Lot 318 Labuan (C) SGD3b 4c Carmine & Black 1901 Postage Due Issue Used With Bar Grid Cancels Used Postally Rather Than As A Remainder Cancel

A VF example of the scarce perf. 14.5-15 used with a bar grid cancel that has a much higher chance of being a genuine postal cancellation than the more common remainder cancellation. Gibbons states that there is no way to distinguish the genuine postal cancels from the remainder cancels, but I have located a number of online blogs and studies that would indicate that this is nonsense. The remainder cancels were 14 bars, were often in a thick, greasy ink and were generally applied to 4 stamps on the sheet at once, as clerks charged with cancelling the remainders did so to entire sheets. So, generally only a small fraction of the cancel appears near one corner of the genuine remainders. This has almost half the cancel visible on the stamp in question, and based on the number of visible bars, they do not appear to be 14 bar cancel. So, I do think it is a genuine postal cancel.  

Gibbons lists the basic stamp at 110 GBP. Based on this, the condition, and the possibility that it might only be a remainder cancel struck on 2 stamps instead of 4, we would estimate the value of the lot at $25.  The stamp offered here grades 82 as follows:

Centering/Margins:  44/60

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10 

Cancel: 8/10