hi guys need some clarification on these two stamps. Are the black marks on the stamps other than the I.R official prints,postmarks?I.R means Inland Revenue,why were these official stamps used for normal postage?Have read somewhere that among the series of King Edward VII 1902-1904 I.R. o/p one penny stamps,some stamps of this design are considered scarce.Can anyone familiar with Britain stamps enlighten on which one is scarce and why?Thanks.

I'm not sure that either one is scarce. Yes those are postmarks you see. Official stamps were given to the members of the Ministry / Government for Official business. US Official Stamps actually have Stamps for the different departments such as Justice, Treasury, Agriculture, etc. Also the Great Britain stamps of that era could be used as either Postage or Fiscal use and on each Stamp you will see Postage and Revenue as most countries had specific stamps for Revenue use.

Hi Selva
Some Squared Circle postmarks are rare, but I do not know which ones.
I think there was an article by a collector in British Stamp Magazine in 2011.
I no one come up with it, I will try and find the magazine on the weekend as I know I have a copy somewhere.
Regards
Horamakhet

Selva, the first stamp has a London squared circle postmark. It appears to be one of the more common types.

The second looks like Birmingham, although there are other British cities ending in "...ingham" -- Nottingham, for one. That said, it takes a good-sized place to have 18 (or more) sub-offices, so I would vote for Birmingham.

Thanks for the replies.Though I have read elsewhere about some one penny King Edward VII being scarce/rare,I also read something to that extent in the blog of our forum member Jkjblue.Unless I have understood it wrongly.Maybe our valued member Jkjblue could chip in for more info and details.Following is a piece from his blog or refer blog at http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/


1902-04 Scott O20 1p carmine overprinted
Edward VII was on the 1902-04 eight stamp issue. Two stamps are CV $1+-2+, but the others are CV $100-30,000+!

The Birmingham double circle p/m had "75" at the bottom from 1885. This has 18 - and I don't know which office that's from.

Is that overprint over or under the postmark?

The 1st stamp 1 penny, the overprint is under the postmark.The second one half penny, the overprint looks like above the postmark.The third example one penny looks like the overprint is above the postmark too.

All are under.
The overprint was done first.
Overprints are quite pricey and you should hang on to them all, Selva.
Dva.

Your Edward VII [top one] is worth £2:25, as it is the fine overprint of a less worn plate.

Thanks Yorkshire,I will definitely hold on to them.

Hi Selva

Thanks for the mention.

The Great Britain "Inland Revenue" Officials , between 1882-1904, have 26 stamps with major numbers in Scott, and do indeed have some that are quite pricey.

1890 Scott O13 one pound brown violet (three Orb wmk) $30,000
1904 Scott O22 6p dull violet (wmk imperial crown) $75,000!
1902-04 Scott O25 10sh ultramarine (wmk anchor) $30,000
1902-04 Scott O26 one pound green (wmk three imperial crowns) $22,500

There are others-such as what you and I have- that are much less.

Thanks Jkjblue for the detailed info.Have been reading your blog and it is intresting.Have learned quite alot from your blue era.Great work.Am sure it is helping alot of the new collectors understand about the old stamps.Great dedication to stamping hobby.

Lovely stamps Selva and very collectible, may I ask how you came to acquire them. I would be interested if it was a dealer, as I have quite a few overprints myself.

shadowtor,this stamps all were in my dad's quite large collection which I have taken over about 2 years ago.They have been neglected for more than 20 years. I am coming across these stamps as I am sorting out the collections bit by bit.I do not know how to acquire them but there may be a number of people who might be able to help you in the forum.Post a topic on this and you may have some respond.
Rgds,Selva.