Page 11 - Lithographed Stamps of North Borneo

1883 'EIGHT CENTS' provisioul

Applied to stamps from the fiISt printing, transfer 'A'. Far less scarce tban the '8 Cents' provisional, and
k:nown unused including multiples.
RPSL Cert. 161176

The type was set in a horizontal row of ten repeated five times down the sheet, the relative position of
the EIGHT' and 'CENTS' varies across the row but is constant from row to row ..
Position l to 5
#l)EaboveC #2) E to left of C #3)EaboveC #4) E to rigbt ofC #S)EaboveC
Tabove S TleftofS T sligbdy left of S T slightly right of S TaboveS

Position 6 to l 0
#6) E to right ofC #7) E above curve ofC #8) E to rightofC #9) E slighdy rigbt ofC #10) E above C
T slightly left of S T left ofS T above S T slightly left ofS T to right of S
- .-

ITpge: Cancellations include Sandakan bars, Sandakan, Kudat and Singapore undated double circle, and
blue AC in oval, the latter believed to be applied to mail from Abramson & Co.
In contrast to the '8 Cents' provisional very few used copies bear blue crayon marks, only one of the 18
stamps illustrated by Panbro and one of the 10 copies above. Biggins speculates that the 'EIGHT
CENTS' provisional was available to the public, whereas 1be '8 Cents' provisional, posstbly because the
surcbarge was indistinct, was reserved for use by postal staff for ftanking registered mail.

Forgeries: Very common. Usually displaced from centre and over or under inked, therefore probably
band stamped singularly. On later printings, usually the perf 14 stamp of 1886, as arc all those below..
__ , .. _
-·-·-· --~ "1'
• ..
', ... "
l
...
" .. ..., • ,j •
...
u' •
Inverted, not known on tbe genuine provisional and tete-becbe, impossible for the genuine stamp