vikingeck
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Posts: 3,266
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Jun 9, 2020 18:19:59 GMT
In the 1880s the University Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge had a private mailing system where letters were delivered from one college to another by paid messengers . Many produced Private stamps for College use , some even had stamp printed stationery. This was eventually stopped by the Post Office as at that time the PO was a Government department and had a monopoly on the carriage of letters. Here are some Oxford college stamps and an envelope, followed by two for Cambridge colleges  I sold these recently on ebay for an extraordinary high price , 15 times my expected start price !!!! I am sure I never paid more than a few pound each item . |
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Beryllium Guy
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Posts: 5,654 
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jun 9, 2020 20:11:42 GMT
As a current resident of Oxford, Alex ( vikingeck ), I salute you for this fine post! I often walk by the campuses of the colleges and around town here, so I am really enjoying seeing these private post issues. Great stuff.... I had no idea that they even existed. Glad that you got a nice price for them, too.  |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,266
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Jun 9, 2020 21:29:39 GMT
The guy that bought them had to fight off fierce competition from two other bidders. So they were mailed today to Cambridge....................MAssachusets!
I emailed 4 of my club members here whom I knew would have at least a couple of these. We are all baffled at the price paid as none of us ever paid more than £5 for one and probably a lot less. One member who has collected GB seriously , remarked “30-40 years ago you could hardly give them away” how fashions change once a serious new catalogue comes out .
I priced at £30, would have been delighted at £50 and in fact got £510! Would that other old time speculative purchases did so well !
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kasvik
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Posts: 543
What I collect: Cancels mostly, especially Sweden Gävle and Lidingö, Switzerland Geneva, Germany Pforzheim
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Post by kasvik on Jun 10, 2020 0:45:32 GMT
The guy that bought them had to fight off fierce competition from two other bidders. So they were mailed today to Cambridge....................MAssachusets!
vikingeck share a link to the auction! This is too good to miss. |
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cjoprey
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Scanning stamps for my website...
Posts: 1,443
What I collect: Belgium (predominantly), British Commonwealth (older ones), WW (whatever comes my way...)
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Post by cjoprey on Jun 11, 2020 19:39:38 GMT
Working in Cambridge I would love to get some of these - like Chris ( Beryllium Guy) I didn't even know they existed... Great result on the auction vikingeck! |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,266
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Jun 11, 2020 20:34:20 GMT
Dealer Bill Barrell has. St Johns Oxford in 4 blocks and Pairs. £60 and £20 respectively
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Post by sherro on Jun 12, 2020 1:53:36 GMT
I got this block of eight St John's Cambridge in a mixed lot from a "dealer" who said they were junk. Sold on Ebay for $450+ over ten years ago.  |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,266
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Jun 12, 2020 14:05:56 GMT
You did well sherro , a decent price . 20 years ago they were not much sought after. That stamp should be £10- £15 as a single today. So around £100 as 8 singles . Got to be a good premium for a block of 8 , I’d guess x4 Which is about £400 today Nearly $800 . I think that stamp is one of the less common issues. I only had a single in my lot. |
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Beryllium Guy
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Posts: 5,654
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Jun 12, 2020 15:05:45 GMT
Fascinating stuff, all! Thanks for the informative posts from vikingeck and sherro . I am interested enough in these that I am going to start keeping an eye out at our local stamp auction here in Oxford. Perhaps I will get lucky and find some in one of those boxes labelled "odds and ends" that seem to pop up regularly in the auction. Chris ( cjoprey ), if I find any from Cambridge, I will let you know, as my primary interest would be in the ones from Oxford. I was interested to note that the purchaser of Alex's lot is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That city is home to Harvard University and MIT, and it is where I spent my own university years. I wonder if the purchaser of the stamps might have a connection to one of those universities. |
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JeffS
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Posts: 2,604
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Jun 12, 2020 16:06:58 GMT
As a current resident of Oxford, Alex ( vikingeck ), I salute you for this fine post! I often walk by the campuses of the colleges and around town here, so I am really enjoying seeing these private post issues. Great stuff.... I had no idea that they even existed. Glad that you got a nice price for them, too. All I know about Oxford I learned from Inspectors Lewis and Morse  |
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JeffS
Member
Posts: 2,604
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Jun 12, 2020 16:11:38 GMT
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,266
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Jun 12, 2020 16:34:21 GMT
Thanks for posting the link to the book JeffS . I note it includes the Oxford Union Society. I'm not sure if they had similar stamps or not . What they did was get a security print in red on the Penny red stamps in use at the time, "O.U.S." I have it here on the reverse , but it was also printed unofficially on the front...…..It predates perfins.  |
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daniel
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Post by daniel on Jun 20, 2020 17:04:37 GMT
I found this modern item from Magdalen College, Oxford a few years ago. It is a plastic coated self-adhesive stamp. The MS simply stands for Messenger Service. Such a service is mentioned in their 'Information and Regulations for Members of the College', available online, although there is no mention of the stamp/label. The Post Office had stopped the Colleges from producing their own stamps but this was revoked some time ago.  Scan_20200506 (5) by Daniel, on Flickr |
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daniel
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Post by daniel on Mar 11, 2023 19:42:28 GMT
Keble College Centenary Oxford 1970 Although purely philatelic, this envelope would have gone through the Oxford messenger service. Sent to Pembroke College, Oxford and with a nice Keble College handstamp.  |
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