High value stamps from any era can be hard to obtain, even more so in great condition. Which is why I was so pleased to find this one recently; they don’t get much better than this.
Issued in1912 this high value stamp was in service for just four years before being superseded by the Large Seal 3/- SG191 and then SG200 which we have on the home page.
As you can see this was used at the Registered Letter Office in Barbados on 20th February 1914 at 3.30pm in the afternoon and probably served to send a large letter or parcel.
In 1914 three shillings was a lot of money and very few people would have had that much money available to use a stamp like this.
There were two printings of this stamp; one in 1912 and another in 1913 but the total number of stamps available for postal use was never more than 7,200.
Personally I have held out for three years looking, for a really good used specimen because so many of them had heavy or smudged parcel cancels, or ended up with damaged perfs having done their service on the outside of a large parcel.
So finally a gap in the collection is filled and with a perfect ‘socked on the nose’ cancellation. That’s one more towards getting all of Barbados mint and used!
View Comments (4)
Hi,
I noticed that this stamp is for sale listed on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Barbados-1912-KGV-3s-violet-green-very-fine-used-SG-180-Sc-126/362099690515?hash=item544ed2cc13:g:38wAAOSwCCVZtpKJ
Is that the same stamp?
Hi Lee,
It's the same stamp SG180 but it's not the exact same stamp as featured in this blog. That one is still in my collection, or at least it was last time I looked!
The one on eBay does have the same exact time and date cancel on it, which leads me to believe that there would have been a number of these cancelled to order on the same day. This was not unusual and dealers, realising that 'used' copies of a stamp were far more valuable than mint copes, would buy a number of them mint and then get them cancelled to sell on at a profit.
What it does confirm however is that this stamp and the one I have definitely weren't 'postally used' but were instead cancelled to order (CTO)
Thanks for the information.
Yes, your stamp is a stunning example and if the one on eBay wasn't so highly priced, I might think about adding it to my collection.
I notice that you often have numbers of stamps printed in your blogs.
Can you tell me where to find that information.
The numbers are all Stanley Gibbons numbers (SG numbers) and are all from the relevant Stanley Gibbons catalogue.
With regards to the price on this stamp, I think it's a good price and if I didn't already own one I'd buy it.
Ask yourself this; how often do I see anything like this? If the answer is 'rarely' then it's usually worth picking up.