With this issue a radical change of paper took place, and the new paper, which was watermarked with a star, continued to be exclusively used as long as Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. supplied stamps to the Colony. It varies very much in thickness; the thinnest variety is about the same thickness as the thinnest of the unwatermarked paper, but the thickest sometimes approaches card. This is especially noticeable in certain issues, in which the thick paper predominates, and we will refer to this subject in subsequent notes.

The star of the watermark is a six-pointed one, measuring 13 mm. from point to point across the star, and the watermarks in the sheet are so spaced that when the plate has been printed in register each star falls exactly on the centre of a stamp. The lateral distance between the stars from centre to centre is 20⅓ mm., and the vertical 24 mm.; these measurements of course correspond with those of a St. Vincent stamp, plus one margin each way. All the stars in the sheet are disposed with two opposite rays in a vertical line—that is when the stamps are printed in the normal position with regard to the paper. Personally we have not much sympathy with the collection or cataloguing of inverted or reversed watermarks, which we think tends to the undue lengthening out and complicating of lists, to no useful purpose whatever, but we may as well mention that the star watermark is to be found sideways on all the St. Vincent stamps printed on this paper. Of course when in this position two opposite rays are in a horizontal instead of in a vertical line. This peculiarity of position in the watermark is not confined to St. Vincent stamps only, among those of the Colonies for which Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. used the same paper, as in 1874 it was noticed by philatelists in the stamps of Antigua. A correspondence about the watermarks of these stamps took place early in that year in the pages of the Stamp Collector’s Magazine, and at about the same time the subject was discussed at a meeting of the Philatelic Society, London. Those who are curious in these matters will find all the particulars given in the Stamp Collector’s Magazine, vol. xii., where it appears from the letters printed that an idea prevailed that, as concerned the stamps of Antigua, the paper with the star sideways denoted a later issue. The explanation given by the then President of the London Society was that the change in the position of the watermark was due to “the stars being turned when cleaning the plates, or when they became worn.” This was rather far-fetched, not to say grotesque, nor did it succeed in satisfying all the correspondents of the Stamp Collector’s Magazine. The true solution of the question is, that as the paper was sufficiently large to admit of the plate being printed on it in either position, the printer was quite indifferent as to how the paper was placed, and were it not that this particular watermark is a symmetrical figure we should doubtless occasionally find it inverted, as well as sideways. A variety of the One Penny, with one point of the star up, was indeed chronicled with “inverted” watermark in the Stamp Collector’s Magazine, vol. xii., p. 95, by the same writer who noticed the two different positions of the stars we have just alluded to. The design of the watermark was, however, such that it made no difference which end of the sheet was put first into the press, and it passes our comprehension to know how an inverted watermark could therefore be distinguished.

Although all the stars in St. Vincent stamps are of the same size, owing to the “bits” being hand-made they vary a little in shape, and we have seen faulty ones having one or more rays with the points broken or twisted out of their proper direction. Besides this there are two rather distinct varieties in the shape of the star. These exist side by side in the same sheet. In the star more usually found all the six rays are of similar size; in the other variety the two opposite rays in the vertical line are narrower at the base than the other four, so that they are thinner throughout their length, and end in a more acute angle. This last variety of star is in shape almost exactly like the larger stars found in the paper used by the same firm for printing the stamps of South Australia and certain other Colonies.

In the thicker varieties of paper it is sometimes very difficult to see the watermark. This is especially the case when the specimens are unused and have the gum intact. The change in the colour of the One Penny from red to black marked that stamp at once, so that we find its advent recorded in the Stamp Collector’s Magazine of September 1871, and in the Philatelist and Timbre-Poste of the following month, the last-named periodical being the only one to mention the watermark or perforation, which last was given as 14½. We learn from the list of Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. that the consignment was sent out on March 28th, 1871, and consisted of 300 sheets (18,000 stamps) of One Penny, black, and a like number of Six Pence, green; and, since the One Penny was chronicled in September, we may assume that the issue took place some time in June. There can be little doubt that the Six Pence was issued with the One Penny, although it was unnoticed at the time by philatelists, probably because the colour was unchanged, and the watermark, owing to the thickness of the paper, not readily seen. It was not until September, 1872, that it was chronicled by M. Moens in the Timbre-Poste, which is the only record of it we can find in any of the philatelic periodicals.

The One Penny, black, is found with two varieties of perforation—A and B × A. It continued in use from the date of its issue, in 1871, until the colour was changed in 1880. Nine printings of it were made, and the last consignment was sent out on August 28th, 1878, making in all the large total of 6000 sheets, or 360,000 stamps. The great majority of these must have been perforated A, since the compound B × A is very much less common, and is even rather scarce unused. We do not know in which particular printing this last variety of perforation occurred. We have the authority of the Timbre-Poste that some at least of the first consignment were perforated A, and the sample stamp attached to the entry in the books of Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., referring to the despatch of the last consignment in 1878, is also perforated A. In the absence of further information we have, however, catalogued both the two varieties of perforation as belonging to Issue 7.

The Six Pence, green, of which only three printings were made, is always perforated A. It is generally in a blue-green colour, identical with that of the Six Pence, blue-green, of previous issues on unwatermarked paper. It is sometimes, but rarely, met with of a dull green hue, rather pale in shade, and nearer a yellow-green than is the ordinary colour. We have only found one unused specimen of this stamp, nor have we seen many used ones, so we are still a little doubtful whether it is an original colour or not.

There is a rather mystifying chronicle of another green Six Pence in the Timbre-Poste of January, 1876, which was copied by the Philatelist, and which we think it as well to refer to here. M. Moens appears to have overlooked the fact that he had already, in 1872, mentioned the Six Pence, green, with Star watermark—“Le 6p. vert arrive avec étoile en filagramme et piqué 15”; and in January 1876 records it again as “6p. vert foncé piqué 15.” At this time no printing of the Six Pence had taken place since March 1875, so what M. Moens saw could not have been a new variety, and was probably only a specimen, rather darker than usual, of the same stamp he had already chronicled in 1872.

A horizontal pair of the One Penny, black, with no perforation between the stamps, was sold at the sale of Mr. M. P. Castle’s collection of British and Colonial stamps, on May 2nd, 1889, the pair being described erroneously in the catalogue as imperforate horizontally. M. Moens, in his Catalogue Prix Courant, gives the same stamp as existing imperforate, but not having been able to verify it we have omitted it from our list.