BH8 CANCELS GROUP
BH80
2-4-2 January 1904 to September 1911
There are minor variations in type size and spacing but they are not at all consistent. Here they are all contained within a single 2-4-2 type.
First seen in early 1904, this cancel was little used through the Guardiola and Medina issues and last seen in June 1911. Sometimes the lower and upper 2 line bars can be a bit squeezed together, sometimes not.
On the other hand, if the 8 horizontal lines are grouped 2 then 3 then 2 you have a
BH81
3-2-3 division of horizontal lines
The 3-2-3 bar cancels are pretty common except for a strange one that appeared in Tegus pretty late on.
Is HONDURAS in huge letters with serif decorations? Then you have a
BH81H
The strange BH81H must have been dropped by a Tegucigalpa laser beam. It appears in October 1927 and strikes only the Tegus certified mail desk where it was used for a full three years. Nowhere else. The larger typeset follows a trend started by the new BH50 a year earlier. Unlike the BH50 it never spread over the country. Strange.
Are all the horizontal lines pretty much equidistant vertically? The typeset is rather small and sans serif? Then you have a ...
BH81A
You should get to know the BH81A because it is the most common horizontal bar cancel in Honduras classic postal history, and in many years was also the most common postal cancel of all. It has been observed from June 1909 to March 1934. Verify that the lines are equidistant and the typeface is san-serif. But what if you can't see the typeface?
This happens rather often. Then you must look into the history of the stamp. Was the stamp released before 1924 and the Herrera issue? Then by elimination it is a BH81A. Other than a counterfeit there are no other possibilities. If the cancel is on an Herrera issue or later you cannot be sure if no text is visible. You have a stamp with an unrecognizable cancel since there are multiple possibilities. It isn't always as simple as it sounds. Care to try your mastery of the BH81A? Try this quiz. (Answers are in the footnotes below)
If yours has the bottom three bars lowered you have a BH81B.
BH81B
Not so common is the BH81B. It is seen from December 1905 to February 1917. It is the Great War bar cancel. It was used throughout the country.Watch out for the counterfeits.
If yours has both the top three bars raised and the bottom three bars lowered you have a BH81C.
BH81C
Not common but not uncommon is the BH81C. It starts appearing in April, 1909 and is used through May, 1919. Be careful because there is a knock off of the BH81C that is very common before 1909.
Care to take another little quiz over all five of the BH8 cancels? Here it is. Answers again are in the footnote below.
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BH81A Quiz answers 1y 2n 3y 4y 5n 6y 7n 8n
BH8 Quiz 1-81C 2-81H 3-80 4-81B 5-81H 6-81A 7-81C 8-81B 9-81A 10-80
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