Tell Me What You Think About This Penny Black

Hello everyone!
Please tell me what you think about this Penny Black! I want to share this Penny Black with you because I would like to know what experts think about it. I specially find the cancellation interesting.

I know that when post offices didn't have enough "classic" red maltese cross cancellations,they were making some by themselves. I find this cancellation different than the classic ones and I think,(am I right?) that the "homemade" cancellations are quite rare.

I think that this cancellation is homemade because of two things: first, because the color looks different, (looks like a purple shade) and the shape of the cancellation looks different too. But am I right or not? I know that it's pretty hard to know only with a picture, so tell me if it's possible to know or not. Please tell me! By the way, I think that it is a plate 1B, am I right?




Thanks,

CS

I think it's a plate 1b also.

As for the cancellation, I'm not seeing anything special about it, which isn't to say there isn't of course

Thanks! Am I right about the fact that I think that it's missing a part of the margin in the upper left corner?

The crosses were handmade so don't expect uniformity. The ink was mixed by hand at each post office so that varies as well not to mention the cancellation is 180 years old.

This was the announcement to postmasters regarding the Maltese cross cancellations along with the recipe for the ink:

So, rodgcam, you mean that there's no rare red maltese cross cancellations?

Read what I wrote, and you will see that nowhere did I say that. I am pointing out that the obliterators were not machine made. Again, they were made by hand and so you can expect some lack of uniformity. I also pointed out that the inks were a) mixed by hand in batches by the individual post offices and b) the one you have in hand has aged 180 years. You can read the prescribed ingredients. Do you think that the ink might change as it ages?

So, Captain, do you mean that your stamp has a rare cancel? If so, what is your basis for thinking that it is rare? What research have you used to come to that conclusion?

I was only asking if that's rare.I'm really, really, not sure if that is rare. I understand that the maltese cross cancellations are really old and that's normal that, sometimes, the color changes. But I read an article that was talking about maltese cross cancellations. They were saying that, when the post offices didn't have enough "standard" cancellations, they were making some other to replace them.

And I think that I also read that the color was not looking like the "standard" ones.

Irish Postal History: An Introduction to Irish Maltese Cross Cancels | The Collectors' Shop https://search.app/5pqQ7dUt1H5y1bXA9

Oops,sorry, I probably didn't understand well, but that was the article I was talking about.

The stamp has a 'touching' margin upper left and thight margin bottom left.

Some post offices had a Maltese Cross ('MC') that are identifiable. It does not make them rare. Rare MCs are those from post offices that cancelled few stamps. Clearly, without the cover the MC must be identifiable. Otherwise, you cannot assign it to the post office.

As the ink was mixed at the post office, there is no uniform 'red' MC. Sometimes, a post office used a unique, different colour. Aberdeen has this ruby colour (plate six ex Cyriax). The usual caveats about online assessment of colours applies.


The MC being homemade because the colour of the cancellation looks different makes no sense. The ink determines the colour, not the MC. And no, it is not purple. The colour looks quite normal.

Why the shape looks different too remains unclear. Two strikes of the same MC can look different. The distinctive MCs have characteristics that are different from the bulk of the MCs.

Thanks for the informations, NSK! I read again a little in the article I read earlier and I remarked that I was not right,i know. I learned again more! I just didn't understand well what I read in the article, they weren't even talking about coloured rare cancellations! Sorry for the mistake.

I see volume 3 of the Jackson Rockoff Maltese Cross encyclopedias referenced by multiple sites but I could not find it published online. It is available for purchase as a hard copy but is pricey. It sounds as if it might have answers to the Captain's question(s).

Thanks everyone for the informations! I already knew some of the informations that are wrote in the page floortrader show me, but I didn't know that red cancellations on Plate 11 were possible! Thanks for your help and all your dedication!

@Captain Stamp - is this your stamp? Do you have a scan not being plastic you can share? Also, the postmark reveal site may give you a better rendition of the cancel if you upload it there.

I unfortunately do not have any good quality scan. And no, the stamp is not mine. I asked my seller to, if he gets a Penny Black in his store to tell me, and I asked him to send me a picture. I wanted to buy one, but I wanted to do research before knowing if I buy it or not.

The maltese cross looks to be the standard type to me, no special significance to it. Remember also that the red ink used for these did tend to wash away, which is why they made the change to black cancels and red stamps in 1841. It was too easy to reuse them. Without a scan of the back it's going to be tough to judge the value. With the design touching at top left, and what looks like the typical 'feathering' you see around a tear I'd guess it's thinned in that corner as well. I wouldn't pay more than 25% of catalog and possibly less once I saw the back.