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The “Circle of Dots”, as described in the PML handbook Page 129, is only known struck in black ink and only found on the 1880 QV 1d olive-green (SG.29, 60,000 stamps invoiced May 13 1880). Of the 12 copies known to me the key stamp to assist in establishing where this mark was applied is the Ex Messenger copy overstruck black “CA” (at Calliaqua) dated JY 30 81. Only 4 offices were using the black ink pad at this time being Barrouallie, Calliaqua, Kingstown, and Mesopotamia. A chart has been prepared to show the nearest known strikes either side of the JY 30 81 date as gleaned from either “loose” dated stamps or covers. Barrouallie had use of both vertical “A10” and “BAR” datestamp, the Calliaqua “CA” datestamp is so commonly applied on SG.29 that a single dated strike effectively rules out its use at that office, Kingstown had use of horizontal “A10”, GB/40c, “K” datestamp, ST. VINCENT cds, which leaves by elimination Mesopotamia as the most likely candidate. The chart shows no dated strikes for Mesopotamia period JA 12 81 to SP 7 82 (21 months) and Peter Jaffe in a Stamp Collecting magazine 18 November 1950 article (no copy of same retained) reported that there was no Postmaster at Mesopotomia at DE 23 80. Only four strikes of black “MES” are recorded after that date on SG.29 being xx JA 81, 9 JA 81, JA 10 81, JA 12 81 and then comes the “unknown period” until SP 7 82. Mail from the village of Mesopotamia would have continued and initial copies may have been “killed” in manuscript before it was thought to apply the wafer seal impressions. The 9th illustration shows perhaps an early combination. Activity at the other black ink offices is shown for the Mesopotamia unknown period JA 12 81 to SP 7 82.
Although I have massively long text files of cancels I have handled, or seen, I do not have any postmark collections of my own. Written details of St. Vincent abbreviated and extended cds, with their incorporated dates and differing coloured inks in places are easy to understand, but even with years of experience I often stumble when it comes to the commonest obliterators on common stamps in my trying to remember just how common, or how scarce, they actually are. As a consequence I have recently undertaken trying to get an illustration of every different St. Vincent possibility on every different issue up to the end of KGV. The attached page for the PB QV 1d drab shows how far I have currently reached, and the item which is probably less common than all the others is the strike of the black vertical "A10" - which I would have overlooked thinking it much commoner!!