I've been building a Caribbean cancellation collection.
I just received a lot of Jamaica stamps to sort through, and this one (Jamaica Sc7, with the crown and CC watermark, issued 1870) has me puzzled:
The cancellation does not look like something a postal authority would have applied. I believe it is a 'consignee' cachet. Consignees accepted consignments of mail from business concerns to be forwarded to postal authorities for delivery. There were many of these concerns operating. The markings were commonly applied to the left side of covers and lettersheets. Often, these markings were shaped like an American football, and this marking also seems to be shaped that way.
I was hoping someone might recognize it.
Across the bottom, I see ST T
ST THOMAS?
Across the top, I see a partial N, then OO and then there's an AL under the ST of "POSTAGE". It's difficult to decipher, because it looks like the stamp was struck twice, and the upper strike is upside down. In the upper left corner of the stamp, I see an upside down A.
If I had a list of consignees from the early 1870s, I could probably find a match. I would just like to confirm it was marked in St. Thomas. Seems strange if that is so, but there are a lot of odd markings in the Caribbean steamship era. And, lots of examples of a stamp issued by one authority being cancelled by another.
That's why I'm collecting them! The Caribbean postal system of the steamship era is a sprawling puzzle.
As the cancel is dated, I'm not sure it would be a forwarding agent cancel. I haven't seen a dated example. It's more likely to be a revenue cancel I think.
