hong kong officially sealed labels...
TRANSCRIPT
Hong Kong Officially Sealed Labels Catalog by
Philippe Orsetti
2008
Officially Sealed Labels, an official postal document, are used to secure
letters and packages received in damaged condition or damaged at the
Post Office.
In Hong Kong, during the First World War, they were also used to
reseal letters that were opened by censors, before the introduction of a
specific resealing strip in the early part of 1915.
The first issue, in black & white, of the catalog of this unusual
philatelic topic was published by the same author in the Hong Kong
Study Circle Journal no 280, dated January 1992.
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Type 1
Usage: Earliest recorded usage
June 5, 1894, latest 1902.
Color: Light Brown
Background: Blue Guilloche
Royal Arms: Near Square, 12x11mm
Chinese Text: 8 Characters, "Officially
Sealed by the Hong Kong General
Postal Affairs Department"
Size (seal - design): 54x34 - 45x27
Perforation: Only perforated type, the
edges of the sheet were nor perforated.
.
Type 1a
Missing blue background
Type 1
October 16,1894
Earliest known use of a seal on cover.
Two seals used to repair a locally addressed cover "opened by mistake".
Type 2
Usage: Aug. 18, 1913 to Oct. 1914
Color: Chestnut
Background: No background
Royal Arms: Rectangle 15x11½mm
Chinese Text: Same as Type 1
Size (seal - design): 54x36 - 45x27
Type 2a
Coma after O of POST.
Type 2 Usage as a censor seal during WWI.
Cover dated 6 October 1914 from CARLOWITZ & Co. (stamps with C & C H perfins).
Opened by censors in Hong Kong and officially resealed with instructional marking strike
O.F.I. (Open For Inspection).
Type 3
Usage: Circa 1914
Color: Brown
Royal Arms: as Type 2
Frame: Similar Type 2, but bottom row and
inner LH corner ornaments are inverted.
Type 4
Usage: recorded from May 1912 to 1918.
Color: Brown
Royal Arms: as Type 2
Frame: Similar to Type 3, but three inverted
ornaments in bottom row and inner LH
corner ornaments as in Type 2.
Type 4a
- Short ornament in RH lower corner.
- G of KONG offset upward
Type 5
Usage: Earliest recorded use Apr. 30, 1913
Color: Light blue
Watermarked
Royal Arms: as Type 2
Only type printed in several colors
Frame: All ornaments in a given row
are now facing the same direction.
Type 5a
(Same as Type 5)
KONG offset to left
Type 5A
(Same as Type 5)
Color: Grey
Type 5B
(Same as Type 5)
Color: Chestnut
Type 5C
(Same as Type 5)
Color: Purple-brown
Type 6
Usage: Circa 1915.
Color: Light blue
Watermarked
Royal arms: square, as Type 1
Frame: ornament in new order
Chinese text: 9 characters reading:
"Officially Sealed by the British
Hong Kong Postal Administration"
Type 7
Usage: Circa 1915 - 1917
Color: Grey blue
Royal arms: rectangle frame as Type 2
Frame: Rough printing, uneven ornaments,
similar to Type 4 with some inversions.
Type 8
Usage: Circa 1915
Color: Light blue
Royal Arms: as Type 2
Frame: Same as Type 7, but clearer
with perfectly aligned ornaments.
Size (seal - design): 55x38 - 45x27
Type 8A
Usage: ?
Color: Light blue
Royal arms: As Type 6, but smaller,
with frame almost square, 10½x10mm
Frame: New regular flowers
Size (seal - design): 62x42 - 54x34
Type 9
Usage: Recorded use Sep. 1923 - Jan. 6, 1924
Color: Light blue
Royal arms: square as Type 6
Frame: New outer frame made of short bars
Size (seal - design): 57x40 - 47x29
Type 10 Usage: Circa 1930
Color: Light blue
Royal arms: New design in square 12x12mm
Frame: Short bars, 2 constant spaces at RH
and 1 at LH of vertical frames.
