1s., bright rose-red, shades.1s., deep rose-red, slight shades.1s., dull red, shades, sometimes with a tinge of yellow in it.
We now come to a series of issues of the One Shilling, which present a good deal of difficulty to collectors, because of the number of colours and shades they contain, all rather closely resembling each other. They are not easy to describe in print, so as to be properly understood, owing chiefly to the great divergence of opinion on the subject of the names of colours, when these are closely allied.
On April 13th, 1872, Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. despatched 9000 stamps in 300 sheets of the One Shilling value printed in a colour they call in their books “pink,” but this is a description we put out of court at once, especially as the sample stamp in the firm’s books is a rose-red one.
In addition to the sample stamp, Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. possess an imperforate proof sheet of the stamp in the same colour, but upon unwatermarked paper. This sheet is inscribed on the margin “Patterns for colour. Postage Pink, small quantity of Drop carmine-lake about ½ oz. for 300 sheets.” The technical name of the colour appears consequently to be “carmine-lake.”
The first chronicle of the issue was in theAmerican Journal of Philatelyof August, 1872, which was quoted by theTimbre-Posteof September. ThePhilatelical Journalof September says that they have accidentally omitted to chronicle it in August. We give June as the probable date of issue.
As regards the colour of the stamp, thePhilatelistof October, when chronicling its issue, says that “the colour is precisely that of the rose penny,” but in the following month it adds to this statement that other specimens have been seen, “all deeper in hue than the penny ones of the same colour.” This, as far as it goes, agrees exactly with our own experience, which is that there are specimens in shades of bright rose-red, all of which may be found in the bright rose-red One Penny of Issues 1 and 3, but that there are others in a deeper rose-red of a slightly different colour, never seen in the One Penny, and due to something more than mere depth of shade. Besides these two colours we find a third, which we have called “dull red,” differing from both of them, and in which a faint tinge of yellow is sometimes to be seen, as if it were turning somewhat towards vermilion. There was only one printing made of this One Shilling, rose-red or dull red, but we have already seen in the case of the One Shilling of Issue 4 that more than one colour may exist in the same printing, from causes connected with the mixing of the ink. The paper of this issue is sometimes found more or less toned by the action of the gum, which seems always to be yellow, and never white; this affects the appearance of some specimens, and adds considerably to the difficulty of limiting the number of colours even to three.
By far the greater number of the stamps of this issue are perforated B. We have seen very few indeed perforated B × A, and all these have been bright rose-red in colour. The only periodical which in chronicling the stamp gave the perforation was thePhilatelical Journal, which says that it is “perf. circ. 14½ to 15½” which we would call A; but in 1872 compound perforations were ignored, and the usualplan was to measure only the long side of a stamp, so this record of the perforation probably corresponds to our B × A, as the stamp does not exist perforated A alone, so far as we have been able to discover. The sample stamp kept by the printers is perforated B.
This One Shilling is a very scarce stamp in the unused state.
Early in 1874.
1s., pale violet-rose.
We learn from the books of Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. that on July 28th, 1873, they sent out to the colony a consignment of 300 sheets—9000 stamps—of a One Shilling which they call “pink,” as they did the rose-red One Shilling of the 1872 printing. Fortunately the sample stamp attached to their book is there to show us what it was they sent out, and we find it to be a violet-rose stamp perforated, as are most of this issue, B × A. In few other cases in St. Vincent have the records of the firm been of more use to us, as the stamp remained unchronicled by the periodicals until quite the end of 1874, and their various descriptions of its colour are extremely misleading.
At the same time, it seems almost impossible that had it been issued at once on its arrival in the island, its existence should have been unsuspected by all philatelic writers for a period of more than a year, as it was not until September, 1874, that the first chronicle of it was made in theTimbre-Poste, where M. Moens calls its colour “rose-sale”; and we are therefore inclined tobelieve that its issue was delayed for at least some months, perhaps until the early part of 1874.
Its colour is a pale violet-rose, always of uniform shade, but, as the stamp has a strong tendency to oxidation, some very dark specimens may be found in which the colour has greatly deteriorated.
Like the One Shilling of the preceding issue, it is found perforated B and B × A. It is scarce unused, and we have seen very few specimens perforated B, all of which have been used ones.
1875.
1s., dark claret, very slight shades.
This One Shilling was printed and sent out to the Colony on March 27th, 1875. The consignment consisted of the same number of stamps as those of the last two issues. It is not clear in what month its actual issue took place. It was not chronicled until theTimbre-Postenoticed it in January 1876, where the colour is called “lie-de-vin foncé.” In their books the printers still adhered to the term “pink,” but although no sample stamp of this printing was preserved, we can be quite certain that it consisted of 300 sheets of One Shilling,dark claret, as both the other two printings of “pink” Shillings have been accounted for.
