Tristan da Cunha 1954 - Definitives

Tristan Da Cunha, located in the south Atlantic Ocean, is the most remote archipelago in the world. It consists of four volcanic islands, three of which are uninhabited. The main island, the only inhabited island, is known as Tristan da Cunha, or Tristan for short. The other three islands are: Nightingale Island (which has two of its own smaller islands, Middle Island and Stottenhoff Island); Inaccessible Island: and Gough Island. Incidentally, these three islands are nature reserves.

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On 2 January 1954 Tristan da Cunha released its first set of Queen Elizabeth II definitives. The set was printed at De La Rue, and possibly engraved in-house. If anyone out there knows the name of the engraver or engravers who contributed to this set, I'd love to hear from you. All colours used in this blog are taken from Stanley Gibbons Elizabethan Sepcialised Catalogue, 1976 ed.

½d red and deep brown. Crawfish. The crawfish or crayfish, is known on Tristan as the Tristan Rock Lobster. They are found in abundance on the island.

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1d sepia and bluish-green. Flax Cart. Flax has been used on the island for thatched-roof houses.

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1½d black and reddish-purple. Rockhopper Penguin. Northern Rockhopper Penguins are one of the smallest penguin species. They are known by Tristan Islanders as Pinnamin. These lovely little creatures are incredibly agile. On Nightingale Island the penguins have to negotiate steep rock surfaces by hopping over the terrain, hence the name.

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2d grey-violet and brown-orange. Big Beach Factory. The original Big Beach Fishing Factory was destroyed by lava in 1961. The second factory was gutted by fire in 2008. 

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2½d black and carmine-red. Mollymauk. The yellow-nosed albatross is known by Tristan islanders as the 'Mollymauk'.

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3d ultramarine and olive-green. Island Boat.

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4d turquoise-blue and deep blue. Tristan from the South West.

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5d emerald and black. Potato Patches. Potatoes are a dietary staple of Tristan islanders. Unsuitable for many crops, the volcanic earth is perfect for potato crops.

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6d deep green and violet. Inaccessible Island from Tristan.

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9d reddish violet and venetian red. Nightingale Island. To the right you can also see one of Nightingale's two smaller islands, possibly Middle Island. 

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1/- deep yellow-green and sepia. St. Mary's Church. The church was opened in  1923.

 

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2/6 deep brown and light blue. Elephant Seal on Gough Island. The island is also home to the subantarctic fur seal. Unfortunately, a small amount of sealing has occurred on the islands.

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5/- black and red-orange. Flightless Rail on Inaccessible Island. This species is found only on this island. It is the smallest flightless bird in the world. Thankfully, the island has remained free of predators allowing the Rail to flourish.

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10/- brown-orange and purple. Spinning Wheel. Tristan is home to a thriving wool industry with over 1,000 head of sheep on the island. Every year the island hosts a Shearing Day.

Until next time...

Stay Engraver Crazy!

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Omnibus 1953

The date of the Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation was 2 June 1953, and it was expected of the Crown agents to produce a postage stamp design for use in 62 territories of the Commonwealth. This issue was designed and engraved at Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. The engraver was Robert George Godbehear. The mammoth task of printing the vast number of stamps required fell on the shoulders of De La Rue.

As fantastic as this design was, not all the territories of the Commonwealth used it. Many simply didn't bother to produce Coronation stamps. Four territories - Bahrain, Eastern Arabia, Tangier and Kuwait – overprinted the British Coronation stamps. Eleven other territories including Australia and Canada used their own Coronation designs. Indeed Great Britain chose its own designs, but that's another story.

So where did this design come from? 

Before we answer that question let us break down this lovely stamp into its constituent parts. It was decided that this stamp be dual coloured, therefore two plates were required. The ‘key plate’ design which was the centre-piece of the stamp was based on a portrait of the Queen by Dorothy Wilding. Another Wilding portrait was used for the early Great Britain QEII definitives. This 'key plate' was uniformly printed in black.

Close-up of  'Key Plate' design

The second plate, known as the ‘Duty Plate’ created the frame of the stamp. The ‘Duty Plate’ contained the name of the territory and the denomination of the stamp, therefore 62 different sets of ‘Duty Plates’ were required. Also, within the sixty-two territories thirty different colours were used for printing.

Arrows point to the 'Duty Plate' 

So let us now return to the question: Where did this design come from? To answer that we need to look towards Grenada, particularly the definitive issue of 1953. The designers at Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. used this beautiful design as the basis for the Coronation Omnibus issue...

