Page 47 - The Sideways Experimenatal Duplex 1852-1858

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THE LAUNCESTON SIDEWAYS DUPLEX
THAT WAS NOT A SIDEWAYS DUPLEX
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Like most of the sideways duplexes this was entered into the proof books on 1 st January 1857.
As you can see from the cover below and a copy of the entry in the proof book all was not as it seemed.
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I always felt that the strike in the proof book did not look quite right it seemed to me to be a little out of square
between the C.D.S. and the obliterator. Although in the Traill and Holland book he does record an example of the
Launceston hand stamp I have always believed that this was an error as in 25 years of studying the sideways duplex I
had not seen or heard of an example. Firstly take a look at the cover dated 13th May 1858 the Post Office clerk has
kindly struck an example of a Launceston C.D.S. in blue next to the stamp. If you look closely at this date stamp you
can see a rather distinct letter 'S' with a flat bottom and if you then look at the strike in the proof book you can see
that that C.D. S. also has the distinct flat bottom to the letter 'S'. You will also see even though it is not a great strike
that the obliterator looks very similar to the one in the proof book. I have traced the C.D.S. and the obliterator and
checked them against the strikes on the cover. The C.D.S. is a perfect match and the obliterator even though it is not
complete also matches what is clearly struck. So in conclusion I have now proved that this sideways does not exist.