In colour it is a rich dark claret, with very slight shades, and even most of these are due to the deep toning of the paper, as the gum used is always the darkest to be found in St. Vincent stamps, and the paper is invariably more or less deeply stained. The perforation is always B.
Although no more of this issue were printed than of the One Shilling, rose-red, or the One Shilling, pale violet-rose, it is rather more common unused than either of those two stamps.
February 1877.
6d., pale yellow-green.1s., bright vermilion-red.
The two values in changed colours were sent out to St. Vincent by the printers on December 30th, 1876, the consignment consisting of 300 sheets of each value; that is, 18,000 stamps of the Six Pence value and 9,000 of the One Shilling. They were both chronicled by theTimbre-Posteof April, 1877, and must have been issued some time in February. The Six Pence remained current until the middle of 1880, and the One Shilling as long as Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. supplied stamps to St. Vincent. Besides the printing of the two values in December, 1876, one other printing of the Six Pence and two of the One Shilling were made. The second printing of each value was sent out on August 28th, 1878, and the third printing of the One Shilling on May 13th, 1880. All these printings consisted of 300 sheets each, so that the total printed of the Six Pence of this issue amounted to 36,000, and that of the One Shilling to 27,000 stamps. In the printers’ books sample stamps are attached to all the entries referring to these printings, with the exception of the second lot of the One Shilling. The samples of the first printing are perforated B × A in both values; in that of 1878, the second printing of the Six Pence is perforated A, and the One Shilling of the 1880 printing is perforated B.
We have seen from the case of the One Shilling of Issue 4 that more than one variety of perforation (and even of colour) may exist in the same printing, nor is it to be expected that in such cases samples of each variety would be preserved by the printers, since differences of perforation are more appreciated in philatelic than in printing circles. There is, however, a circumstance connected with the perforation of the vermilion Shilling which leads us to believe that the stamps of all these printings were perforated only as shown in the sample stamps of each consignment. We know that in 1881 the third printing of the vermilion Shilling was utilized for making a provisional stamp of Four Pence, and that all these provisionals are perforated B only. We therefore think it probable that all of the One Shilling value perforated B × A belong to the first printing, and all perforated B to the second and third, more especially as the stamp perforated B is much the commoner of the two varieties. We have extended this theory to the Six Pence as well, and in the Reference List we give in brackets after each variety the probable date of issue of the different perforations.
One thing that is remarkable about the colours of both these stamps is that there are no appreciable shades of either, the colours being maintained unchanged in all the printings of each value, although in the books of Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. the colour of the first two printings of the One Shilling is called “scarlet,” and that of the third “bright red.”
In the unused state the Six Pence is very much rarer perforated A than with the compound, but the converse is the case with the One Shilling, in which B × A is by farthe rarer perforation. The paper of the stamps of this issue varies a great deal in thickness, but this is more pronounced in the Six Pence than in the One Shilling, as the former value is met with on what can only be described as thin card.
Both values, as well as the One Penny and Six Pence of Issue 7, and other stamps current during the later years the stamps of Issue 11 were in use, are not uncommonly found with a curious obliteration of an upright oval, pointed at the top and bottom, and divided across the centre by a double line. The upper part contains the letters “G.B.,” and the lower “40 c.” The cancellation made its appearance upon these three stamps about the end of 1878, or early in 1879, and was first thought to be a surcharge. The credit of its explanation is due to the editor of theForeign Stamp Collectors’ Journal, who made enquiries at the Post-office, and who stated in the numbers of that journal for December, 1879, and July, 1880, that “in addition to the ordinary mail steamers from the West Indies, letters are conveyed to England by the French Packets running intermediately. These letters are stamped as above; the G.B. signifying ‘Grande Bretagne,’ and the 40 C., the amount payable to the French Post-office for their services.” “The stamp ceased to be employed for its original purpose some time ago, but is now used instead of the ordinary cancellation stamp, which is worn out.” Its use as an obliterating stamp must have been continued at least up to some time in 1882, as we have frequently seen it on the Halfpenny orange of Issue 18, a stamp which was not issued until December, 1881.
July 1877.
4d., dark deep blue.
A consignment of 200 sheets—6,000 stamps—of the Four Pence value, printed in very dark deep blue, was sent out to St. Vincent on May 29th, 1877. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we have no reason to doubt the stamp was immediately put in issue, and that it was first used in July of the same year, but had it not been for the record in the books of the printers, we should have had a good deal of difficulty in assigning a date to it. Most of the principal catalogues, including the London Society’s list and the current edition of M. Moens’Catalogue Prix-Courant, give 1876 as the date of issue, but the stamp is not catalogued in the 1877 edition of the last mentioned work. The solitary chronicle of it we can find in philatelic literature is in theTimbre-Posteof May, 1878, where we find it recorded in the following terms: “Réapparition du 4 pence, en bleu foncé, mais avec étoile en filagramme.”
