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 far the 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 the Foreign 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.
Issue 12.
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 the Timbre-Poste of 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 the Timbre-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.