Page 57 - Sierra Leone to 1961 - The Collection
P. 57
The First Victorian Keyplate 1872 to 1896
1884 Five Shillings Overprint. Crown CA Watermark. Perf 14.
Although these stamps were prepared for fiscal use, they were postally valid between 2 June 1884 and 28
February 1885. Just 40 sheets were overprinted, giving 2,400 stamps. Of these 880 were sold at post offices
with the remainder being sold to a dealer after they had been cancelled by a brush stroke of red ink.
. .
Scarce mint stamps without red ink cancel Stamps with red ink cancel as usually found
Right-hand stamp shows sloping ‘5’ Left-hand stamp shows sloping ‘5’
The overprinting was done in Freetown, but the local printer did not have 60 identical figures ‘5’. On each
sheet there are 45 positions with the left-hand side of the ‘5’ upright, and 15 with the side sloping.
.
Inverted Overprint
Red Ink Cancel
(RPSL Certificate)
It is believed that just two sheets had the overprint applied upside-down. Of these, one sheet was cancelled
with red ink.
