n the 31st January, 1898, the following notice was issued in reference to the postage stamps of the Colony:—
"Withdrawal of Present Issue Of
Gambia Postage Stamps.
"On the 1st May, 1898, the present issue, if not previously exhausted, of all denominations of Postage Stamps in the Gambia that are then in the hands of the Government will be destroyed, and a complete new set of stamps will then be put in circulation.
"Administrator's Office,
Bathurst, Gambia,
31st January, 1898."
After being faithful for nearly thirty years to the graceful design of the "cameo" stamps the Colony adopted the regular De la Rue type printed from a general key plate which did duty for a number of colonial issues.
Essays were prepared by making impressions from this key plate, shewing the profile of the Queen to left in a circle, and the words postage—postage at the sides, the top tablet being left blank for the name of the Colony, and a space for the sexagonal tablet of value at bottom also being left blank. The essays consist of such impressions with the name Gambia and the proposed values painted in by hand, to shew the approximate effect of the stamps which would be produced from this key plate. Only a very few such essays are known.
The values which were actually produced in the new series were—