But it doesn't stop there. The Grenada 1953, indeed also the KGVI 1951, issues were based on an earlier, and lovely, design from the reign of Queen Victoria. In 1861 Grenada issued its first postage stamps bearing the colony name. The issue was stunning!

Before I sign off, here is an example of a Coronation Omnibus Plate Block from Falkland Islands Dependencies to feast your eyes upon.

Until next time...

Stay Engraver Crazy!

Southern Rhodesia 1953

Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British colony now known as Zimbabwe. Over the years it has undergone numerous name changes. For more information click HERE

On 31 August 1953 Southern Rhodesia issued its first Queen Elizabeth II definitives. This lovely set consisted of 14 stamps, on unwatermarked paper. This series was recess-printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co (except the 4d stamp, which had a typography vignette). In this blog I'll focus on the first four stamps of the set.

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The ½d grey-green and claret...

The focus of this stamp is the sable antelope. The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) lives in the wooded savannah areas of East Africa and the southern parts of Africa. The sable antelope is a large species. They can grow as tall as 1.4m. They have impressive antlers that can grow as high as 1.1m. Sadly, their lovely antlers have become prized trophies for hunters. This combined with the sable antelope's habitat being slowly eaten by farming has reduced their numbers considerably.

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The 1d green and brown... 

The focus of this stamp is the industry of tobacco growing. According to an article in Economic Geographic (July 1952 vol. 28, no. 3) the tobacco industry in Southern Rhodesia boomed after WWII. By 1950, a few years before this series was issued, tobacco had surpassed gold as the premier export of Southern Rhodesia. It is, therefore, quite appropriate that the tobacco industry be depicted on a stamp of the region...

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The 2d deep chestnut & reddish violet... 

The focus of this stamp is Rhodes' Grave. Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 - 26 March 1902) was born in England. He was a mining magnate who spent most of his time in South Africa. He founded the company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds. Rhodes, A believer in British colonialism, was the founder of the southern Africa territory that became known as Rhodesia, in his honour, in 1895. Cecil Rhodes died in 1902, aged 48. After his death, the government arranged for his body to be taken by train to Rhodesia where he was laid to rest at World's View, a hilltop just south of Bulawayo. His grave site is now a part of the Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe which was at the time of his death, Rhodesia.

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The 3d chocolate & rose-red... 

The focus of this stamp is a farm worker. Tobacco and cotton were the dominant farming industries in Southern Rhodesia. It was these industries that led to a boom in immigration to the colony in the 1920's. Unfortunately many farm workers were considered no better than slaves at this time. The politically turbulent history of this colony is beyond the scope of this humble article. The following ARTICLE may be of some interest to those looking for some further reading. And you may also wish to check out this PAGE

Until next time . . .

Stay Engraver Crazy!!

Jamaica 1956 - Definitives

On 1 May 1956 Jamaica issued its first Queen Elizabeth II definitives. The set consisted of 15 stamps, all on paper watermarked multi-script CA. The series incorporated five different designs. The series was recess-printed by De La Rue.  

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The first design consisted of four stamps, all of which are perforated 13.

The ½d black and deep orange-red uses the theme coconut palms.

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The 1d black and emerald uses the theme of sugar cane.

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The 2d black and carmine-red was issued later than the first two on 2 August 1956. The theme of this stamp is pineapples.

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The 2½d black and deep bright blue was also released on 2 August 1956. The theme of this stamp is bananas.

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The second design format in this series consisted of four stamps, and all are perforated 13.

The 3d emerald and red-brown was issued 17 December 1956. 

The theme of this stamp is the flower of the Blue Mahoe tree, which is Jamaica's national tree. The Blue Mahoe is a beautiful and durable timber that is widely used for cabinet making and also for making decorative objects such as picture frames, bowls and wood carvings. The inner bark of the tree is often referred to as Cuba bark because it was formerly used for tying bundles of Havana cigars...

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The 4d bronze-green and blue was issued 17 December 1956. This stamp can be found with wmk inverted, so be on the lookout. Such stamps have a cv of £110 mint.

The theme of this stamp is breadfruit. Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family. It is found throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands. Its name is derived from the texture of the cooked fruit, which has a potato-like flavor, similar to fresh-baked bread...

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The 5d scarlet and bronze-green was issued 17 December 1956. 

