1952 On Government Service Brunei FDC

This is a travelling registered FDC dated March 1 1952 to Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu). The stamps in full set were cancelled by partial Brunei postmarks, addressed to the Governor of North Borneo, Sir (Herbert) Ralph Hone (1896-1992). Sir Hone, who was a British army officer, barrister and colonial administrator, became the Governor of North Borneo in 1949 and held the position until 1954.

There are two postmarks on the backside; one dated March 3 1952 with Labuan registration and the other one postmarked partially with Jesselton registration dated March 4 1952. The sender of this cover was a Superintendent, P&T, Brunei.

Date acquired: 22 Feb. 2013

Place acquired from: United Kingdom

Disclaimer: I am not a Philatelist. I'm collecting stamps and covers just as a hobby. All my writings here are done based on my own non-exhaustive research. Please do your own research and do not take the articles here as formal references. I welcome any comments or critics if any of the information here are incorrect or misguided.

Two British Battle Cruisers Lie Deep in Malaysian Waters

The British battle cruisers, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, lie deep in Malaysian waters about 50 nautical miles north of the resort island of Pulau Tioman in the vicinity of Kuantan, Pahang. Unknown to the thousands of divers that pass through Tioman every year, these ships offer some of the world’s greatest wreck diving.

Commemorative Cover issued in 1986 commemorating the 45th Anniversary of her loss off the East Coast of Malaya on December 10th, 1941. The cover is signed and numbered 124 of ONLY 215 issued. The cover carries the 17p Machin Definitive cancelled by an illustrated handstamp of Portsmouth Philatelic Counter dated December 10th 1986. Signed by one of the survivors, most likely William A Lawe.

This British King George V Class  Battleship was completed in March 1941, only a few month before she was destroyed in the South China Sea. Known as Force Z, together with HMS Repulse, she was the Flagship and stationed in Singapore in the hope that their presence would help deter a Japanese attack. The 40,000 ton ship with a length of  227 meters sailed, together with HMS Repulse, on the  8th December 1941 northwards. Signed by survivor Eric L. B. Noel.

The following video gives you a good synopsis of the story.



Tioman island is a popular tourist destination, particularly for those who love scuba-diving. To get there, just take a ferry on the mainland from Mersing, my hometown.

Date acquired: 19 Feb. 2013

Place acquired from: United Kingdom

Disclaimer: I am not a Philatelist. I'm collecting stamps and covers just as a hobby. All my writings here are done based on my own non-exhaustive research. Please do your own research and do not take the articles here as formal references. I welcome any comments or critics if any of the information here are incorrect or misguided.

Color-Shifted Vietnam Stamps

Shown here are three Vietnamese stamps 20xu, Scott No. 1114 issued in commemoration of the 26th Soviet Communist Party Congress. The stamp was issued on Feb 23 1981 in pair with another stamp 50xu, Scott No. 1115.

The stamp at the left is the correct one. The other two are those with shifted colors. Color shift occurs when one or more colors are printed at an offset to the others. It can occur in any direction, with any number of colors.

Date acquired: 25 Jan. 2013

Place acquired from: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Disclaimer: I am not a Philatelist. I'm collecting stamps and covers just as a hobby. All my writings here are done based on my own non-exhaustive research. Please do your own research and do not take the articles here as formal references. I welcome any comments or critics if any of the information here are incorrect or misguided.

Martin Ritt Used to Live Here

This is an old cover dated July 22 1908, addressed to No. 140 East 7th St, New York. Google around and you will find that this address now houses the office of Mbd Properties.



Martin Ritt (1914-1990)

Google further and you will find that the infamous American Director Martin Ritt used to live here in 1920. Among his famous movies were The Outrage (1964), The Great White Hope (1970) and Norma Rae (1979).

Date acquired: 14 Feb. 2013

Place acquired from: Berkshire, United Kingdom

Disclaimer: I am not a Philatelist. I'm collecting stamps and covers just as a hobby. All my writings here are done based on my own non-exhaustive research. Please do your own research and do not take the articles here as formal references. I welcome any comments or critics if any of the information here are incorrect or misguided.

