Coded postal obliterators

Detail of an 1854 stamp, on piece and cancelled with a “losange à petits chiffres” number 1152. This number was assigned to Dunkerque.

From 1840 when postage stamps were first issued (in Great Britain) the practice began of cancelling a stamp on a letter with a device to prevent reuse and applying alongside, or on the reverse of the article, a dated stamp including the post office name.

Soon, in many countries, various systems developed where the obliterator was encoded with a number, letter or letters, or a combination, identifying the post office of origin. Most such codes were enclosed within a design of dots, rays, bars or concentric circles or ovals to ensure the effective cancellation of the stamp. Similar designs without an enclosed code are known as dumb, or mute obliterators . Later the duplex canceller with the datestamp on the left and the obliterator on the right came into common use.

Only a few usages of coded obliterators persisted into the twentieth century.

Coded obliterations are collected by philatelists and rare examples command high prices.

Postal administrations which used coded obliterators include:

United Kingdom

Numeral 70 identifying Boyle within the diamond shaped cancel as used in Ireland

The first coded obliterators were numerals within a Maltese cross design used at the London mail centre from 1843. From 1844 distinctive and different barred designs were introduced for England, Scotland and Ireland. Codes corresponding to London postal districts e.g. W21 were also used.

British Post Offices abroad

Coded obliterators were used at many British post offices operating in foreign countries using British stamps. They include Argentina (Buenos Aires barred oval B32), Bolivia (Cobija C39), Brazil (Bahia C81, Pernambuco C82, Rio de Janeiro C83), Chile (Caldera C37, Coquimbo C40, Valparaiso C30), Colombia (Carthagena C56 C65, Colon E88, Panama C35, Santa Martha C62, Savanilla F69), Cuba (Havana C58, Saint Jago de Cuba C88), Danish West Indies (Saint Thomas C51, Porto Plata C86, Saint Domingo C87), Ecuador (Guayaquil C41)), Fernando Po (Fernando Po 247), Haiti (Jacmel C59, Port-au-Prince E53). Mexico (Tampico C63), Nicaragua (Greytown C57), Peru (Arica C36, Callao C38, Iquique D87, Islay, now Mollendo C42, Paita C43, Pisagua D65, Pisco and Chincha Islands D74), Puerto Rico (Aguadilla F84, Arroyo F83, Mayaguez F85, Naguabo 582, Ponce F88, San Juan C61), Uruguay (Montevideo C28), Venezuela (Ciudad Bolivar D22, La Guayra C60).

Antigua

Antigua used barred obliterators A02 and A18, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Australian colonies

New South Wales used numerals to 2094 in a number of types and LHI for Lord Howe Island.

Queensland used numerals to 747 and NG on stamps used in Papua.

South Australia used numerals to 313.

Tasmania used numerals within bars to 390. Norfolk Island used numeral 72 when part of Tasmania.

Victoria used numerals, within various devices, to 2100. Earlier types incorporated the letter V.

Western Australia used numerals to 36 and letter codes such as GT for Geraldton.

Bahamas

Bahamas used barred obliterators A65, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

British Guiana

British Guiana used barred obliterators A03 and A04, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

British Honduras

British Honduras used a barred obliterator A06, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

British Virgin Islands

The British Virgin Islands used a barred obliterator A13, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Canada

Canada and the provinces of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia used numeral obliterators.

Dominica

Dominica used a barred obliterator A07, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Grenada

Grenada used a barred obliterator A15, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Mauritius

Mauritius originally used a B53 barred obliterator. and, later, other B-prefixed codes and barred numerals.

Montserrat

Montserrat used a barred obliterator A08, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Nevis

Nevis used a barred obliterator A09, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts used a barred obliterator A12, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia used an A11 barred obliterator, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

Saint Vincent

Saint Vincent used an A10 barred obliterator, originally on the stamps of Great Britain.

South African colonies

The British South Africa Company, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal used numeral obliterators.

Denmark

Denmark used a series of numerals (to 286) within three concentric circles. Some duplex obliterators were used. They were all withdrawn in 1873.

France

The obliterator was as a diamond or trapezoidal shaped grid of dots, measuring about 20 millimeters (0.75 inches) on each side, with a set of numbers at its center. The number consisted of anywhere between one and four digits, and was unique to the post office that used it. For this reason, such numbers are sometimes referred to by philatelists as "town numbers."

Two main types of the losange were used, the "losange à petits chiffres" (small numbers) from 1852 to 1862, and the "losange à gros chiffres" (large numbers) from 1862 to 1876. Distinguishing the two is based largely on the size of the numbers and the size of the dots in the cancel. The dots are noticeably smaller in the "losange à petits chiffres" and its numbers measured approximately 4 millimeters high. Town numbers between 1 and 4494 are documented. Town numbers from 3704 to 4018 and 4222 indicate use at a French Post office abroad.

The "losange à gros chiffres" obliterator had numbers twice as big being nearly 8 millimeters tall. Since the overall size of the cancel remained the same, a larger portion of a large number obliterator consisted of the town number. The list of numbers used increased as the number of new post offices opened, with numbers known up to 6449. Town numbers 2387 and from 5079 to 5156 were those assigned to French post offices outside continental France.

German states

Baden used numerals to 177.

Bavaria used numerals to 920.

Brunswick used numerals to 50.

Prussia used numerals to 1987.

Saxony used numerals to 220.

Schleswig used numerals to 42.

Thurn and Taxis used numerals to 424.

Netherlands and colonies

Netherlands and its colonies Curaçao, Suriname and Dutch East Indies used a numeral series.

Venezuela

Venezuela used a series of barred numerals.