BULLETIN 135  -  July 2005

Insufficiently Paid

- Philippe Lindekens

Illustrated above is a curiously gummed tape that I have only seen once. It was applied on the ‘insufficiently paid’ cover below, and sent from Leopoldville to Geneva , New York , USA .

It bears an un-cancelled 50c. Olive-brown Mask 1947 issue, and was returned to the sender stating -

 Pli insuffisamment affranchi par avion

Prière de compléter.

 (‘Insufficiently franked for airmail/Please complete’)

 There is an additional manuscript ‘+10.-f’’ and a framed ‘RETOUR À L’ENVOYEUR’ (return to the sender) - 11 x 27mm in black

 Tape’s characteristics:

Dimensions excluding the perforated selvedge - 22 x 81mm

Vertical perforation - 11

Horizontal perforation – roulette type

It appears to have been cut across the top.

 Postage rate:

50c. Mask + manuscript ‘+10f” = 10.50 Fr.

Until 14 February 1949 - 3.50fr + 7fr (10.50 fr) was the normal 5gr airmail letter rate to U.S.A.

QUESTION : Has any other member seen another example of this tape? If so, please contact Philippe and if possible let him have a copy.

Foreign Censor Marks – continued

 Gold Coast

 By – Walter Deijnckens  

Preface  

As previously acknowledged a large quantity of material has been submitted for examination and the author has formally documented each item of mail and its postal history. However, from an editorial perspective that total compilation doesn’t make for ‘easy reading’, and at Walter Deijnckens suggestion, the format of this evolving article will now change. With a few exceptions, and as far as possible, the results will be summarised and presented in tabulated format.

Five ‘PASSED BY CENSOR’ ‘’hand stamps’ of the type illustrated below have been recorded; these are identified by the following numerals – 7, 8, 10, 19 and 23. Both blue and red inks have been used - undoubtedly other numbers will exist.

By way of formalising the results of my research the following table summarises what we currently know.

No.7  Applied in Accra - Covers examined: 6 - Mail originating from: Leopoldville , Costermansville, Usumbura, Matadi and Poko - Addressed to: U.K. , and U.S.A. - Earliest recorded: 8 May 1941 - Latest recorded: 28 July 1941

No.8  Applied in Accra - Covers examined: 6 - Mail originating from: Kindu, Stanleyville, Lisal, and Leopoldville . - Addressed to: U.K. , and U.S.A. - Earliest recorded: 16 May 1941 - Latest recorded: 17 November 1941

No. 10 Applied in Accra - Covers examined: 5 - Mail originating from: Leopoldville, Nizi and Stanleyville . - Addressed to: U.K. - Earliest recorded: 4 August 1941 - Latest recorded: 6 August 1942

No.19 Applied in Accra - Information recorded by Jean Oth -   ‘Le Congo Belge en 1940 – 1945’.

No.23  Applied in Accra - Covers examined: 1 - Addressed to: U.K.- Recorded: 9 June 1942

Labels - ‘OPENED BY CENSOR’ and ‘EXAMINER’

 In addition to the stamps listed above, there also exist ‘Opened by CENSOR’ and ‘Opened by EXAMINER’ sealing labels. Examples are illustrated below.

The  ‘OPENED BY CENSOR’ label exists in both ‘Red’ and ‘White or other pale shade’

The colour of the ‘OPENED BY EXAMINER’ label appears ‘off-white’. N.B. ‘Off white’ is an imaginary description pending confirmation. The example illustrated is a black and white photocopy without declaration of the colour. Of the examples seen, in only one case is it tied by a ‘Passed by Censor’ numerical ‘hand stamp’.

Use of the ‘griffe’- straight-line mark

LEOPOLDVILLE  

By – Philippe Lindekens

This article concerns the ‘straight-line mark’ LEOPOLDVILLE , measuring 7 x 49mm and classified by Heim and Keach as type 2A1. Prior to 1900 the ink used is usually blue and later black.  

Leopoldville , in common with some other offices, had at its disposal a ‘straight line canceller’ or Griffe. This was used as a canceller on mail and other postal and revenue items, in special circumstances.  

It was typically applied on communications passing through the Leopoldville office where the postage stamps were -

The Leopoldville straight-line ‘griffe’ was also used as a precursor to the instructional ‘Cartes Postale Incomplète’ overprint. It was applied to confirm to the addressee that the card had been validly received in Leopoldville in the absence of the other portion (Demande or Réponse) – verifying that the apparently missing half had not been stolen during its travels.  Use of the Leopoldville griffe + manuscript ‘carte incomplète’ with initialled signature are illustrated in figure 4.  

Use of the ‘straight-line mark’ to cancel Independent State stamps used on ‘Mail delivery Assignment forms’ is uncommon (Figure 5a and 5b). I have seen only one example and am unable therefore to say if it was a normal or exceptional application. The known ‘delivery assignments’ between 1915 and 1922 have their stamps cancelled by the dated post office circular canceller and not the ‘griffe’.  

Stamps not cancelled at the despatch office (in Belgium )

Figure 1.  

15c. Postal stationary ‘Reply card’ from Bruxelles (Nord) – dated 1st August 1904 and addressed to Eala , Congo ; transits Leopoldville 27th August and Coquilhatville September 13^th, 1904.The original Belgian cancel has been positioned badly and therefore failed to annul the cards stamp. The Leopoldville post office placed its ‘griffe’ over the stamp and date cancelled the entire, in conformance with the postal decree.

Stamps not cancelled at the despatch office (in the Congo )

Figure 2.  

10c. Postal stationary card with additional 5c. green from Stanleyville 4^th January 1904 to Namur , Belgium where it arrived 7^th March. It bears a Leopoldville circular transit, 26th January and ‘straight-line mark’ over the stamp not previously cancelled. The Namur receiving office applied its mark, ‘à cheval’ across the two stamps.

Stamp cancelled in a ‘non-conforming’ manner

Figure 3a.

Figure 3b.

Figures 3a and 3b are illustrations from a picture postcard posted aboard the river steamship s/s Flandre on 6^th January 1904 and given the telegraphic office cancel of Irebu, 8th January. The card started its journey again from Irebu to Brussels on 20th January, confirmed and endorsed once again by the Irebu telegraphic canceller. Leopoldville ’s transit post office applied its ‘straight-line mark’ over the stamp, undoubtedly signifying the postcard’s entry into the postal network. Here the office forgot to apply its date cancel on the card.

Another example of a stamp with the same marks but cancelled at Irebu 7th January 1904.It probably arrived in Leopoldville on the same date as the postcard described above.

‘ LEOPOLDVILLE ’ as a precursor of the ‘Cartes Postales Incomplète’ 

Figure 4.  

15c. ‘Reply Card’. from Leopoldville 9^th August 1898 to Lessines  in Belgium . It arrived 14^th September and bears a Boma transit, 16th August. Straight-line mark LEOPOLDVILLE in blue (same colour as the date cancel on the stamp) and initialled manuscript ‘carte incomplete’.

Mail delivery ‘Assignment Instruction’

Figure 5a

Figure 5b  

Assignment made at Bilo Kimballa 6th April 1907 authorizing the ‘Le Perception des Postes’ in  Leopoldville to receive the addressee’s mail. Stamps totalling 1.50 fr have been cancelled by the straight-line mark. (A 50c stamp is probably missing because the later authorisations were taxed at 2fr). The use of the straight-line mark could be justified because the ‘assignment’ was not made at Leopoldville .