numeral cancel + long cancel | allanwestphall.com

Numeral cancel in combination with

long cancel

Langkat + 108 Medan Pemalang + 14 Pekalongan

From the period of the numeral cancels we sometimes find stamps cancelled with both the numeral cancel of a main post office and the long cancel ('langstempel') of a sub-post office ('hulppostkantor'). These stamps would have been used on mail originating from a sub-post office and sent via a main post office. This combination is relatively rare because many, probably most, sub-post offices used the franco-in-box cancel and not the long cancel. Also, according to directive, mail sent from a sub-post office to a main post office should have the long cancel applied to the top front of the letter, and not to the stamp. Only if a letter was sent from one sub-post office to another should the long cancel obliterate the stamp. In many cases, on mail going abroad, the long cancel was applied to the stamp together with the numeral cancel of the transit main post office.

(I am indebted to Hans Kruse's website for some of this information. www.puntstempels.nl contains a study of the combinations long cancel and numeral cancels with many illustrations.)

A letter sent from Premboen via Keboemen 15-5 1892 to Germany. The boxed Premboen in blue was applied at the sub-post office, and soon thereafter the numeral cancel 107 and the date cancel (of the 'rondstempel' type) were used in the post office of Keboemen. The letter arrived in Eberswalde in Germany 14/6 1892.

Letter sent from the sub-post office of Marabahan on Borneo to Bandjermasin 1886. The directive has been followed that when a letter is sent from a sub-post office to a main post office, the long cancel should not cancel the stamps but be placed centre top above the address. The numeral cancel 31 was applied on arrival in Bandjermasin together with the date cancel 24/8 1886.

I am an enthusiastic collector of the interesting long cancel + numeral cancel stamps. Below is a selection of these combinations, which can be found on stamps from the late 1870s until the phasing out of the numeral cancels in 1893. (More examples can be found on www.puntstempels.nl)