Swatow

Swatow (now called Shantou) lies in coastal Eastern Guangdong.

The original cancels described by Webb and then expanded upon by Hans Schoenfeld have since been researched by members of the Hong Kong Study Circle.

There were two Post Offices in Swatow and, as reported by Dr. A. M. T. Cheung in the HKSC Journal 297/13 "The original Packet Agency was established in 1860 at the British Consulate sited on the Kakchich bank of the Han river. Separated by the one-mile wide river lay the main trading area of Swatow where the sub-agency was established in 1863."

Dr. Cheung has established that there were 4 subtypes of the Registration handstamp, 3 of which were in use during the period of the 'China' overprints. He has also broken out the Type I cds into two distinct subtypes, the Type Ii, which has sidebands that are shorter than the Type Iii.

Webb lists the Type Hiii cancel as having an EKU of 24 Nov 1922 but there is no evidence for this as no examples have been discovered after mid 1920. (HKSC 265/5 Mick Goldsmith)

As with other of the Agencies, Swatow is tricky in that many varieties of the cancels have only been discovered and reported over the last few years. Consequently, EKU and LKU information has been gleaned only from examples that can be examined to sub-categorize them. Much of this information will be superceded and I would ask that anyone with further information to send high resolution scans so that this can be updated.

Image	Cancel	EKU on Adhesive	LKU on Adhesive	Cover Census
	Fi 22.5 mm Single Circle Index C 6.5mm from top Day before Month	3 Feb 1917	25 Aug 1918 Proud 26 Feb 1918 HKSCJ 265/4	23 Jul 1917 $0.16 USA 26 Nov 1917 $0.10 USA
	Fi 22.5 mm Single Circle Index C 6.5mm from top Month before Day	Jun 9 1917 HKSC Jean Paul Beck
	Fi 22.5 mm Single Circle Index D 6.5mm from top Day before Month	21 Dec 1920 HKSC K.W.Lau
	Fi 22.5 mm Single Circle Index D 6.5mm from top Month before Day	Oct 12 1920 HKSC K.W.Lau		Dec 7 1921 $0.02 Germany
	Fi 22.5 mm Single Circle Index E 6.5mm from top Day before Month
	Fi 22.5 mm Single Circle Index E 6.5mm from top Month before Day	Oct 12 1920 HKSC K.W.Lau 1 Jun ?? HKSCJ 265/4
	Gi 22.5 mm Single Circle Index C 5.5 mm from top		22 Feb 1917 Schoenfeld
	Giii 22.5 mm Single Circle Index A 5.5 mm		2 Aug 1922 Schoenfeld
	Hii 25 mm Single Circle Index B MM/DD	Cover	12 Nov 1919 HKSC 265/5	21 Sep 1917 $0.22 Denmark 28 Nov 1917 $0.10 GB 7 Sep 1918 $0.01 USA 1 Oct 1919 $0.24? USA
	Hiii 25 mm Single Circle Index C DD/MM	6 Jul 1918	3 Jan 1921 (4c)	28 Feb 1919 $0.10 GB 9 Mar 1920 $0.06 GB 23 Jun 1920 $0.22 Canada
	Hiii 25 mm Single Circle Index C MM/DD			18 Jan 1919 $0.10   6 Apr 1920 $0.16 Canada
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index Unknown			16 Jul 1921 $0.02 Germany 22 J? 1921 $0.74 Canada
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index A Month before Day	Feb 1 1917 HKSC K. W. Lau		Feb 14 1919 $0.10 USA Apr 3 1919 $0.10 USA Aug 21 1919 $0.20 Philippines Apr 22 1922 $0.04? USA
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index B Day before Month	3 Jun 1918 HKSC K. W. Lau		6 Oct 1919 $0.10 USA 31 Jul 1920 $0.26 Denmark
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index B Month before Day	Feb 14 1918 HKSC 265/5 ??		20 Mar 1920 $0.38 GB
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index –B- Day before Month	Aug 1 1917?? Proud		25 Mar 1919 $0.22 Tientsin (AR) 14 Oct 1921 $0.20 Germany 23 Dec 1921 $0.27 Germany 11 Feb 1922 $0.10 Germany 14 Jul 1922 $0.26 GB 1 Sep 1922 $0.30 GB 25 Oct 1922 $0.25 Germany
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index –B- Month before Day	Mar 29 1921 HKSC K. W. Lau	Mar 13 1922
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index C Day before Month		23 Nov 1921 HKSC K. W. Lau	3 Feb 1921 $0.45 Austria Oct 15 1921 $0.20 Germany 24 Nov 1922 $0.02 Germany
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index C Month before Day	Jan 15 1921 HKSC Jean Paul Beck
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index D Day before Month		3 May 1921 HKSC K. W. Lau
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index D Month before Day	Mar 19 1921 HKSC
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index –D- Day before Month		9 Jun 1922 HKSC K. W. Lau 23 Nov 1922?	10 Jan 1922 $0.34 GB 8 Feb 1922 $0.26 Germany 15 Jul 1922 $0.45 GB
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index –D- Month before Day	Cover	Sep 4 1922	15 May 1922 $0.50 GB 22 May 1922 $0.35 GB
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index D Reversed Day before Month	10 May 1921 HKSCJ 265/5	18 May 1921 HKSC K. W. Lau
	I 26 mm Double Circle Index Timestamp	21 Nov 1918 HKSC K. W. Lau	Aug 7 1922 HKSC Jean Paul Beck
	I 26 mm Double Circle No Index Month before Day	7 Jul 1922 HKSC K. W. Lau	Oct 20 1922 HKSC Jean Paul Beck	May 22 1922 $0.10 Austria
	Box Riv No Black Type 2 Cross of R slopes up to left	N/A	N/A	7 May 1918 (HKSC 297/13) Oct 22 1918 (HKSC 297/13) 15 Oct 1921
	Box Riv No Black Type 3 Cross of R level			21 Sep 1917 22 Mar 1918 (HKSC 297/13) 10 May 1918 (HKSC 297/13) 25 Mar 1919 Aug 21 1919 1 Oct 1919 31 Jul 1920 14 Oct 1921 23 Dec 1921 10 Jan 1922 8 Feb 1922 Apr 18 1922 (HKSC 297/13) 22 May 1922 14 Jul 1922 1 Sep 1922
	Box Riv No Black Type 4 Cross of R slopes down to left			3 Feb 1921 (HKSC 297/13)
	AR Handstamp			25 Mar 1919 Aug 21 1919 1 Sep 1922