The theme of this stamp is the Ackee, which is the national fruit of Jamaica. Ackee and saltfish is the national dish.

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The 6d black and deep rose-red was issued 3 September 1956.

The theme of this stamp is the Doctor Bird. The Red-billed Streamertail (Trochilus polytmus) also known as the Doctor Bird, is indigenous to Jamaica, where it is the most abundant and widespread member of the hummingbird family.

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The third design format in this series consisted of four stamps. All of these four stamps are perforated 13½. All four stamps were released on 15 November 1956.

The first stamp in this the third design format is the 8d ultramarine and red-orange. 

The theme of this stamp is Blue Mountain Peak. Blue Mountain Peak is the highest mountain in Jamaica at 2,256 metres (7,402 ft), and it is the second highest peak in the Caribbean after Pico Duarte of the Dominican Republic.The Blue Mountains are considered by many to be a hiker's and camper's paradise.

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The 1/- yellow-green and blue. 

The theme of this stamp is The Royal Botanical Gardens, Hope. Hope Gardens in Kingston, Jamaica, was established in the late 1870s on 200 acres of land. Crops such as pineapple, cocoa, coffee, and tobacco were introduced to the island through the Gardens. 60 acres of garden was set aside to create a formal garden with the assistance of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England.

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The 1/6 ultramarine and reddish purple. 

The theme of this stamp is Rafting on the Rio Grande. Not to be confused with the Rio Grande that flows through Colorado USA, the Rio Grande is a large river in Jamaica, found in the parish of Portland. Rio Grande means 'Big River' in Spanish, and it was named as such by the Spanish who occupied Jamaica in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Rio Grande is a popular tourist spot. The river is especially popular for rafting.

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The 2/- blue and bronze-green exists with an alternate colour, grey-blue and bronze-green, which was issued on 24 April 1958. 

The theme of this stamp is Fort Charles.Fort Charles is one of the oldest forts in Port Royal in Kingston. It was built by the British after Jamaica was taken from the Spaniards. The Fort was initially named Fort Cromwell after a general at the time, but was later renamed Fort Charles.

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The final four stamps in this great series are perforated 11½. They constitute the high values for this set, and all incorporate the Jamaican Coats of Arms as the central motif. So let us delve a little into just what makes up the Coat of Arms of Jamaica...

The Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sandcroft, granted Jamaica its first Coat of Arms in 1661. Since then it has only been partially modified a couple of times, which included a revision in 1957. The Coat of Arms depicts a male and female Arawak, standing on either side of the shield which bears a red cross with five golden pineapples superimposed on it. The Crest is a Jamaican crocodile surmounting the Royal Helmet and Mantlings. The Latin motto, "Indus Uterque Serviet Uni", reads "Both Indies will serve one lord." In 1957 the motto was changed to read "Out of Many, One People". Click here to find out more information on the history of Jamaica.

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The 3 and 5 shilling stamps are in landscape format, and they include a side-on portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The 3/- black and blue was issued on 12 August 1956.

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The 5/- black and carmine-red was issued 15 August 1956.

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The final two values of this set were printed in portrait format, and the Queen's head has been removed. Both of these stamps were released on 15 August 1956.

The 10/- black and blue-green.

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The £1 black and purple. This colour combination is, in my opinion, stunning!

Until next time...

Stay Engraver Crazy!

Southern Rhodesia 1953 - Sable Antelope

Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British colony now known as Zimbabwe. Over the years it has undergone numerous name changes. For more information click HERE

On 31 August 1953 Southern Rhodesia issued its first Queen Elizabeth II definitives. And what a beautiful set it was!! This set consisted of 14 stamps, on unwatermarked paper. This series was recess-printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co (except the 4d stamp, which had a typography vignette). I am uncertain who actually engraved the stamps. If anyone knows, I'd love to hear from you.

In this blog we shall study the first stamp in this delightful set - the ½d grey-green and claret. The stamp is perforated 14 x 13½ and it was issued on 31 August 1953.

The focus of this stamp is the sable antelope. The sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) lives in the wooded savannah areas of East Africa, and in the southern parts of Africa. The sable antelope is a large species. They can grow as tall as 1.4m. They have impressive antlers that can grow as high as 1.1m. Sadly, their lovely antlers have become prized trophies for hunters. This combined with the sable antelope's habitat being slowly eaten by farming has reduced their numbers considerably.

SG 78

Until next time...

Stay Engraver Crazy!