"I now pass on, to the earliest De La Rue printings, Halfpenny, Penny and Fourpence on Star watermarked paper which had been in use since 1877. They arrived in the island in time to be used at the beginning of December 1881 and the surcharged stamps. they followed were immediately withdrawn. Of these, only the Fourpence can be called uncommon, especially in mint state and is distinguished from the 1877 issue at once on account of its bright colour. The Halfpenny was of a slightly different design, again the work of the engraver - W. Ridgway.
These three stamps were followed soon afterwards by others on the Crown CA watermarked paper and here again the Fourpence is today a highly priced stamp. It is usually met with in a bright blue shade, but dull blue copies were also issued during its use and are much harder to come by there cannot have bean many of them. During the period 1886-89 these and other values appeared perforated 12 instead of 14, but the Half penny orange, the Penny rose-red and the Five Shillings carmine-lake which are only known unused, could never have been issued .to the public. In this case, again the Fourpence when in dull blue is another rarity, whilst the Sixpence of both this and the preceding issue is not a cheap stamp.
The 1890 Twopence-halfpenny on Fourpence lake-brown is a difficult stamp to find with the fraction bar distinctly missing and I have yet to get a good used copy of this error. The Fourpence yellow of 1893 is worth mentioning, as it can be found with letterings slightly varying in size and distinctness, the difference may be slight perhaps and it is no rarer in one form or the other. This stamp is also listed in olive-yellow, but I have never come across a really satisfactory copy. The above notes, I hope, cover most if not all that most collectors may wish to know in a concise summary but should any wish to study the postmarks found on these stamps,, some -of which are quite uncommon, I cannot do better than refer them to the quite recent and excellent article on this subject by Mr. P. Jaffe.