Today in Postal History

Oil Rivers Protectorate to Great Britain
February 2, 1894

This registered cover has all six of the first stamps overprinted for the
Oil River Protectorate in 1892 (SG 1-6; ½d.-1/- of the Niger Coast Protectorate).
The Niger Coast Protectorate is now part of Nigeria.

The stamps are tied by five circular Old Calabar River date stamps.
Registration was denoted in manuscript, and confirmed
by a bold R and crossed blue lines added by the Post Office.
There is a registry transit mark from Liverpool.
The date of transit is undecipherable.
There is an oval London arrival backstamp.
Is there an explanation for the blue pencilled circle enclosing 1,60?

My 1999 SG lists a total of £85 for a used set with a 12x multiplier for stamps on cover!
I think more recent catalogs would raise that amount.
Of course, such a multiplier doesn't apply to philatelic covers such as this one.
It has been suggested that the multiplier for true commercial covers is far greater.*

* Thanks to David B. for his expansion on this item.

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