We think it far more likely that the fact of the stamp being on watermarked paper should have escaped the notice of M. Moens, than that its issue should have been delayed for nearly a year after its arrival in the Colony. The one printing of the Four Pence yellow had been a small one; it consisted of only 9,000 stamps, as compared with 15,000 of the Four Pence blue, on unwatermarked paper, issued in 1866. We do not know for what reasons the postal authorities had changed the colour of this value from blue to yellow, but they could not have been very important ones, as the blue Four Pence of Issue 4 was, as we have seen,undoubtedly still allowed to be used in 1873—that is, about four years after the introduction of the Four Pence, yellow, so it is evident that the use of the two stamps was concurrent for some time at least. It is stated in the London Society’s West Indian Catalogue that the Four Pence value became “disused,” but this cannot have been the case, as we have the evidence of postmarked specimens of the yellow Four Pence that it was in use in July, 1876, and we know that a fresh supply of the value was sent out in 1877. There is therefore every reason to believe that although the Four Pence, deep blue, of the issue now under consideration had probably been seen by M. Moens when first issued, he mistook it for the old blue Four Pence that was still being occasionally used, and it was not until 1878 that he discovered the difference in the paper, and chronicled the watermarked stamp in theTimbre-Poste. There is every excuse to be made for this temporary omission, as the great majority of the issue is printed on the very thick variety of paper which approaches thin card, and it is a matter of great difficulty to detect the watermark in this paper, even when it is known to be there.
There was only one very small printing, 6,000 stamps, made of this Four Pence, and so it is naturally very much rarer than either of the two stamps of the same denomination previously issued. In addition to this, its rarity unused is even out of all proportion to the smallness of the printing, and we may be certain that since it was unchronicled in the philatelic publications of the day it was not put into stock by the dealers, and that the unused specimens we occasionally find have been preserved by accident rather than by design.
It is always perforated B, and the colour, which wouldalone distinguish it from the Four Pence of Issue 4, shews no shades, except those due to oxidation, to which it has a certain tendency.
May 1880.
1d., in red on half 6d., dark blue-green of Issue 7.
This is the first of a very interesting and important series of four provisional stamps that were made in St. Vincent, in 1880 and 1881, to supply a temporary want of certain values. From information received from Mr. Frank W. Griffith, late Acting Colonial Postmaster, and already published in the West Indian Catalogue of the London Society, we know the date of issue of the provisional One Penny was May, 1880, and that the number of stamps issued amounted to 1,800. Reference to Messrs. Perkins, Bacon and Co.’s list of consignments shows that the last printing of the black One Penny had been sent out in August, 1878, and it is evident that another supply of the value had already been ordered, but not received when this provisional was made, as the new One Penny, printed in grey-green, was only despatched from London on May 13th, 1880.
The stamp used for surcharging was the dark blue-green Six Pence of Issue 7, perforated A, a remainder being in hand, probably from the last printing of March, 1875.
In those days surcharged stamps, especially in British Colonies, were not so common as unfortunately they have subsequently become, and were much appreciated by philatelists, as may be seen by the tone of the writer who chronicled the provisional One Penny in thePhilatelic Recordof July, 1880. “A very curious provisional stamp,forming a fit pendant to the makeshift 1d. employed in Barbadoes in 1878, has been used recently, but may by this time have become obsolete. The postal authorities of St. Vincent have treated their 6d. value in the same way as the Barbadians did their 5s. stamp—perforating it down the centre, and surcharging each side with 1d. in red, the numeral being 8 mm. in length.” The writer then goes on to say that the central line of perforation is clean cut, and gauges 12, which is quite correct, and records a fact worth bearing in mind when examining doubtful specimens, as the forgers have found the perforation much more difficult to imitate than the surcharge. Unfortunately our illustration of this stamp, No. 2, is not as clear as we could have wished, owing to the red and green colours not lending themselves readily to photography—so we give the measurements of the surcharge, which are as follows: Height of figure, 8¾ mm.; width of figure, 1½ mm.; length of foot of figure, 3½ mm.; height of “d,” 3 mm.; extreme width of “d,” 2 mm.; space between “d” and figure, 1½ mm.; space between figures on right and left halves of the same stamp, 8½ mm. The figure “1” has a straight serif. These details will help to protect collectors against at least the more ordinary forgeries, but the gauge of the perforation and its regular clean-cut circular holes are really the crucial tests, as some of the surcharges are heavily printed, and are difficult to measure with accuracy. A description of the forgeries known to us would be of little use. They all fail in the perforation, most of them in the dimensions of the surcharge, and one rather dangerous one we recently discovered has the figures on the two halves of the stamps wrongly spaced. The one most likely to be met with is the least dangerous, as it has a large cross stroke to the top of the figure, instead of a serif,besides being wrong in many other particulars. This forgery is evidently copied from the illustration in a well-known catalogue, and not from the stamp itself.
