Postal Usage
Genuine postal usage occurred occasionally during the general issue of the stamps and to a greater degree after they were withdrawn at the end of October 1881 when they were unofficially accepted for postage on a fairly widespread basis. Desire for postally used examples at the turn of the century led to many faked examples and stamps being sent philatelically through the mail.
Plate 3 used postally to Japan, cancelled with a Hastings duplex on 29 Mar 1877.
Plate 4 registered cover. One of many philatelic covers sent locally to this Liverpool address.
Plates 1 to 10 used postally, mostly with duplex cancels.
Fiscal Usage
Pen cancelled with manuscript, probable fiscal usage.
Plate 10 used on an agricultural receipt dated 17 Apr 1880, the only complete fiscal document we have seen. The receipt lists “Crop” (barley, oats or wheat) and “Muton” (butchered sheep meat).
Railway Telegraph Office Usage
Plates 1 to 10 cancelled with “English Station” numerals in circles.
Cancelled with “Scottish Station” numerals in rectangles.
Two blocks of four and a strip of three are in our database.
| England and Wales | Scotland | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plate 1 | 375, 717, 1021 | — | — |
| Plate 2 | 50, 176, 439A, 449, 758, 973, 1139A | 52, 69, 83, 96, 172, 176 | — |
| Plate 3 | 400, 443, 654, 839, 849A | 83, 172, 237 | — |
| Plate 4 | 229, 266, 270, 342, 386, 429, 443, 446, 704, 747, 745, 794B, 839, 855, 973, 979, 1376, 1438 | 4, 20, 45, 83, 87, 88, 101, 106, 145, 172, 174 | — |
| Plate 5 | 270, 443, 444, 589, 679A, 704, 788, 814, 825, 839, 855, 874, 973, 979, 1010, 1039, 1104, 1192, 1432, 1438, 1442, 1469 | 45, 56A | — |
| Plate 6 | 270, 278, 703, 855, 1206 | 106 | — |
| Plate 7 | 152, 1567 | 114, 119 | — |
| Plate 8 | 301 | 25A, 223, 225, 251 | — |
| Plate 9 | 832, 839, 973, 1015, 1118A, 1252 | 165 | — |
| Plate 10 | 812, 839, 1436, 1442 | 169 | — |