1/- Green Otago Bisects
The One Shilling Otago Bisects
1857 – 1859
On 27 March 1857 the Colonial Secretary’s Office published the postal rates via Suez. Prior to that time only the Colonial rate of 2d per ½ oz for letters to the United Kingdom could be prepaid, leaving charges to be paid by the recipient at the other end.
By the new rule, postage could be completely prepaid, and a rate of 6d for the first ½ oz was established for letters via Southampton or a long sea route.
Since there had been no specific need for 6d stamps when the first supply of postage stamps was ordered in 1854, no plate had been prepared. For more than two years, from March 1857 to August 1859, New Zealand needed but did not have a 6d stamp. The required postage for the new rate could most simply be made up by using three 2d stamps, and strips of three Richardson 2d stamps are often seen on or off cover.
Example strip of three 2d stamps in strip. Postmarked MA 24 59 on back (received JU 11 59 in red on front) before 6d stamps were available
The use of 1d stamps either alone or in combination with the 2d was possible but more cumbersome, and so less often encountered. Until April 1862 it was also possible to use a “Paid at” handstamp or manuscript confirmation as paid in place of adhesives, as shown below.
London Prints
1857 – 1859
The One Shilling Bisects
At Dunedin, however, another expedient was found: bisecting 1/- stamps vertically and using each half as a 6d stamp. Charles Logie was the Collector of Customs at Dunedin, and also the Postmaster. His postal duties were delegated to a clerk, Lachlan Langlands until July 1857, and then Archibald Barr.
The new postage rate became effective on 27 March 1857 and the earliest recorded bisect cover bears the Otago date stamp of 11 May 1857. All other examples found to date fall within the jurisdiction of Barr. All three men were involved in one way or another in the production and use of 1/- stamps bisected.
There are seven known bisect covers with London Print 1/- stamps on bluete paper and below is L-4 as recorded in Bob Odenweller's book. Below are his notes on the cover - these covers are extremely rare.
London - 4: 19 FE 58 21 JU 58 C Mottram Jr London C R-H
Address: Mr. Charles Mottram Jr 44 High Street, Camden Town, London
Provenance: Mann sale: Harmer Rooke, London, 6 Dec 1933, lot 44, G.H. Boucher sale, Robson Lowe, 30 Oct 1969 lot 2016 illustrated. Sold by Campbell Paterson in 1970.
Notes: Listed by C.H. Mottram, London Philatelist 4 (1895), p125, noting that this is a matching half of the stamp on L-5. "Via Marseilles" has been written and erased in the upper left corner, visible under UV lamp. L-5, L-6 and L-7 also have the same inscription lined through. Boucher obtained RPSL certificate 17386 and showed the cover at RPSL in 1935
1/- Yellow Green Bisect Cover SG 3a/CP A6a(y) tied on Cover addressed to Mr Charles Mottram Junr, London, England. Has London JL 21 58 red receiving cancel. Backstamped OTAGO/NEW ZEALAND 19 FE 1858. (Illustrated in Bob Odenweller’s FFQ Book as item L-4). Has RPS London 1934 Certificate. Ex Mann & Boucher. One of 8 known Covers. Very Rare. SG Cat £42,000/CP Cat $100,000*
Richardson Prints
1857 - 1859
The One Shilling Bisects on Blue Paper
There are an additional 26 known bisect covers that used the 1/- Green on Blue paper. The one shilling on blue paper is a very rare stamp on cover, even if not bisected. 'The Collection' has two of the 26 covers and is currently trying to obtain another two copies. Of the two copies in 'The Collection' one has a very interesting history.
Richardson - 14: 30 OC 58 17 FE 59 James Ross Inverkeithing Cover with Right-Hand half of stamp.
Address: Mr James Ross, Ship Owner, Inverkeithing, Fifeshire, Scotland, N.B
Provenance: Robert P Odenweller collection and then Klaus Moller collection
Notes: Confirmation that this folded letter was mailed on 30 October 1858 is found inside with a manuscript date of sending as well as bearing the Otago date stamp of the same date on the reverse. The tombstone 'Paid' marking on the front is of the type known used in London from 1800 – 1858 as a transit or receiving mark. It should be noted that there are no records of this type of mark being used anywhere else for any reason. Based on the nature of the presence of a mark at left centre, similar to what would be found under sealing wax a theory has been suggested that this might have been the top letter of a bundle, cancelled with the tombstone mark on board the ship the day that it was mailed. The bundle would then not need to be separated until it arrived in London for further handling.
This theory is perplexing and is considered unlikely and its use on this cover can only be termed a mystery requiring further information.
It has been suggested that this cover was in fact purchased in an auction in the 1940s without cancellations, and that they have been added later. This now begs the question how anyone could access the two different handstamps, use them, and get an RPSL certificate as shown below!
The second 1/- bisect on blue paper by Richardson in the collection is less controversial. Shown below, the cover Richardson - 16 as noted in Bob Odenweller's book, is a front piece only (not a full cover), but never-the-less a beautiful piece.
Richardson – 16: 20 NO 58 12 FE 59 Carleton Holmes London F L-V
Address: E Carlton Holmes Esqre, 12 Bedford Place, Russell Square, London, England.
Provenance: William C. Hind sale: Robson Lowe (11 Dec 1957), lot 127. Adam Huntersale: Stanley Gibbons (16-18 Jul 1980). Lot 117, G J Ellott collection.
Notes: Front only. Illustrated in Robson Lowe's Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps, Vol. IV, p 401