Wednesday 27 June 2018

Flaw or Tear?

I found something interesting in recent ebay listing, the 5R value of 1946 King George VI stamp has obvious white strip.   The strip cross the King's face from nose to mouth.  It is unclear from the photo uploaded by the seller, but I tried my luck to explore more of the strip, flaw or tear.

When the item arrived to me, I takes the microscopic photos of it and did analysis.  Based on the close up photos, it is assumed as a flaw.  One more analysis to do is to use electronics watermark detector to check the thickness of the stamp paper.  If it has same thickness throughout the stamp, it can be confirmed that as a flaw.  The close up view is displayed below.


Tuesday 26 June 2018

Burma Aerogramme found in BOAC "Comet - York Peter" Crash, 1954



The B.O.A.C flight 781 crashed near the Elba Island, Italy on 10 Jan 1954.  The comet was operating the flight from Singapore to London via Rome where it made a stop at 10:30 AM.  20 minutes after take off, from Ciampino airport, the aircraft crashes take place when the Comet broke up in the air, near the Elba island.  All occupants were killed in the accident. 
  

The following day postal bags were recovered by a fishing boat and taken to Genoa by the steamer “Persia”.  The recovered mail bears several different cachets depending on the destination. Covers and aerogrammes sent from Burma to UK were found in these mails.  The aerogramme highlighted below is sent from Rangoon addressed to Scotland.

7 Jan 1954, RANGOON to SCOTLAND. Backstamped London 30 Jan 1954.
Cachet in Red
 




Thursday 21 June 2018

Unrecorded International Reply Coupons

More types of International Reply Coupons for Burma, previously unrecorded, continue to be discovered. Fantail 30 recorded a 4 annas value, and Fantail 54 recorded a 62 pyas value IRC. In a recent auction, a new type of 4 annas IRC has been found, and a 50 pyas coupon, which is an unrecorded value, has also been found. According to the auction catalog, the 4 annas value IRC type B was issued in April 1947, and the 50 pyas value IRC was issued in November 1958. The list of recorded ICR types is extended.


Toe Kyaw Kyar, "Notes & queries: Unrecorded International Reply Coupons", The Burma Fantail, Vol. 15, No. 3, Whole Number 57, pp. 44-45, July 2018.

The 4 Annas Type B and 50 Pyas IRC were listed as uncut block of fours in Christoph Gärtner 40th Auction - Stamps (June 11th - 15th, 2018).  Minimum bid was set to 1000 Euro.  It's description stated "1947/1958. Lot of 2 different Intl. Reply Coupons (London type) each in an unused block of 4: one time "4 annas, issued April 1947", and one time "50 pyas, issued November 1958". Luxury quality. Collector's items from archives! (T)"