each denomination began its own series with "No 1." The imprint is placed in the top margin only, over the middle two stamps (5 and 6) of the top row. In the case of the 14 cent stamps each style of the first two plates was numbered "1". The plate of 200 impressions was arranged in ten horizontal rows of twenty stamps each, thus bringing the imprint over stamps 10 and 11 of the top row, and as it was between these that the large sheets were severed, the imprint was cut in two in the process. All the other values were made up in sheets of 100 only.
For the information of plate number collectors we give a list of such numbers as we have been able to ascertain.
| ½ | cent, | No. | 1 (2 plates). |
| 1 | " | Nos. | 1, 2. |
| 2 | " | Nos. | 1, 2, 3. |
| 3 | " | Nos. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. |
| 5 | " | No. | 1,. |
| 6 | " | No. | 1. |
| 8 | " | No. | 1. |
| 10 | " | No. | 1. |
The quantity of each value issued before they were replaced by the stamps with numerals is stated to have been as follows:[145]—
| ½ | cent | 2,000,000 |
| 1 | " | 34,000,000 |
| 2 | " | 12,000,000 |
| 3 | " | 44,000,000 |
| 5 | " | 3,500,000 |
| 6 | " | 500,000 |
| 8 | " | 1,400,000 |
| 10 | " | 500,000 |
A similar variation is found in the dimensions of these stamps to that occurring in the 7½ d. and 10d. stamps and the issue of 1868, and has caused quite a little comment from those unfamiliar with this phenomenon. As much as ½ mm. in the vertical measurements can be found between many stamps. The cause is of course the uneven shrinking of the dampened paper when drying after being printed upon. This was fully discussed in an earlier chapter.[146] As the paper in the present instance is very similar in quality to
that used for printing the United States stamps, in which the same peculiarity occurs, we will quote Mr. Melville's comment on the subject:[147]—
As we have said, the paper is impressed when damp.... This wetting-down business has another effect which has always puzzled philatelists. The wet paper is taken into a hot room to dry, and in drying it contracts. The contraction is not uniform and the philatelist in trying to prove the existence of more than one original die will pin his faith to the idea that if the varieties noticeable were due to contraction of the paper the contraction would be proportionate on all sides of the stamp. This is not the case however.
Paper, when absorbing moisture, expands more in one direction than the other. The direction of greater expansion is what is technically known as the "cross direction", and is the direction across the flow of pulp in the paper making machine. During the flow of the pulp the bulk of the fibres lie parallel with the movement of the wire gauze, and it is a scientific fact that the diameter of a fibre is increased by absorption of water much more than is the length. The subsequent shrinking on drying also is uneven.