This provisional One Penny has always been a rare stamp, especially unused, or in pairs; none of the issue seems to have found its way into dealers’ stocks, but to have been all used up for legitimate postal purposes, so that a great part of it must have been destroyed, and only a small proportion of the original 1,800 saved for philatelic purposes.
June 1880.
1d., pale grey-green.6d., bright yellow-green.5s., deep rose-red.
On May 13th, 1880, Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. sent out 1000 sheets (60,000 stamps) of the One Penny, printed in pale grey-green, 300 sheets (18,000 stamps) of the Six Pence, printed in bright yellow-green, and 100 sheets (2,000 stamps) of a new value—Five Shillings, printed in deep rose-red. In this consignment was included the third and last printing of the One Shilling bright vermilion-red. All the three first mentioned values were perforated B only, this we know because no other variety of perforation exists in any of these stamps, the issue of which was in all three cases confined to this one printing. We think this is a very good reason for believing that the printing of the One Shilling that was made at the same time was like them perforated B only, and that at this date the use of the A machine had been discontinued for ever, as far as the stamps of St. Vincent are concerned.
The printings of both the One Penny and the Six Pence were small ones. The former value must have been used up quickly, as a new supply was ordered in the next year; we may, therefore, expect this stamp to become much scarcer than any of the same value that preceded it, and of which such a large quantity were printed.
The Six Pence was the last of that value to be printed by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., and it remained current for more than three years, until October, 1883, when it was succeeded by a stamp printed by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. About a fifth part of the printing was used in 1881 for making provisional stamps of the One Penny and Halfpenny values.
It is rather a scarce stamp, even in a used state, and is decidedly rare unused, it being one of the St. Vincent stamps the dealers appear to have neglected.
The Five Shillings value is a striking stamp, both in its size and design, which is very artistic, and it is altogether a fine example of the line-engraved work of its makers, Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. The central portion of the design portrays the Arms of the Government of St. Vincent, and represents “Justice pouring out a libation to Peace,” which illustrates the motto of the Colony,Pax et Justitia—“Peace and Justice”—given on the scroll above the Arms. The plate contained twenty stamps, arranged in four horizontal rows of five, and the same star paper was used for printing the issue as for the other stamps of smaller dimensions; the consequence of this being that each stamp is watermarked with at least more thanonestar. There seems to have been very little demand for the stamp for postal purposes in the Island, and genuinely postmarked specimens are now of great rarity. Used Five Shillingsstamps have always been eagerly sought for by philatelists, who for many years declined to have anything to do with unused specimens, as they looked upon the stamps as fiscals only. This belief seems to have arisen from the way they were chronicled in thePhilatelic Recordof August, 1880, which said—“The 5s. fiscal stamp has lately been used for postal purposes.” TheTimbre-Poste, in announcing the stamp, quoted from thePhilatelic Record, and so the error came to be perpetuated, until the true character of the stamp was explained in the London Society’sWest Indian Catalogue, published in 1891. In that work will be found an official notification, dated 15th September, 1882, in which it is called “the existing five shilling postage stamp,” and in which it is directed to be “over-stampedFifty Pounds—Revenue,” and “used as a Revenue stamp of that value.” Its use as a Revenue stamp was not confined to this high denomination, as it exists with “Revenue” only on it, and fiscals with this surcharge are fairly common. We are of opinion that the great majority of the 2,000 stamps printed were so treated, and that only a very small number were ever used for postage, or escaped the fiscal surcharge. This readily accounts for the great rarity the stamp has acquired of recent years, and this rarity cannot, we think, but increase still further in the future.
The official notification quoted above contains a clause which “directs that the present six penny postage stamps may be cut diagonally in half—each half to be over-stamped3d. Revenue, and be used as a revenue stamp of that value.” It was further used, with the surcharge “Revenue,” as a fiscal Sixpence. This fiscal use of the Six Pence, bright yellow-green, of Issue 14, is an additional reason for its now being so rare in an unused state.
September 1881.
½d. in red on half 6d., bright yellow green, of Issue 14.
The necessity for a Halfpenny value arose from the Colony of St. Vincent having joined the Postal Union on September 1st, 1881, and, pending the arrival of the stamps ordered from England, this provisional was made in the Island by dividing the Six Pence of the last issue by a vertical line of perforation through the centre, and surcharging each half stamp “½d.” in red, the additional perforation being the same as that of the provisional One Penny of Issue 13.
