Crown Handstamp on 1834 cover

[mcornes]

Picked up this cover as it intrigued me with a crown handstamp.

It is from 1834 from Liverpool to London. It is 2 receiving marks on back, on from Liverpool on Dec 1st 1834 and London receiving mark on Dec 3, 1834.(I assume the C at the top means the central post office)

On the from there are 4 marks on the front, only the hand written "11" I understand which covers the rate for 210 miles.

1) I and not sure what the "2" over the "11' means?
2? The notation top left, which originally I thought was "11" or maybe "1sh 10 if the letter was a double which it could have been.
3) A fresh crown handstamp but I am not sure what this means

[wardgate]

This Liverpool to London letter was mis-rated as a single at 11d, when it reached London it was re-evaluated as a double letter - the original charge was deleted and the change authorised by the inspector's crown mark (one of several types in use 1680-1840) and the double rate of 1s 10d added.

[mcornes]

That makes sense, thanks.
Where can I find a reference for the Crown inspector marks. I looked in my books but I did not find any hand stamps like that crown?

[wardgate]

Barrie Jay's London volume of the British County Catalogue series lists them. Incidentally the '2' over the original '11'd charge is just a squiggle cancelling the number. Hope that helps.

[Winston W]

(I assume the C at the top means the central post office)

No, that is the date stamp code. See London Date Stamp Codes file at https://www.gbps.org.uk/information/dow ... ations.php

[mcornes]

Winston,
thanks for that pointer, although it has brought me to a another level of confusion in trying to decipher what is in that book. It appears that this stamp is Fig 11 and has a single letter in this case 'C". When I look at the 1834 table I only see two letter options. I must admit to being rather confused in how to understand these tables.

[Winston W]

I too read the London receiving date as 3 December 1834, in which case I would expect a date code of either the letter R or the letter S. So sorry, I can't explain why it has the date code C.

[wardgate]

I think the 'C' is just an ID of the date-stamp itself, related to the counter position / PO clerk who used it. It's nothing to do with time.