Thanks, Rodney. I thought there were three possibilities:

1) Wrong decade slug in the cancellation die
2) Forged cancel
3) Over-inking leading to a '9' appearing as an '8'

Ton's comment, while fascinating, does not necessarily rule out any of the
possibilities. But upon advice, I examined the 8 in the '18" to see how a
proper '8' appears in the slug font. And I think it's pretty clear it's
option 3 above.

Thanks, everyone.

- Joshua McGee

"rodney" wrote in message
...
Hans,
I took it that the OP knew this,
but sought opinions as to their being genuine cancels.
and not engineered.

This stamp was issued first in 1891 ! Dutch Catalogue NVPH # 37
So 1887 is impossible!
Regards,
Hans