1920s Tea Clearing House Stamps from the UK - discussion

[wineknow]

These seem to be a real enigma.

Been collecting them for a few years, but seem to have hit a wall - the same issues come up for sale (although not very frequently) and others (listed by Barefoot) seem to simply not exist.

Does anyone out there collect these or have any information on what they actually were (I can find nothing on line)? Does anyone know dealer who might specialize in them?

I have purchased several from I.B. Redguy on eBay and in a cursory email inquiry with him, he said he had not seen some of the the 'Z' or '%' issues.

[Not Bruce]

It's me... and thank-you for your purchases!

Yes it's true, most of the later Tea-Clearing House stamps are unobtainable or probably only exist in tiny quantities. I spend a great deal of time scouring auctions, fairs, private collectors etc... looking for rare revenues... the problem is that they're rare.

I acquired a large revenue hoard the other week assembled some years ago and full of rare delights, let's have a look at the Tea Clearing House section... there's a farthing, threepence-halfpenny, fourpence and one shilling and tuppence but they're all from the first series, nothing later.

You could make the same comment about the later Liverpool Cotton revenues... however I have just found some of those

[Not Bruce]

ps - all the issues I've found in the past five years are shown on my website via this link...

http://www.ibredguy.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=23644

You will notice that there are no Z or % overprints as I've never seen one!

[wineknow]

It's me... and thank-you for your purchases!

Yes it's true, most of the later Tea-Clearing House stamps are unobtainable or probably only exist in tiny quantities. I spend a great deal of time scouring auctions, fairs, private collectors etc... looking for rare revenues... the problem is that they're rare.

I acquired a large revenue hoard the other week assembled some years ago and full of rare delights, let's have a look at the Tea Clearing House section... there's a farthing, threepence-halfpenny, fourpence and one shilling and tuppence but they're all from the first series, nothing later.

You could make the same comment about the later Liverpool Cotton revenues... however I have just found some of those

Hey- you do a great job - love scanning your items on ebay, even though I don't collect many of them. I've got all of those (but had to look up what a 'Tuppence' is!) Thanks

[HalfpennyYellow]

A question about these stamps: Can they really be considered as revenues? Or are they more accurately described as "privately issued receipt stamps" (same applies to the Hull Corn Trade and Liverpool Corn/Cotton etc issues)?

Anyway, revenues or not, I still think they're an interesting series. I only have the common 1d from the first issue, which I bought from I.B. RedGuy as well.

[Not Bruce]

A question about these stamps: Can they really be considered as revenues? Or are they more accurately described as "privately issued receipt stamps" (same applies to the Hull Corn Trade and Liverpool Corn/Cotton etc issues)?

It depends how you define "revenues". If you define them as something that raises cash for the government then these aren't revenues, but if you define them as any stamps that are sold to pay for a service, then they are.

This is why national savings stamps aren't listed in Barefoot as although they have a value and are sold by the goverment, you can always get your money back.

Incidentally, I have finally got hold of a comprehensive listing of National Savings stamps with dates and everything, this info has mostly been added to my website.

I will put a call in to one of my colleagues in The Revenue Society about the Tea Clearing House stamps, just to see if anyone does actually have some of the elusive later issues

[Not Bruce]

Right, I now have the information back regarding the Z and % overprints...

Since 1999 (that's a 14 year period), a total five 95% overprints and nil Z overprints have appeared in Revenue Society auctions; that should give you an idea of their extreme rarity

[hutch]

Just had a look at your site. Amazing stuff there.

Oh dear. Another collecting area that has not been explored!

It will be great to know what I am looking at if I ever do see one.

Probably not likely but you never know! Thanks for the info!

hutch

[Not Bruce]

Just follow this link and all will be revealed...

http://www.ibredguy.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=23644

[hutch]

The cancels almost remind me of early Indian State stamps where the cancel was not allowed to deface the Rulers face, except here, it's the denomination value that is not allowed to be obscured.

Strange!

[BigSaint]

I know nothing about these but I did find this on the net which may be of assistance:

http://www.angelfire.com/pr/perfinsoc/abstracts/2403.pdf

Brad

[wineknow]

I.B. - Thank you for checking!

Big Saint - Thanks for the link! That is the most info I have ever seen on these!

[gavin-h]

Moderator Comment:

Thread moved to "Cinderella" Forum as these are non-postal stamps.

Very interesting discussion 8)

[HalfpennyYellow]

I came across a closed eBay lot of these stamps which was nicely written up, and I'm posting the pics here since it would be a shame if the info is lost once eBay deletes the listing.

