Interesting Manuscript Revenue Cancel
… or so it would seem at first glance. It would be real easy to blow right past these in a lot/accumulation if you weren’t paying close attention.
This diagonal “A.E. Dougherty” cancel is actually not a manuscript cancel. In fact, given the precise match of the angle between the two stamps, these are likely printed cancels rather than handstamped. Additional examples would be needed to be more certain.
The manuscript markings at left and right are interesting as well: “1st 8” on one and “1st 8th” on the other. Is that January 8th, August 1st, or something else? The number at right, which one would expect to be the year is also interesting, apparently “67 Ex”. I assume that 67 is shorthand for 1867, but what does the “Ex” signify?
One encounters many different date types on Civil War revenues, many utilized by European immigrants, so this might be one such example?
Or are the manuscript markings not a date at all, but something else entirely?
Also, note the minor double transfers in the bottom scroll letters on both stamps.
Large image follows; you will need to click on it to view it at full size.
Follow-up:
Thanks to Bill Halstead’s keen eye and specialization in Railroad cancels, he identified these as a previously unreported variety of Tolman #T-4D, from the Tioga Railroad Co. In the examples shown below, the initials ‘TR’ following the date stood for ‘Treasurer’, so presumably ‘EX’ is a different company officer designation (‘executive’… ‘ex-officio’?).