Size (seal - design): 57x40 - 47x29
Type 11
Usage: Circa 1932
Color: Light blue
Royal arms: New design in rect. 19x15mm
Frame: geometric designs and §
Text: “GENERA LPOST OFFICE”
Size (seal - design): 75x46 - 59x35
Type 12
Usage: Recorded Sep. 2 1933
Color: Light blue
Frame: Geometric design rearranged, no § English Text:: K of KONG under F
Type 12a Same as Type 12 but - K of KONG under C - Offset dot after SEALED
Type 13
Usage: Recorded Mar. 30, 1932 - Jan. 19, 1939
Color: Light blue
Frame: Geometric design rearranged
Text: “GENERAL POST OFFCIE”
- K under I
- Upward dot after SEALED
Type 13
Progressive printing deterioration
Type 14
Usage: Earliest record Jan. 19, 1936.
Color: Light blue
Frame: inverted or reversed ornaments
Text: correct “GENERAL POST OFFICE” - K of KONG under I
- Correct dot after SEALED.
Type 14
"City of Kharthoum" crash cover.
Airmail cover from Swansea, UK, dated 23 December 1935,
to the Chief Inspector of the Hong Kong Police Force.
Received damaged from the crash, it was resealed in Hong Kong on January 19, 1936
Type 14
Progressive printing deterioration
Type 15
Usage: 1940 to WWII,
during the war by Japanese postal officials,
and after the war until circa 1949
Color: blue
Frame: Double line
Form: R.B. 32
Chinese Text: 8 Characters, "Officially
Sealed by the British Hong Kong Postal
Administration"
Size (seal - design): 75x46 - 59x35
Type 15
In use in 1941 before WWII, during the war by Japanese postal officials, and after until circa 1949
China to USA dated May 12, 1941, damaged and repaired with three seals form “R.B. 32”.
Type 15-JO1
Usage: Japanese Occupation period
Chinese Text: 6 Characters, "Officially
Sealed by the British Hong Kong Postal
Administration" The Japanese postal authorities wanting to eradicate
any sign of British occupation, obliterated the two
characters meaning British
Type 15-JO1
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, December 28, 1943
Cover from Tokyo, recovered from a ship wreck., bearing a postal label indicating the wreck circumstances.
Type 15-JO2 Usage: Japanese Occupation period
Color: black & violet
Frame: single line
Chinese Text:
Size (seal - design): 52x35 - 49x32
Type 15-JO2
Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, May 14, 1943 to Kowloon
Open officially as indicated by a pre-printed form “This postal item was opened according to
Article 14 of the postal law, etc…” and resealed.
Type 15-JO3 Usage: Japanese Occupation period
Color: black & violet
Frame: single line
Chinese Text: ”Arrived damaged, so it
was repaired. Hong Kong Post Office”
Type 15-JO3
Sent from Shanghai on September 27, 1942. Arrived in Hong Kong September 28, and finally
delivered on October 16, 1942, after repair. (Ref. Hong Kong Stamp Society Bulletin # 30)
Type 15a
Usage: 1946
Color: blue-green
Frame: Double line
Form: (R.B. 32) same Type 15, but brackets
English text: Same Type 15 but
GENERAL POST OFFICE
longer than Type 15 (47 instead of 39mm)
Size (seal - design): 73x53 - 57x34
Type 15a
From Malta, arrived Hong Kong September 20, 1946.
Type 16
Usage: recorded Sep 6, 1949 to Mar 29, 1952
Color: blue
Watermarked
Royal arms: New frameless type
Frame: Double line
Form: G.P.O.-R.B. 32
Chinese Text: 8 Characters, "Officially Sealed
by the British Hong Kong Postal
Administration"
Size (seal - design): 75x50 - 62x35
Type 16
Fragments of Type 16 used to repair an Air Mail letter that left Hong Kong for
Trinidad October 6, 1951. After a transit in New York, October 13, it reached
Trinidad on October 19, where it was unclaimed. Returned to Hong Kong by
surface mail, it arrived on March 29, 1952, five and half months later.