The lot was sold by seller steveallen777 for £425 on 30 March 2017: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371906691534 The seller also has some other interesting collections of other British revenues.

The lot includes two zig-zag and several 95% overprints.

I recently acquired the original 1923 set up to the 1s2d, except for the 3d emerald and 7d bistre. Has anyone seen the 2s turquoise and 2s6d chocolate values, either from the original issue or with any of the overprints? These are listed as issued stamps by Barefoot, but I have never seen them. Barefoot also mentions an 8d blue-green, and 1s6d and 5s values, but these are in brackets so there don't seem to be any recorded examples of them.

[TheoJF]

This time photobucket killed sharing of these images... could you share the images you have of the eBay auction again or send the copies by email?

Kind regards,

Theo J.F. Schalke

[BigSaint]

This time photobucket killed sharing of these images... could you share the images you have of the eBay auction again or send the copies by email?

Kind regards,

Theo J.F. Schalke

Theo

The pictures from ebay are included in the post because ebay remove them after 90 days.

Brad

Mod Hat on

PS You need to introduce yourself as per the Board Rules, go to the link below:

http://stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10277&start=21500

Mod Hat off

[TheoJF]

This time photobucket killed sharing of these images... could you share the images you have of the eBay auction again or send the copies by email?

Kind regards,

Theo J.F. Schalke

Theo

The pictures from ebay are included in the post because ebay remove them after 90 days.

Brad

Mod Hat on

PS You need to introduce yourself as per the Board Rules, go to the link below:

http://stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10277&start=21500

Mod Hat off

Done.

[snowy12]

I just picked up these two (stamps) from the Liverpool customs house ,can anyone give me any information on them ? Thanks in advance.

Brian

[TheoJF]

Belong to UK Trade Organisations. You could find them in the same archive for the Tea Clearing House stamps from the UK.

Check :
I.B RedGuy's Fine Stamps - The Revenue Stamp Specialist GB Revenue Stamp Archive (vol 2) Liverpool Trade Associations
http://www.ibredguy.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=17299

Similar :
I.B RedGuy's Fine Stamps - The Revenue Stamp Specialist GB Revenue Stamp Archive (vol 2) Hull Corn Trade
http://www.ibredguy.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=116590

I.B RedGuy's Fine Stamps - The Revenue Stamp Specialist GB Revenue Stamp Archive (vol 3) Tea Clearing House
http://www.ibredguy.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=23644

[snowy12]

Thanks for the links Theo

[phrag99]

I have a few dozen of the Liverpool Cotton trade and Corn trade associations' stamps.

If no one else is able to help, I'll respond fully when reunited with my collection.

Most are listed in the Barefoot Catalogue.

[HalfpennyYellow]

The Liverpool associations' stamps (like the Tea Clearing House issues) aren't true revenues because they were not issued by the government, but they are nonetheless listed in Barefoot catalogues. The details below are from the latest edition of Barefoot's United Kingdom Revenues (2010).

The Liverpool Cotton Association 1/- is either listed as no. 20 from 1883 (perf 10) or no. 22 from c.1888 (perf 11). The former has a catalogue value of £2; the latter is catalogued at £1.

The Liverpool Corn Trade Association 2/- is either no. 10 or 11, both from c.1897 and catalogued at £5. No. 10 is on cream paper and no. 11 is on orange paper - I'm not sure which yours is (or if they are actually two distinct stamps at all).

[snowy12]

Can't tell one way or the other yet as I am still waiting for them to arrive.

[TheoJF]

Also interesting to read :

Perfins of Great Britain - Clearing House

I guess the first question to answer is ‘What is a Clearing House’?
Courtesy of the Internet - A Clearing House is a financial institution formed to facilitate the
exchange/clearance of payments/securities between two or more parties involved in a financial
transaction for specific commodities. Put simply, a Clearing House acts as an independent
body between a buyer and a seller, seeking to ensure that the process from striking the deal to
final settlement is regulated.

There are four Clearing Houses known to have used Perfins at some stage in their history.
· Railway Clearing House - established in London in 1842.
· Cotton Clearing House - established in Liverpool in the 1870’s.
· Corn Clearing House - established in Liverpool in 1883.
· Tea Clearing House - established in London in 1888.

https://www.angelfire.com/pr/perfinsoc/surveys/000411.pdf

[phrag99]

OK, back with my stamps !

The information on perfins is welcome, I'm sure, but the vast majority of the Liverpool Clearing houses' stamps are not perfinned.

The 2/-Corn Exchange stamp is definitely orange. The cream one is totally different in hue- and in my experience is almost unobtainable. Th Barefoot catalogue value for cream is a nonsense.