Page 55 - The Sideways Experimenatal Duplex 1852-1858

COLOURED CANCELS
Why were they used? I believe there are a few reasons. One is that when these duplex hand stamps were issued the
P.O. Clerk probably did not know if they should use the ink used when applying their back stamps, often either
blue or green. So when coloured cancels were used for a short period after issue this may be the reason. There are
occasions when they appear for no reason for only a day or so this is likely the Clerk using the wrong ink or the
black ink had nm out. Finally there are a number of Towns where a dirty green ink was used often for only short
periods, except for Nottingham where this dirty green ink was used for a long period. I believe that this was due to
the make up of the ink where the materials used may not have quite been the correct mix leaving the dirty green
colour. Usually you see this colour after the hand stamp has been in use for sometime and it was known Post Office
regulations required the use of black ink for cancelling mail. Kidderminster is known in red as an early date.
BATTLE TYPE II
Issued on4th March 1857 this is a very rare hand stamp both in blue and black. The only other blue one I have
seen is in the Post Office museum. It has a rarity rating of G.

I show here an example in blue and black ink. The strike in blue is dated 10th March 1857 the earliest date
recorded. The strike in black is dated 13th March 1858 which is the latest recorded date.