Great Britain-1955-Queen Elizabeth-High Value "Castles"-Postage Stamp Set-Illustrated

Illustrated below is the stamp set issued in 1955 during the early reign of Queen Elizabeth. The set consisted of four stamps a 2 Shilling and Sixpence (brown), 5 Shilling (red), 10 Shillings (blue) and 1 Pound (black). The Castles illustrated were  2/6 "Carrickfergus", 5s "Caernarvon", 10s "Edinburgh" and 1p "Windsor".

New Zealand-1937 and 1948 Halfcrowns-(2 Shillings and Sixpence)-Illustrated

Illustrated below are the obverse and reverse of two examples of New Zealand Halfcrowns. A Crown was worth 5 Shillings in pre-decimal currency and a Halfcrown was worth 2 Shillings and Sixpence. Coins issued for New Zealand were not introduced until 1933 .Until this time British coinage had been used, British coins ceased to be legal tender in New Zealand in 1935, New Zealand being the last self governing Dominion to issue its own currency.
In 1920 silver coins throughout the British Empire had been devalued from 95% silver (sterling) to 50% silver and 50 % alloy and all silver coins minted for New Zealand between 1933 and 1946 were only 50% silver. After 1946 silver in coinage was discontinued and all were replaced by cupro-nickel coins.
The two Halfcrowns shown below are from the reign of George the 6th. The 1937 example is 50% silver the 1948 cupro-nickel. Other changes occured during the minting, originally the obverse legend on George the 6th coinage was "King Emperor" this was discontinued after the independence of India. The reverse remained the same technically described as " Ensigns armorial of the Dominion on their shield (quarterings depicting the Southern Cross, a wheat sheaf, a lamb suspended by a ribbon and mining hammers crossed divided by three ships) surmounted by the Royal Crown and surrounded by ornamentation inspired by Maori carvings." The Halfcrown is a quite large coin at 32 mm in diameter and considered very collectable.

Great Britain-1912-24-George the 5th Defintiive Postage Stamp Set-Illustrated

Illustrated below is the 1912-24 definitve stamp set (with some shade variations). The set had values from a Halfpenny to 1 Shilling and originally issued as a Halfpenny (green), 1 penny (bright-scarlet), 1 Penny/Halfpenny (red-brown), 2 Pence (orange-yellow), 2 and a Halfpence (cobalt blue), 3 Pence (dull reddish-violet), 4 PEnce (deep grey-green), 5 Pence (brown), 6 Pence (dull-purple), 7 Pence (olive), 8 Pence (black/on yellow paper), 9 Pence (agate), 10 Pence (turquiose-blue) and 1 Shilling (bistre). Subsequent issues between 1912 and 1924 produced shades and some (like the 9 Pence value) were issued with a colour change and are know in shades. Some of the colour changes and shades are illustrated below.

The Halfpenny (green) is known in shades of yellow,deep,very yellow(1914) and bright. A yellow and green are shown here

Originally issued in bright scarlet (on the right) the 1 Penny value is known is shades of vermilion (left), pale rose-red, carmine-red and scarlet vermilion.

Originally issued in red brown (left) the Penny/Halfpenny is known in shades of chocolate-brown (right), chestnut and yellow-brown.

Originally issued as orange-yellow (left) the 2 Pence value was also produced using 2 Dies. Die 1 shows four shaded lines above the head of George the 5th ( right)  Die 2 only three. A reddish-orange (right) was issued from Die 1 in 1913. Other shades were orange from both Die 1 and 2 and a bright-orange from Die 1.

The 2 Pence/Halfpenny was originally issued in cobalt-blue shades are known in blue (left) and bright-blue (1914-right) with indigo and dull-prussian-blue issued in 1920 and 1921.

The The 3 Pence originally issued in dull reddish-violet (left) shades are known in violet (right), bluish-violet and pale-violet.

The 4 Pence value has three shades of grey-green. Originally issued in deep grey-green (right) two other shades of
grey-green (left) and pale grey-green are known.

Originally issued in brown (right) the 5 Pence value is known in two other shades of yellow-brown (left) and bistre-brown.

Originally issued in a dull purple (right) the 6 Pence value has shades of reddish-purple (left) and deep reddish-purple.

Originally issued in olive (above) the 7 Pence value is also known in shades of bronze-green (1915) and
 sage-green (1917)

Issued in black the 8 pence value has no known shades but was printed on yellow paper (above) and on a buff paper
in 1917.

The 9 Pence value was originally printed in agate (left) a shade of this issue in deep-agate (right) is known. In 1922 the
colour if the value was changed to an olive-green and shades of pale olive-green are known. Two examples of
the colour change are shown below.

The 10 Pence value was originally issed in turquoise-blue with a shade of deep turquoise-blue known.

The 1 Shilling value was originally issued in bistre (left-1913) with bistre-brown shades (right) known.

Costa Rica-1900-A Partial Set of Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Illustrated below is an old album page with 3 early stamps of Costa Rica. All were issued in 1901 (although dated 1900) and are part of set of various designs of notable Costa Ricans and local views with values from 1 Cent to 10 Colon.

Ecuador-An 1894 Postage Stamp and 1896 Postage Due-Illustrated

Below is an old album page with an early postage stamp of Ecuador. The stamp bears a portrait of President Rocofuerte and was issued in 1894. The postage due stamp was of the type first issued in 1896 and remained unchanged in design till 1929.

