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.
Issue 19.
January 1883.
- 1d., drab.
- 4d., bright blue.
These two stamps, the first to be printed for the Colony by Messrs. De La Rue & Co., were chronicled in the Philatelic Record of February, 1883, so we may safely put down the date of issue as January. The colours of both values were unchanged, and, allowing for the difference of appearance in Messrs. De La Rue & Co.’s stamps, caused by the whiteness and surfacing of the paper, there is hardly any change to be noticed even in their shades. The One Penny is perforated 14, the machine used having been the “comb.” The Four Pence is also perforated 14, but not having been able to examine a block, or even a pair of these stamps, we are unable to say which of the two machines was used. In all probability it was the guillotine-machine.