Today in Postal History
This ratty cover was sent from Kumasi
which is about 200 km northwest of Accra in present day Ghana.
The cover was franked with a 1d blue from the 1952-54 Elizabeth
II definitives (SG 154).
This series was the last set of Gold Coast definitives.
Ghana became an independent Dominion on March 6, 1957.
A machine cancel with the slogan Gold Coast | Cocoa Campaign was
applied advertising a local product.
It was soon apparent that the 1d stamp was insufficient and the
postage due process began.
Somewhere, probably in Kumasi, a black T xxxx ____ xxx handstamp
was applied and what appears to be a 3d charge was written in the blank.
The green 3d | TO PAY | I. S. was applied at the
Inland Section of the G.P.O. in London which was the office of exchange.*
The addressee was the Saxone Shoe Co. Ltd. in Kilmarnock, Scotland.
Kilmarnock is about 30 km southwest of Glasgow.
Shoes are still produced bearing the Saxone name.
Covers addressed to Saxone covers from this era are frequently noted.
The mail room probably had a philatelist.*
The three postage due stamps, a pair of 1955 5d yellow brown (SG
D44)
and a 1955 2d agate (probably SG D41), were applied on delivery.
The two CDS cancelling the postage dues are illegible so we
don't know specifically where and when the cover was delivered.
The probable explanation for the 3d postage due becoming 1 shilling is
that the cover was on the top of a bundle of postage due mail delivered
to Saxone.*
*Thanks to Dave P. for his comments regarding the postage due
markings,
the 1/- postage due inconsistency, and the Saxone Shoe Co. Ltd. mailroom.
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