Cape of Good Hope Triangular Deep Blue 4 Pence Stamp with apparent Slightly Blued Paper 1853-1864 CV R3500

ON AUCTION IS A WONDERFUL CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TRIANGULAR DEEP BLUE 4 PENCE STAMP WITH WHAT APPEARS TO BE AN EARLY DIP PEN CANCELLATION OF H (POSSIBLY HERMANUS). THE PAPER APPEARS TO BE SLIGHTLY BLUED TO THE EYE ALTHOUGH PHOTOS DOES NOT SHOW THIS WELL. 

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 4d DEEP BLUE WITH APAARENT SLIGHTLY BLUED PAPER 1853-1864
USED DIP PEN CANCELLATION 2 VERY CLOSE AND IRREGULAR CUT MARGINS PLEASE SEE PHOTOS
SACC 2023-2025 CATALOQUE VALUE R3500

I BELIEVE THIS IS MOST LIKELY AN 1853 SG 4 DEEP BLUE/SLIGHTLY BLUED STAMP (SCOTT 2 DEEP BLUE/LIGHTLY BLUED PAPER). CV IS $170.
CONDITION: USED DIP PEN CANCELLATION 2 VERY CLOSE CUT MARGINS PLEASE SEE PHOTOS

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE STAMPS:
Known as the Triangulars due to their unusual shape, the first Cape of Good Hope postage stamps a one penny (1d) in brick-red for a newspaper, and a fourpence (4d) in blue for a half-ounce letter were issued by the colony on 1st September 1853. 
The triangular shape is believed to be inspired by the large triangular obliterator used by the Cape Revenue Department from 1839. The unique triangular shape also helped illiterate postal clerks and users easily distinguish them from British stamps.
The stamps were printed in London on sheets of a special handmade paper, with 240 stamps per sheet, not perforated, and measuring 282 mm by 536 mm. 
They featured the reclining figure of Hope (a female figure seen in profile) engraved by William Humphrys, an employee of the printers Messrs Perkins, Bacon & Co. The design featured an allegorical female figure of Hope, with an anchor, a bunch of grapes, and a ram, symbolizing the colony which at that time was seen as a literal beacon of hope for sailors.
In February 1858, two new values became available: a sixpence (6d) for half-ounce letters to Great Britain, and a one shilling for postage to some foreign countries. These stamps were still unperforated and had to be cut individually with scissors. Thus in 1860, the Capes Postmaster-General requested that future stamps be perforated. This posed technical problems, eventually resolved by Messrs De La Rue and Co, a British company that recommended changing the shape of the Cape stamps to approximate those of Great Britain (which were rectangulars). In the meantime, De La Rue continued to supply one penny and fourpence triangulars, after the Crown Agents transferred the contract to them from Perkins, Bacon & Co. The switch to a rectangular format eventually took place in 1864.
The seated figure of Hope continued to appear on both triangular and later standard rectangular stamps issued by the Cape Colony until around the late 1890s, when stamps featuring King Edward VII were introduced.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TRIANGULARS:
The COGH triangulars are lumped together into three main groups...
1) The 1853 Group (Perkins, Bacon) - One pence, Four Pence. They are characterized by "more or less" blued paper.
2) The 1855-63 Group (Perkins, Bacon) - One, Four, Six Pence, One Shilling. They are characterized by "White paper" (actually non blued paper).
3) The 1863-64 Group (De La Rue) - One, Four, Six Pence, One Shilling. They can have a change in color hue to the stamp. 

SOME THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR ON STAMP I ENCIRCLED ON ONE PHOTO
The rays extend almost to the corners
4 diamond shapes should be visible just to left of bottom C
Blotch inside the C
Small dot of color below mid bar of the F
White line inside the D
The O is slightly higher than the others
There is a cross shape inside the netting just to left of P
The lower serif of G extends further out
The bottom bar of the E extends further out than the top
The corner designs have a circle with an inner circle
The point of the anchor is not visible
Key features are the 3 dots that form a boomerang shape at several points in the background
The other anchor points to the second O
The toes are visible 

PEN CANCELLATIONS FOR POSTAGE
A number of the early Cape of Good Hope stamps were legitimately cancelled by pen on post office instructions as no cancellers were provided. These pen cancellations or defacement of stamps was intended by the postal authorites to prevent their re-use and form an interesting branch of Cape of Good Hope Postal History. 
These post offices were in the majority agencies generally operated by storekeepers, farmers wives or missions and were often remote especially in the Karoo areas where the quantity of mail was limited. The functions of postal agents were to receive letters for onward transmission, or hand letters to addressees. They also sold postage stamps, which they could purchase at a small discount, but many postal agencies were not provided with a cancelling device.
Thus, when an agent was handed a letter bearing an unused adhesive, he would occassionally apply a pen cancellation, sometimes inscribing the name of the postal agency on the stamp for this purpose. These covers are not common.

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