It was thus chronicled in thePhilatelic Recordof October, 1881: “St. Vincent, proud apparently of her provisional One Penny, which has eluded the grasp of so many collectors, has provided herself with a Halfpenny makeshift, which is as like it as possible. The current Sixpenny stamp has been perforated down the centre, and each half surcharged ½d. in red. We have only, as yet, seen a single specimen, but there may be almost as many varieties as there are stamps to the sheet.” This surmise of the writer, fortunately for collectors, turned out to be incorrect, as there are practically no varieties on the sheet, except one in which the serif of the figure “1” of the fraction is straight, instead of being curved as in the other figures on the sheet. Beyond this there are no varieties of the surcharge, save in very slight differences in the position of the fraction line, due to the surcharge being type set. Our illustration No. 3 shows the variety with the “1” with straight serif on the right half of the Six Pence. It will also be observed that this surcharge is on a slightly higher level than itsneighbour on the left half of the same stamp. It may also be noted that the surcharges were not always printed fairly in register with the sheet, so that each one fell exactly in the centre of a half stamp, as we have seen a used specimen of a right half stamp, which shows portions of a second surcharge down the line of perforation on the right side of the stamp.
A variety of this stamp, with the fraction line of the surcharge omitted, is reported to us from the United States, but not having been able to verify for ourselves whether the surcharge is genuine or not, we have omitted it from our Reference List.
There were twelve sheets (1,440 stamps) of these provisionals printed, but not many were issued for use, and we believe they were withdrawn from issuebeforethe arrival of the new Halfpenny value in December. It is an excessively rare stamp used, and at the date of its issue and for some considerable time afterwards it was unattainable unused. We believe this was owing to an official order to the effect that neither stamp collectors nor dealers were to be supplied with it. Whether this order was eventually rescinded, or fell into abeyance in the course of time, we do not know; but one thing is certain—that philatelic persistence triumphed in the end, and that the unused remainder of the issue found its way at last into the hands of philatelists, so that now it is not at all a rare stamp in the unused state. For this reason, and because the unused Six Pence itself is so difficult to find, the forgers have not been so busy with it as with its predecessor, the provisional One Penny; but forgeries of it do exist, and for the satisfaction of our readers, we give the dimensions of the surcharge. The extreme length from the top of the letter “d” to the bottom of thenumeral “2” is 16½ mm.; the height of the letter “d” is 4 mm.; the space between the “d” and the figure “1” is 2 mm.; the height of the figure 1 is 4 mm.; the space between the figures “1” and “2” is 2½ mm.; the height of the figure “2” is 4 mm.; and finally, the width of the letter “d,” without measuring the foot, is 2¼ mm. These measurements all vary a little according as the surcharge is lightly or heavily impressed.
November 1881.
4d. in black on 1s., bright vermilion-red, of Issue 11.
Four Pence being one of the Postal Union rates, the stamps of that value remaining in hand from the issue of July, 1877, were soon used up, and in November, 1881, the new lot of the Four Pence value not having yet come out from England, 21 sheets (630 stamps) of the vermilion-red shilling perforated B were surcharged in the Island with a large “4d.” in black, and issued as provisionals. The original values were obliterated by black bars, 2 mm. wide, printed across the sheet. ThePhilatelic Recordof December, 1881, says: “St. Vincent.—Since this Colony joined the Postal Union there has, of course, been a demand for Four Penny stamps. Those used hitherto have been blue, like the issue of 1866, and not yellow, like those of 1869. They were not remainders of the 1866 issue, but stamps reprinted in a brighter shade of blue, and perforated in the rough way which has lately distinguished the stamps of St. Vincent. By the mail delivered here on the 13th inst. we have received letters franked by a provisional Four Penny adhesive, formed by surcharging the current scarlet Shilling4d., and obliterating the original value by means of a bar.”
We now see how deep was the mystery enshrouding the Four Pence on star paper of Issue 12, when the editor of the leading English philatelic periodical had been ignorant of its existence up to this time, and even then failed to perceive any difference, except in the perforation, between it and the Four Pence of 1866.
The provisional Four Pence has always been a very rare stamp; and it is probably much scarcer than it is generally credited to be, as it has been a favourite with the forgers of all nations, who have in some instances been able to produce articles that pass current as genuine even in circles believing themselves to be well-informed. We refrain, for several reasons, from giving the measurements of the surcharge. First, because, owing to the “4d.” being generally deeply indented in the paper, it is not at all easy to measure it with accuracy; and also because, as regards dimensions, there is a very dangerous forgery frequently met with, which is not to be detected by any amount of measurement, however carefully done, and which can only be distinguished by careful comparison. Particular attention must be paid to the shape of the different angles of the figure “4,” and especially to the contour of the top of that figure, and to the way in which the slanting stroke joins the horizontal and the vertical ones. The forgery alluded to fails in these particulars, but it is like the genuine in this—that it is heavily printed, although not quite so deeply indented as the genuine issometimesfound.
