First Type
I have long been fascinated by the pre-adhesive handstamps of Jersey and have read as many articles, periodicals, catalogues and the like as possible over my twenty plus years of collecting.
One article that has always been a ‘curiosity’ is Tony Peters study of the (first type) Jersey Scroll with a full stop (Les Iles Normandes Vol. 26, No. 3 of September 2007), in which Tony asserts that there are four of these handstamps in use.
Personally (and I would stress that this is my personal view), I have always doubted this claim as the measured differences noted in Tony’s article are so small as to probably be explained by under or over inking, which is extremely common on this handstamp.
In addition, I found it strange that there should have been four of these handstamps in use potentially at the same time, as I had concerns that the volume of mail at that time would not have necessitated these handstamps in such a quantity.
Recently I was fortunate enough to purchase Tony’s collection of scrolls at auction and have thus now been able to study these much more closely, together with examples held in my own collection.
My initial assessment has to my mind confirmed my previous thoughts. On measuring both the length and height of the scrolls I cannot agree that there are four variants, the difference noted as between 36.7mm and 38mm in length is so small that by very slight ‘manipulation’ of the ruler it was possible to come up with alternative measurements within this range.
The same was true regarding the height of the handstamp and scroll size.
Shown below (Figure 1) is the cover dated 9 August 1826 that was noted as a Type 4 in the Les Iles Normandes article, 38mm long, 15mm high with the scroll 7mm long and the height 4mm. Further it was noted the dot (full stop) was in a higher position.
On checking I can get the measurement to 38mm long, but also 37mm depending on where the verticals are drawn, note the smudgy outer frame adjacent to the ‘Y’ accounting for the longer length. Likewise the height I can record at 14.5mm, but this could easily be a 0.5mm either way.
Finally the higher dot is in fact aligned with other covers, but appears higher than the very smudgy base on the letter Y.
Likewise the Type 1 listed (dated Aug. 23rd, 1811) has a very poor impression of the J, causing it to look like an ‘I’.
Curiously, however, the left side of the scroll is very straight, unlike all other examples in my collection which have a very slight ‘indent’. Again this is heavily inked so may account for the straight side. Shown below is the scroll for 1811 (Figure 2) with a more typical example (Figure 3).
When further reviewing this scroll during its first period of use between 1810 and 1817 (according to the Stanley Gibbons Catalogue), the vast majority of the handstamps are of only poor to fair quality, with very few being complete (I have viewed over twenty examples during this period).
One of the better quality strikes of the first Jersey scroll, was dated in manuscript 1815, Nov. 3rd (Figure 4 on next page).
It is clear, however, that this first scroll was in use early in 1817, as I have two examples dated 10 January and 8 March respectively, although the latter example is poorly struck and the full stop is not easily distinguishable.
This scroll was then brought back into use in 1823 and was used until 1830 after the introduction of the second type Jersey scroll (without a full stop), which is listed as used between 1817 and 1830.
This begs the question – why was the first type no longer used for some five or six years only to be re-used from 1823?
I can find no discernible difference between the scroll of the first period compared to the second period and again the quality of strikes is similar, with very few examples being of ‘good’ quality; this said having reviewed some forty-four examples first hand.
Shown below (Figure 5 on following page) is a ‘good’ example of the first type scroll from its second period of use, dated 2 April 1829 and sent to Fredrick Huth in London.
Additionally I can report two of these first type scrolls clearly without a full stop – dated 16 August 1827 and 18 July 1828 respectively, the earlier of the two being shown below (Figure 6).
It is likely that the stop was not inked as covers either side of these two dates clearly have the full stops inked in.
For completeness I can record the earliest use as 1 May 1810 to Guernsey and the latest as 29 October 1829 to Mexico.
In conclusion, therefore, I can find no conclusive evidence to support the previous article and thus believe that the differences noted are down to the amount of ink used (or not used), the angle of the strike and indeed the quality of the paper (woven or smooth, the former more easily leading to ink blurring).
Second Type
The second type of Jersey scroll is recorded by Gibbons as being used from 1817 to 1830.
I am aware of a cover dated 27 November 1816 to Northumberland, which clearly shows the second type, and I believe this is the earliest recorded example and, in my opinion, shows that the switch from first to second type occurred sometime in 1816 and not 1817 as previously thought. It is thus clear that the two handstamps were used concurrently, albeit possibly only for a very short period.
Generally speaking this second type (Figure 7) is easily distinguished from the first type as there is no full stop after the Y of Jersey.
Some strikes are incomplete and thus do not show the end of the strike; there are also slight differences in the lettering of JERSEY, the second type being slightly smaller. The J also has a small dot (mostly) at the end, rather than the more elongated foot of the first type. The foot of the R is also more ‘erect’ and less splayed than the first scroll.
Again, care must be taken as strike quality can vary, thus making distinguishing identification of the two types slightly trickier in certain circumstances. As a general rule, however, the quality of the second type is much improved.
Comparison of strikes of the second type (Figure 8), the first from a wrapper dated 19 February 1818 and the second strike on a cover dated 25 February 1818 (so less than a week apart) – almost looking like two different handstamps. This latter example is probably the finest strike recorded of any scroll.
Notwithstanding the strike quality there appears to have been only one handstamp used.
Curiously, however, most strikes I have seen are dated 1824 or earlier. Indeed I am only aware of three covers after 1824, none of which I have seen first-hand; all are without a full stop, but the lettering size etc. as noted previously suggest these may in fact be the first type scroll.
I would thus be grateful for other members’ thoughts on why there was / is a gap in the usage of the first scroll, scans of scrolls that they may have together with relevant dates, especially any late examples of the type two scroll.