No wonder it was damaged…..
Type 17
Usage: Feb 28, 1941
Color: Black
Size (seal - design):
108x78 – 98x69
Type 18
Issued: 1940
Color: Black
Watermarked
Form: (G.P.O.R.B. 40)
Size (seal - design):
104x83 – 86x66
Type 19
Issued: 1952
Color: blue
Form: P.18 5,000 2/52
Chinese Text: 8 Characters, "Officially
Sealed by the British Hong Kong Postal
Administration"
Size: 77x38
Type 19
Resealed cover to Japan, August 20, 1952
Type 20
Issued: 1952
Color: blue
Form: P18 20,000-8/52-A8542
Size: 77x38
Type 20
Sydney, Australia to Hong Kong, via Singapore
On March 13, 1954 a BOAC Constellation, G-ALAM touched down too short on the Singapore
runway and crashed. Within moments the fuselage was engulfed in flames, 31 passengers and two
crew members perished. Some of the mail was recovered and delivered.
Type 21
Issued: 1953
Color: blue
Form: P. 18a /-1/53-A8605 20,000
Size (seal - design): 79x41 – 74x36
By the end of the 1950’s, a new faster and more convenient way to reseal mail appeared in the
form of self-adhesive sealing tapes. As a consequence, use of seals was then temporarily
discontinued until reintroduction of new self-adhesives forms circa 1990. They are usually, but
not necessarily, found associated with a self-adhesive sealing tape and sometimes enclosed in a
specific envelope or in a plastic protective bag.
Self-adhesives forms
Type 22 Usage: 1978
Color: black
Form: Pos 575
Size: 100x45
Hong Kong Post Office at bottom
Label for damaged local mail
Type 23 Usage: 1978
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A
Size: 100x45
Hong Kong Post Office at bottom
Label for damaged inward mail
Type 24
Usage: 1990
Color: black
Form: Pos 575
Size: 100x45
Label for damaged local mail
Type 25 Issued: 1991
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (Rev. July/91)
Size: 100x45
Label for damaged inward mail
Type 25a Issued: 1994
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (Rev. 7/94)
Size: 100x45
Label for damaged inward mail
Type 26
Issued: 1996
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (4/96)
Size: 100x45
Label for damaged inward mail
Type 27
Issued: 1996
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (7/96)
Size: 100x45
Label for damaged inward mail
Type 28
Issued: 1997
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (12/97)
Size: 100x45
Type 29
Issued: 1997
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (4/98)
Size: 100x42
Type 30
Issued: 1999
Color: black
Form: Pos 575 (9/99)
Size: 100x45
Printed in sheet of 12
Type 31
Issued: 1999
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (9/99)
Size: 100x45
Printed in sheet of 12
Type 32
Issued: 2003
Color: black
Form: Pos 575 (1/2003)
Label for damaged local mail
Size: 99x55
Printed in sheet of 10
Type 33
Issued: 2003
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (1/2003)
Label for damaged inward mail
Size: 99x55
Printed in sheet of 10
Type 34
Issued: 2003
Color: black
Form: Pos 575B (1/2003)
Label for damaged international
Size: 99x55
Printed in sheet of 10
Type 36
Issued: 2005
Color: black
Form: Pos 575A (5/2005)
Size: 100x55
Complete sheet of Type 30 Complete sheet of Type 32
Self-adhesive sealing tapes
Sealing Tape 0
Usage: 1957 – 1975
Blank tape
Width: 19mm
Sealing Tape 0, on local cover dated May 24, 1974 (front & back)
Sealing Tape 1
Usage: 1960 – 1968
Width: 19mm, translucent
Text spacing: 31mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 19.5 / 2 mm round O
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 29mm, round O
Chinese text: Wavy “Officially sealed by
the Hong Kong Postal Administration”,
Hong Kong at end.