Our illustration, No. 15, represents a well-known forgery of British manufacture, which has been kindly lent to us for the purpose by a gentleman to whom it was presentedby the artist himself as a specimen of his skill. This is a much easier forgery to detect than the one we have just been speaking about, as it is generally accompanied by a forged postmark, and is altogether too smoothly printed. Its measurements are also incorrect, the foot of the figure “4” being fully ½ mm. too long. There are a good many specimens of this latter forgery in circulation.
Another point to which we direct attention is, that in the genuine stamps the black bar across the sheet begins on the left exactly flush with the left of the figure “4” of the left hand stamp of the row, and ends exactly under the right edge of the tail of the letter “d” of the right hand stamp. It follows from this, that when the surcharges have been printed in register with the sheet, the three stamps of the left hand vertical column and the corresponding three on the right have the words of value only partly obliterated, the bar under the “4d.” only reaching part of the way across the label containing the original value.
December 1881.
“One Penny” in black on 6d., bright yellow-green, of Issue 14.
This provisional, which was also surcharged in the Island, was probably issued on the 1st of the month. It was chronicled in thePhilatelic Recordof January, 1882, and the editor of that periodical notes a specimen postmarked “2nd December 1881.”
The issue consisted of 27 sheets (1,620 stamps) of the Six Pence, bright yellow-green, of Issue 14, surcharged “One Penny” in block capitals. The length of the surcharge is 18 mm., and the height of the letters 2 mm. Theoriginal values are obliterated by black bars on the sheet, placed exactly the same as those described in our note to Issue 16, but only 1 mm. in width instead of 2 mm.
It is not nearly such a scarce stamp as the provisional Four Pence, or the One Penny of Issue 13; but it is rarer than the Halfpenny of Issue 15, except when this last is in the used state.
A number of the provisional One Penny of this issue came over unused to English dealers after the stamp had been withdrawn from use, just as in the case of the provisional Halfpenny. Used specimens were at first very scarce, but to remedy this deficiency a certain number of these unused stamps were reshipped to an agent in St. Vincent, and came back through the post in instalments during the course of 1883 and 1884, whenever their owner had a demand for used specimens. This explains the late dates seen on some of these stamps. At the present time there is nothing to choose in point of rarity between used and unused specimens.
There are a good many foreign-made forgeries of this surcharged One Penny, but all we have seen have been very poor attempts, and none of them have ever been made on the right stamp, the one usually selected for forging being the pale yellow-green Six Pence of Issue 11.
We think this is the proper place to note a curious stamp that has just reached our publishers from the United States. It is the left half of a bright yellow-green Six Pence of Issue 14, which stamp has been divided in half by a vertical line of perforation gauging 12. This half stamp is surcharged “D/1” in red, and is postmarked, apparently over the surcharge. The extreme height of the surcharge is 8½ mm.; the height of the figure “1” is 5 mm., and itswidth ¾ mm.; the height of the letter “D” is 2¾ mm., and its width 2¼ mm. The figure “1” has a long serif, slanting downwards, and a foot like that of a Roman figure “I.”
We do not like to hazard an opinion as to what this stamp may be, but we think it right to place its existence on record, as the perforation which has divided the stamp has been, in our opinion, done by the same official machine that performed the same operation, not only on the postal provisionals of 1880 and 1881, but also on the fiscals that were made in 1882 by dividing diagonally this same Six Pence of Issue 14, and surcharging each half “3d. Revenue.” It was expressly forbidden in St. Vincent to make use of postage stamps for fiscal purposes, unless they had been overprinted “Revenue”; this stamp, if genuine, cannot therefore have been intended for anything but postage. It may have been experimentally prepared in December 1881, when a provisional One Penny was required, and rejected in favour of the one actually issued; but farther than this we cannot go. We are sorry that this interesting stranger has reached us too late for illustration.
December 1881.
½d., orange-yellow, shades from pale to deep.1d., drab, slight shades.4d., bright ultramarine.
The consignment of these three stamps, which was sent out on November 16th, 1881, consisted of 1000 sheets (60,000 stamps) of the Halfpenny, 1000 sheets (60,000 stamps) of the One Penny, and 500 sheets (15,000 stamps) of the Four Pence. All three values were issued in December,and the three provisionals which had temporarily supplied their places were at once withdrawn from use, if indeed this had not already taken place in the case of the provisional Halfpenny.
