North Borneo

Jesselton was the old name for Kota Kinabalu. Jesselton took over as the capital of North Borneo (present day Sabah) from Sandakan after the Second World War. Here are some covers cancelled on the first day of issue in Jesselton and other towns in North Borneo.

01 January 1939: Definitive Issue

17 December 1945: BMA Overprint Definitive

01 September 1947: Cypher Overprint Definitive

15 December 1947: Cypher Overprint Definitive

22 December 1947: Cypher Overprint Definitive

01 November 1948: Royal Silver Wedding

10 October 1949: 75th Anniversary of Universal Postal Union

This is a nice FDC cancelled in Sandakan.

01 July 1950: King George VI Definitive

This issue is interesting in that the 50 cents stamp has the word “Jesselton” spelt wrongly as “Jessleton”. This was only corrected later on with another re-issue of the 50 cents stamp with the correct spelling of “Jesselton”.

01 May 1952: King George VI Definitive

This FDC was cancelled in Sandakan. This issue is a correction for the word “Jesselton” from “Jessleton”.

03 June 1953: Coronation of H. M. Queen Elizabeth II

The first day of issue was supposed to be on 02 June 1953. However it was a special holiday for North Borneo, thus FDCs were only issued on 03 June 1953.

01 March 1954: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

This definitive issue is quite hard to collect as it was issued in stages. The first definitive (10 cents) to be issued was on 01 March 1954 and the last definitive to be issued was on 01 February 1957 (3 cents, $5 and $10)!

01 July 1954: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

03 August 1954: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

01 October 1954: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

01 April 1955: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

16 May 1955: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

01 October 1955: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

10 February 1956: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

01 June 1956: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

01 November 1956: 75th Anniversary of the Royal Charter of North Borneo

01 February 1957: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

01 February 1961: Queen Elizabeth II Definitive

04 June 1963: Freedom from Hunger

I am not an expert in North Borneo. One particular website that I enjoy reading about North Borneo is North Borneo Stamps. The site has very in-depth information on North Borneo philately.