Malaya - Straits Settlements 1892-94 (3c on) 32c carmine-rose, ERROR SURCHARGE OMITTED, SG94a.
A fine mint example with original gum. Faint gum bend, inconsequential as very fine appearance with lovely fresh colour.
A choice example of this famous error, of which one upper left pane of 60 was discovered in Singapore.
An ex Stanley Gibbons stock item with a Catalogue value of £4,500.
The Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang, Malacca, and later Labuan) were under British colonial administration and issued their own postage from 1867. By the early 1890s, postage demand outstripped supply of certain values, leading to frequent surcharges on surplus stocks of higher denominations.
In 1892–94, supplies of lower values were exhausted, and 32c carmine-rose stamps were surcharged “3 Cents” to serve as everyday postal values. During this process, a pane of 60 stamps escaped the surcharge operation at the Government Printing Office in Singapore. These were released into circulation before the error was discovered, creating one of the most famous surcharge omissions of Malayan philately.
Printing & Technical Details
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Printer: De La Rue & Co., London.
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Process: Surface-printed using the Key Plate system (a common frame with interchangeable country names and values).
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Paper: Crown CA watermark.
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Perforation: Comb perforated 14.
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Intended Overprint: “3 Cents” surcharge in black, applied locally at Singapore.
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Error: Complete omission of surcharge, producing a “nonsense” denomination in carmine-rose (32c) during a period when only 3c was in demand.
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