The plate for the Halfpenny value, like those of the One Penny and Six Pence, consisted of 60 stamps arranged in 6 horizontal rows of 10. Like the other current values, it was printed on the star-watermarked paper.
The lateral distance between the stamps is 19 mm. from centre to centre, and the vertical 21½ mm. These dimensions being smaller by 1⅓ mm. one way, and 2½ mm. the other, than those of the spaces between the stars in the paper, it follows that these last are distributed among the stamps in less than the proportion of one star to each, so it is very seldom that we find the watermark properly centred on any single specimen.
The colour of this Halfpenny varies a good deal in depth of shade, and, like that of most St. Vincent stamps, it has a strong tendency to oxidation. This colour was called “primrose” by the printers. Although only one printing was ever made of it, this was a large one, and it is a very common stamp either unused or used.
We have called the colour of the One Penny “drab,” but it is not a very easy one to define, although our term is more likely to be understood by our readers than that of the printers, which is “chemical black.” For some reason or other it is a very much scarcer stamp unused than the Halfpenny, in spite of there having been printed an equal number of both. We suppose that this must be through the dealers having omitted to put it in stock in any great quantity, and from a number of the sheets having been overprinted “Revenue” for fiscal purposes.
Possibly for the same reasons the Four Pence is also a rare stamp unused, and even used specimens are getting scarce. Only 15,000 of these were printed, and they must have been quickly used up, as a new issue of the value was required within a year.
The three stamps of this issue are only known perforated B; they were the last to be printed for the Colony by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co.
In a letter inStanley Gibbons Monthly Journalfor December, 1891, the One Penny drab, with star watermark, is said to exist perforated 14, but the reputed owner has since informed us that this is a mistake.
With the end of 1881 the printing of the stamps of St. Vincent by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. ceased, and on February 25th, 1882, that firm delivered up the various plates of stamps to the Crown Agents of the Colony in London. These plates were afterwards handed over by them to Messrs. De La Rue & Co., and this firm has since printed all the further supplies of stamps ordered by the Colony, using Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co.’s plates for that purpose.
We give the dates of the various issues comprised in Section II. as accurately as it is in our power to do, but, as we do not enjoy for the stamps of this section the same advantages as we did for those printed by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., we are now obliged for our information to fall back entirely upon the philatelic periodicals, the authorities we have chiefly relied upon being thePhilatelic Recordand theTimbre-Poste.
With the change of contractors alterations took place in the paper, colours, and perforation of the stamps—printers’ accessories that naturally differ with each individual firm. At the time Messrs. De La Rue & Co. took over the contract they had, in the case of stamps of the size of the majority of those of St. Vincent, ceased using their well-known paper watermarked with a crown and “C.C.,” and had substituted in its place a paper with watermarks of a crown over the letters “C.A.”—theseinitials standing for “Crown Agents.” This paper is milled or surfaced, medium in thickness, and varies but slightly in both of these two respects. It was specially made for the electrotype plates used by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. in the surface-printing process they employ for most of the current British Colonial stamps. The entire sheet measures 21¼ inches in height by 11 inches in width, or 54 centimetres by 28 centimetres, approximately. In order to correspond with the stamps on these electrotype plates, the watermarks in the sheet are grouped in four panes of sixty, and those in each pane are arranged in ten horizontal rows of six, with a line in watermark enclosing each pane. The two upper panes are separated from the two lower ones by a space of an inch, and this interval is watermarked with the words “Crown Agents,” in a straight line in double-lined block capitals 12 mm. in height. The two panes on the right are separated from the two on the left by a narrow unwatermarked space of 6 mm. There is no marginal watermark at either the top or bottom of the sheet, but at each side the words “Crown Agents for the Colonies” are watermarked in a straight line of double-lined block capitals 7 mm. in height, the words on the left reading upwards, and those on the right reading downwards.
From these particulars it will be seen how ill-adapted this paper is for plates of the size of those of the St. Vincent stamps. The consequence is that the watermarks, “Crown C.A.,” are irregularly distributed over the sheets of all the different values, never being in proper register with the stamps, but more so in the cases of the Halfpenny and the Five Shillings, on account of the sizes of these two values being so very different from that of the De La Rue stamps for which the watermarks are spaced.
We have seen that the plates of the Halfpenny, One Penny, and Sixpence contained sixty stamps, in six horizontal rows of ten, and that of the Five Shillings twenty stamps, in four horizontal rows of five. The “Crown C.A.” paper was, therefore, quite large enough to be divided horizontally, so as to take three impressions of any of these plates. The result of this division of the sheet is that the impression of the plate that happens to be printed on the middle portion has one row of stamps, either partly or wholly, watermarked with as much of the inscription, “Crown Agents,” as the length of the plate will permit; and specimens of all the above values, as well as of the two issues of the One Penny surcharged “2½ Pence,” and the Six Pence surcharged “Five Pence,” by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. are found so watermarked. The plates of the Four Pence and One Shilling, which only contained thirty stamps in three horizontal rows of ten, admitted of the paper being so cut that the words “Crown Agents” are only found watermarked in the margins of the sheets of these two values.