Notes

Type F Cancel - Webb recorded the Type F with Index letters A, B and C. HKSC Journal HKPS2001/03 reported that Mr. K. W. Lau discovered Index D with both Day before Month and Month before Day subtypes and Dr. Schoenfeld added Index E.

Type Hiii Cancel - "Webb records this cancel used up to 24 October 1922, but there is no other evidence for its use beyond mid-1920. It is possible that this late date was produced by favour." M Goldsmith, HKSCJ 265/5

Type I Cancel - "Until July 1921, index letters without sidebars were used. These are often found misplaced to the left or right. It would seem that this cancel was manufactured with a large recess for the index, probably to incorporate a time index. When a single index letter was used, this would obviously tend to move about unless packed with blank slugs. After July 1921 sidebars were used with the index letter to provide better centering." M Goldsmith, HKSCJ 265/5

Type I Cancel Short and Long Side Bars - Dr. A. M. T. Cheung, in HKSCJ 297/13 disclosed the existence of two types of sidebars, a shorter and longer version.

Type I Cancel Index A - "Index A strikes were probably used by the Agent to cover for emergencies and/or days off at either office." M Goldsmith, HKSCJ 265/5

Type I Cancel Time, Index D and Index D reversed (and presumably -D-) - "The significance.....would be to tell Hong Kong that an unqualified clerk was being used, and that his final status was below that of an index C clerk, hence to keep an eye on his work" M Goldsmith, HKSCJ 265/5