The late Duke's collection was, I believe, on general lines, a large range of countries and colonies being included in his exhibits at the Portman Rooms in 1890. These included a fine lot of Uruguay, and displays of Cyprus, Gibraltar, Heligoland, Ionian Islands, and Malta; Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden; Greece, Servia, Bulgaria and Montenegro; Cuba, Porto Rico and Fernando Po. At the 1897 Exhibition, at the galleries of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the Duke showed only a few specimens in the class for rare stamps, his exhibit including the 2 kreuzer, orange, of Austria unused; the 54 paras of Moldavia; the Half Tornese Naples, cross, unused; several of the rare 2 reales stamps of Spain and the 3 cuartos "bear" stamp of Madrid; the Swedish 24 skill, bco., unused; the so-called "Neuchâtel" stamp of Switzerland, unused; the 18 kreuzer Wurtemburg, with silk thread, unused; Buenos Ayres 4 pesos, red; United States, 1856, 5c. red-brown and 90c. blue, perforated; and some other rarities. Of British and colonials he displayed two of the 1d. black V.R. stamps; a 12d. black of Canada; Hong Kong 96 cents, yellow-brown; a small show of rare Nevis, including the 6d. lithographed and the surface-printed 6d. green; St. Vincent 5s., watermarked star, unused; an unused 1d. Sydney View, Plate I., and an unused 6d. "laureated head."
THE THREE COPIES OF THE UNISSUED 2D. "TYRIAN-PLUM" STAMP OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE COLLECTION OF H.M. THE KING.
The one on the envelope is the only specimen known to have passed through the post.
It will be seen from the wide field covered by his exhibits that the philatelic inclinations of the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha were broadly catholic. His royal nephew, King George, has limited his collecting—though not his interest—to stamps of the British Empire. His Majesty's interest in stamp-collecting has been made popularly known by the newspapers, but it is not always realised, I think, that the interest is an appreciative personal one. Of this philatelists have had many gracious proofs. The King is understood to have been consistently collecting since his midshipman-days on the Bacchante, and his collections to some extent coincide with his travels, several of his finest albums being those which contain the stamps of West Indian colonies.
There is little collected information on the subject of His Majesty's collections, so I will endeavour to outline a few of the salient points in those sections which have been most nearly completed.
Great Britain.—The collection contains the original sketch of W. Mulready, R.A., for the famous envelopes and letter sheets of 1840 to which reference has been made.[22]
A note accompanies it to the effect that, "From statements made by Mr. Mulready to his friends, it would appear that the original idea for the design was given to him by Queen Victoria and was carried out by the artist in accordance with Her Majesty's suggestions."
On this point of the origin of the design, Sir Rowland Hill's journal contains an entry which scarcely bears out the legend that the Queen devised the idea together with the Prince Consort. The entry, under April 3, 1840, is: "Mr. B[aring] has sent a proof impression of the cover stamp to the Queen, with a memorandum from Mulready and Thompson [the engraver] explanatory of the design."