The sheets printed from Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co.’s plates were even less adapted to the perforating machines used by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. for stamps of their own design printed on “Crown C.A.” paper, than, as we have seen, were the Perkins-Bacon plates to that paper. These machines, to which we give the name of “comb,” perforate the top and two sides of every stamp in an entire horizontal row at each descent of the pins. The second descent of the pins, therefore, perforates the bottom of the stamps in the first row and at the same time the top and two sides of the stamps of the second row. This process is continued through the sheet until the bottom of it is reached, when the last descent of the pins perforates the bottom of the lowest row of stamps,and at the same time continues the vertical lines of perforation into the bottom margin of the sheet. If the sheet has been put to the machine in an inverted position, it is thetopmargin we find perforated vertically. The machines are, however, so constructed that in the centre of the long line of pins two of the vertical lines of the “comb” are placed much closer together than the rest, in order to perforate each side of the narrow central space separating the panes of stamps—videour description of the paper watermarked “Crown C.A.” This arrangement of the pins makes the machine utterly useless for perforating a row of more than six stamps placed close together. In consequence of this, the stamps of St. Vincent, and those of other Colonies for which Messrs. De La Rue & Co. use the old plates of Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., have to be perforated by a different make of machine to that they usually employ for colonial stamps.
For the stamps of St. Vincent three varieties of perforating machines have been used by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. First, a comb-machine of the gauge of 14, similar to the one they employ for perforating the current One Penny &c. of Great Britain, in which the horizontal line of pins is long enough, without the interposition of two vertical lines placed close together, to perforate a row of ten or more stamps; second, a single-line or guillotine-machine with 12 holes in a space of 2 centimetres; and third, a similarly constructed machine to the second, but with a gauge of 14.
In order to distinguish between the perforations of the guillotine-machine gauging 14 and those of the comb-machine which also gauges 14, it is necessary to have either a block of at least four stamps, or a vertical strip with the top and bottom margins of the sheet attached. By examining thepoints where the lines of perforation intersect each other, or noticing whetherbothmargins of the sheet have been perforated through or not, it is possible to decide the nature of the machine. If, at the point where a vertical and a horizontal line of perforation intersect, there is one hole common to both lines, this hole being of the usual size, or if either the top or bottom margin of the sheet is imperforate, then the perforation must have been done by the comb-machine. On the other hand, if the lines of perforation cross each other so that there is no one hole common to both lines, or if there appears to be such a one that it has evidently been made larger by the passage of a second pin, or if the top and bottom margins of the sheet arebothperforated through, then we may be equally certain that the perforation has been performed by the guillotine-machine.
The comb-machine perforating 14 is far more regular in the spacing of the pins than the guillotine-machine of the same gauge. If a long line of perforation of the latter be examined, it will be found that here and there the holes are not in line, and also that there is a slightly wider distance between certain of them, although the gauge of the perforation does not perceptibly vary from 14.
The guillotine-machine gauging 12 is more irregular still in the spacing of the pins, as an examination of our illustration No. 21 will show. For instance, the tenth hole from the bottom is further from the ninth than it is from the eleventh, and the second and third holes from the top, and also others, will be seen to be more or less out of line. The gauge also varies; for if two centimetres be taken up the central line, commencing with the fifteenth hole from the bottom, that space will be found to contain eleven holes,plusthe distance between the eleventh and twelfth, which is equivalent to a gauge of 11¾.
For some reason Messrs. De La Rue & Co. do not appear to have made much use of the comb-machine for the stamps of St. Vincent; it may be because their machines were in constant requirement for British stamps. The One Penny, and “2½ Pence” on 1d., rosy-lake, two of the first three values printed by them, were perforated by this comb-machine; but with the exception of one or two other stamps that we shall specify in our notes to the various issues, the remainder, including all the stamps now current in the Island, have been perforated by one or other of the guillotine-machines.
We have not thought proper in our Reference List to make any distinction between the two machines gauging 14, nor have we catalogued stamps showing part of the words “Crown Agents” in the watermark, as we feel that had we done so we should have been adding a fresh terror to stamp collecting, already over-burdened by the weight of “varieties.”
The gum on all the stamps of Section II. is usually white, but sometimes varies to a pale yellow.
The colours of the stamps are for the most part brighter than those used by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., and the combination of the line-engraved plates with the colours, paper, and perforations of Messrs. De La Rue & Co. produce certainly some of the finest stamps that have ever been printed.
January 1883.