1900 Roemer Museum Hildesheim Cover

 

This is an old 1900 cover from Roemer Museum Hildesheim addressed to Dr Harrison G Dyar of the US National Museum, Washington DC.

 

Little did it occur to me the significance of this cover until I did a little research on the internet upon receiving it in my mailbox last week. Apparently the Roemer-und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim - as it is now known - is famous for its ancient Egypt artifact collections. The museum is the result of the union of the Roemer Museum (as on the cover), founded in 1844 (and named after one of the founders, Herrmann Roemer), and the Pelizaeus Museum, established in 1911, that had housed the private collection of Egyptian antiques of Wilhelm Pelizaeus. More information about the musuem here.

 

The Roemer-und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim

What more interesting is the person this letter was addressed to. Unless there is more than one person with the same name working at the same place having the same profession (which is very unlikely!), a simple search on Wikipedia shows that Dr. Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr. was an Honorary Custodian of Lepidoptera at the U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C. from 1897 until his death (1929).

 



More information about Dr. Harrison Jr. here.

 

Here's another interesting fact. Dr. Harrison's father, Mr. Harrison Gray Dyar (1805–1875), was an American chemist and inventor. According to Alfred Munroe in Concord and the Telegraph, it was Mr. Dyar, not Professor Morse (remember Morse code?), who erected the first real telegraph line at the race track in Long Island in 1826 and dispatched the first message ever sent! Read more about it here.

 

Now, anybody with a cover addressed to Mr. Harrison (Sr.)?

 

Date acquired: 6 Feb. 2013

Place acquired from: Georgia, USA

 

Disclaimer: I am not a Philatelist. I'm collecting stamps and covers just as a hobby. All my writings here are done based on my own non-exhaustive research. Please do your own research and do not take the articles here as formal references. I welcome any comments or critics if any of the information here are incorrect or misguided.

Inverted Jenny 22kt Gold Replica

This is the Inverted Jenny 22kt gold replica that I've acquired during my study in the US. It is part of the Golden Replicas collection that I subscribed from the Postal Commemorative Society back in 1987-88.

I believe all avid stamp collectors are very familiar with Inverted Jenny. The cards accompanying this replica tells it all about the history of the Inverted Jenny.

Of course I cannot afford to acquire this stamp, but how I wish to acquire the non-inverted ones. The complete set contains 3 stamps - 6 cents orange, 16 cents green and 24 cents red/blue.

Date acquired: Mid-1987
Place acquired from: USA

Disclaimer: I am not a Philatelist. I'm collecting stamps and covers just as a hobby. All my writings here are done based on my own non-exhaustive research. Please do your own research and do not take the articles here as formal references. I welcome any comments or critics if any of the information here are incorrect or misguided.

Sarawak 1947 Brooke 1c-$5 set on FDC Cover

The FDC dated 16 April 1947 features a complete Brooke overprinted set of the Sarawak 1947 Brooke series (Scott#159-173) which is hard to find nowadays. Clearly written "Sarawak 'Royal Cypher' Provisional Issue", this cover was cancelled at its hometown in Kuching, Sarawak. The stamps were neatly tied on the Registered Mail cover bearing Reg. No. 2027.

This FDC was addressed to Mr. Alan D. Dant, a well-known Sarawak Philatelist. He was the writer of "Sarawak Stamps During & After the Japanese Occupation", published in 1949. He also won Special Prize in the 1952 PANAPEX (Pan Asian Philatelic Exhibition) award under the I-A-9 Borneo category.

Date acquired: 8 Feb. 2013
Place acquired from: California, USA

Disclaimer: I am not a Philatelist. I'm collecting stamps and covers just as a hobby. All my writings here are done based on my own non-exhaustive research. Please do your own research and do not take the articles here as formal references. I welcome any comments or critics if any of the information here are incorrect or misguided.