Great Britain (Postage And Inland Revenue) Scott # 89

Hi guys...I have been trying to pay attention to my WW stamps from when I was a kid..Stamps have been locked away for 50+ years...Came across this stamp...A couple of things that I am concerned about with this Scott #89 stamp from 1881 (in my Scott 2009 catalogue) ..It is the 16 dot version for sure...That I know.

1 - If it is from 1881, how come the cancel says January 16th, 1900..?
2 - Number 89c is classified with NO watermark..I have tried 3 times to see a watermark using watermark solution, and no luck..Is there any other way to classify this stamp...?

Thanks, Robert

Nope, that's the only one of that design. Can you scan the back and post a good image of it here ?

well stallzer...here is the back, but looks like extra paper stuck on it, and you can see the cancel showing trough..Guess I am beat on this one...I will just mark it as an ordinary Scott 89.

Robert, I believe that an 1881 stamp can have a 1900 cancel on it. Someone just misplaced it and used it some two decades later. As far as a watermark? Who knows, you might have good luck this time!

Peter

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to confirm a stamp is the unwatermarked variety when there is significant paper adhesion.

This stamp (Die II, 16 dots) enjoyed a relatively long print run of roughly 20 years. I don't have the exact info available, but as far as I know, the later plates were still printing as late as 1900. I believe the last die proof was in 1901.

This stamp was the first to have the words "Postage and Revenue" printed and had a twenty year print run using 129 plates.

33.6 billion Die 2 stamps were printed on Crown watermarked paper with around 1% used for revenue purposes.