BWISC Bulletin No. 11 - Oct 1956


ST. VINCENT

"I am anxious to have assistance in allocating the Perkins, Bacon St. Vincent adhesives to printings as has been done in the case of GRENADA. I have an unproven view that the position of the small star watermark is more important in the case of St. Vincent (which used plates of 60 and 30 subjects for the low values) than in the case of GRENADA, which used a nearly square plate of 120 subjects. In. the case of the one penny black the final printing was, I believe, perforated by the 'A' machine, while the two previous ones were probably compound (A x B). Conclusions based on dated copies, perforations and watermark star position, may enable the dates to be established. The late Mr. Adams mentions on p. 60 (Bulletin No. 5) the 'U.P.U.' December 1881 issue which follows the 1881 provisionals. These Perkins, Bacon (not De La Rue productions) have the star watermark upright. I possess a Four Pence dated December 9th (red St. Vincent c.d.s.), and have never seen a postally used 4d. provisional cancelled after December 3rd, although specimens cancelled 'A10' in black may be used on following days. As Mr. Adams mentions on p. 48 (Bulletin No. 4), some of the remainders sold in March 1883 were cancelled by favour later. The numbers given for the One Penny on Six Pence (630 and 36 remainders) apply to the 4d. on 1s. value, and I am of the opinion the 720 should read 1720 for the One Penny on Sixpence bright green. Evidence from dated postmarks suggests that the De La Rue 4d. dull blue, perf. 12 came into use late in 1883. Perhaps some members can give some information as to the date of issue. The major philatelic problem is the method used in making the 2½d. and 5d. values S.G. type 1. Two points occur to me: First, were electrotype methods employed and, if so, did De La Rue make new plates for the other values? Second, is the lettering on the Fourpence yellow a clue pointing to fresh plates first used for this stamp? To those members who may possess mint blocks this problem may have some attraction. Two further questions relate to the cause of the lines on George V portrait stamps which suggest hair cracks in a thin printing plate and the method of plate making in the Uganda window stamps."

(Contributed by Mr. P. J. Jaffe).

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