Sealing Tape 1
“RECEIVED DAMAGED” in Hong Kong, from Mongolia on April 19, 1960.
Sealing Tape 2
Issued: October 1966
Width: 19mm, translucent
Text spacing: 31.5mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 20 / 2 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 30mm, round O
Chinese Characters: Wavy,
Hong Kong at end
Sealing Tape 3
Usage: 1973
Width: 19mm, translucent
Text spacing: 30mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 19.5 / 2 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 27mm, oval 0,
2mm space after OFFICE
Chinese Characters: Straight, Hong Kong at end
Sealing Tape 4
Usage:
Width: 19mm
Text spacing: 31mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 20 / 2 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 29mm, oval 0,
4mm space after OFFICE
Chinese Characters: Hong Kong at end
Sealing Tape 5
Usage: 1976
Width: 19mm, white tape
Text spacing: 33mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 20.5 / 2 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 29.5mm, oval 0,
4mm space after OFFICE
Chinese Characters: Hong Kong at end
Sealing Tape 6
Usage: 1973
Width: 19mm, white tape
Text spacing: 31mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 19 / 2 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 28mm, oval 0,
4mm space after OFFICE
Chinese Characters: Hong Kong at end
Sealing Tape 6
Mailed from China on June 13, 1973, “RECEIVED DAMAGED” in Hong Kong, June 20, 1973
Sealing Tape 7
Usage: 1981
Width: 19mm, translucent
Text spacing: 32mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 20.5 / 2 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 30.5mm, round O
Chinese Characters: Hong Kong at beginning
Sealing Tape 7
July 25, 1991, tape used together with seal Type 23
Sealing Tape 8
Usage: 1983
Width: 19mm, translucent
Text spacing: 31mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 20 / 2 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 30mm, round O
Chinese Characters: Hong Kong at beginning
Sealing Tape 8
“Received damaged”, Tape usage in connection with seal Type 23, September 26, 1989
Sealing Tape 9
Usage: ?
Width: 18mm, white tape
Text spacing: ?
OFFICIALLY SEALED: oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: round 0
Chinese Characters: ?
Sealing Tape 10
Usage: 1995 – 1996
Width: 18mm, translucent
Text spacing: 31 or 32mm
OFFICIALLY SEALED: 20 / 1.5 mm oval 0
HO6G KO6G POST OFFICE: 30mm, oval 0
Chinese Characters: Hong Kong at beginning
Sealing Tape 10a
Both text lines on top
Sealing Tape 10b
Half text line on top
Sealing Tape 11
Usage: 1997 – 1998
Color: Blue, translucent
Width: 16.5mm
Text: with serif
P instead of Crown
Sealing Tape 11a
Color: Dark blue
Sealing Tape 11
USA to Hong Kong, September 2, 1997. Tape 10 used in connection to seal Type 27
Sealing Tapes 11a & 11
sealing an official plastic envelope ( G.P.O / H.K. )
for enclosing the damaged items, this example shows an additional seal Type 24
and it is dated March 3, 1998
Sealing Tape 12
Usage: 1999
Color: Green & blue
Width: 24mm, translucent
Bird instead of Crown
Sealing Tape 13
Usage:
Color: Green & blue
Width: 48mm
Specific envelope
Protective envelope
Size: 250x165
Plastic protective bag
Transparent bag:
Usage: 1976
Logo: Red, G.P.O
Multiples bag sizes including:
- 255 x 125
Usage: 1978
Logo: Red, G.P.O. / H.K.
Multiples bag sizes including:
- 250 x 135
- 345 x 255
-
Green self-sealing bag:
Usage;
Logo: Black & White HongkongPost
Multiples bag sizes including:
(Sizes excluding sealing flap)
- 260 x 125
- 320 x 235
- 405 x 300
For any additional information, corrections or comments, please contact Philippe Orsetti,
email: [email protected]
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