Nicaragua-3 Early Postage Stamps on An Old Album Page-Illustrated

Below are 3 Nicaraguan stamps all issued in the early 1890's. The oldest (middle) was issued in 1893 part of a set with values from 1 Cent to 10 Pesos, all of the smae design but different colours for each value.
The second oldest (right) was issued in 1894 and part of a set of the same design with values from 1 Cent to 10 Pesos. The 3rd (left) was issued in 1895 and is also part of a set with  the same design and values from 1 Cent to 10 Pesos.

Peru-An Old Stamp Album Page with Peruvian Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Below is an old album page with some early Peruvian stamps.The 5 Cent (blue) shows Pizarro the Conquistador and was issued in 1896, part of a set with his portrait with values from 5 to 20 Cents.

Chile-An Old Album Page of Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Illustrated below is an old album page of Chilean stamps. The 2 stamps at the right edge are rouletted stamps from the 1860's and 70's after the early imperforates but before perforations were used on Chilean stamps.

Cuba-An Old Album Page of Cuban Postage Stamps-Illustrated

Below is an old album page of stamps of Cuba. Below the page are details of 2 of the stamps. the first is the "curly head" issued during the Spanish Administration of the country. The second was issued in 1899 when the United States administered Cuba and the design is a statue of "La India".

Dubai-An Old Album Page-3 Postage Stamps and One Postage Due-Illustrated

Shown below is an old stamp album page of 3 stamps of Dubai and 1 postage due stamp. Below the page is a detail of one stamp and the postage due stamp.

Egypt-An Old Album Page of Egyptian Postage Stamp Definitives-Various Kings-Illustrated

Shown below is an old album page of the definitives of various of the Egyptian Kings before the last king was ousted and Egypt became a Republic. Below the page are details of 4 of the stamps.

Great Britain-Queen Victoria-1881-2 Pence Halfpenny (blue)-Plate 22-Illustrated

Shown below is an example of the 1881 issue of the Queen Victoria 2 PEnce Halfpenny definitive. Printed from numbered plates the plate number can be seen in the upper left and right corners at the ends of the value legends. Part of set of six values from 2 Pence Halfpenny to 1 Shilling, the original designs for the stamps were produced in 1873 and printed until 1880. Thereafter the designs were retained but colours changed and printed from 1880 to 1883.

Great Britain-Queen Victoria-1857-A 2 Pence (Blue)-Plate 6-Illustrated

Illustrated below is an example of the 1857 printing on blued paper of the 2 Pence (blue) Plate 6. The plate was used again in 1858 the stamp of this printing printed on white paper. The later printing is the more highly valued of the two. There may be some confusion as to whether the plate number is 6 or 9 but stamps from plate 9 were impeforate. A sideview of the stamp appears below to illustrate plate number.

Great Britain-Queen Victoria-1880 1 Penny (Venetian Red) Postage Stamp-Illustrated

Illustrated below is an example of the 1880 Queen Victoria 1 Penny issue. Part of a set of 7 but only 4 values. The values were a Halfpenny, I Penny, 2 Penny and 5 Pence The Halfpenny was issued in two colours of deep-green, (with a shade of pale-green) and venetian red, the 2 Pence value in pale-rose with a shade of deep-rose and the 5 Pence in indigo.

Cayman Islands-1938-48 George the 5th Definitives-2 Varieties of the 3 Pence Postage Stamp-Illustrated

Illustrated below are the two varities of the 3 Pence value issued for the Cayman Islands between 1938 and 1948. Originally issued in orange the colour was changed in 1947 to a blue. The blue variety is the more highly valued of the two.

Jamaica-1903-1905-2 Varieties of the Halfpenny "Arms of Jamaica" Postage Stamp-Illustrated

Shown below are two varieties of the "Arms of Jamaica" Halfpenny postage stamp. The geen and grey variety was issued in 1903, part of a set with values from a Halfpenny to 5 Pence this set was dicontinued in 1905 when a new set re-designed and in different colours was issued. The examples show the changes made in the Halfpenny value. The watermark was also changed from a single Crown "CA" to a multiple Crown "CA". The watermarks are illustrated below the stamps.

Jamaica-1900-2 Varieties of the 1 Penny "LLandovery Falls" Postage Stamp-Illustrated

Illustrated below are the two varieties of the 1900 and 1901 1 Penny "Llandovery Falls" postage stamp. Originally issued in red the stamp was re-printed in 1901 in two colours of red and black. Both issues have some sub-varieties of paper, imperforate and watermark. The two examples shown here are both sub-varieties, the watermark normally (sideways) has the "CC" to the right of the crown (as seen from the back of the stamp) here the "CC" is to the left of the crown.

Hong Kong-1882-A Queen Victoria 2 Cent Defintive-Illustrated

Shown below is the 1882-1896 Queen Victoria 2 Cent value issued for Hong Kong. The same design was used on the original issue for Queen Victoria definitives in 1863-63 and continued to be used with colour changes until 1900. The 1880 issue and the 1882 issue can be difficult to tell apart due to the similarity of the colours used, however the watermarks are different for these making dating easy. The 1880 issue has a crown above "CC" the 1882 issue a crown above "CA". The water is illustrated below.

Cayman Islands-1917-George the 5th-2 Varieties of Overprint on the 2 Pence Halfpenny-Illustrated

Shown below are two varieties of the George the 5th 2 Pence Halfpenny postage stamp issued for the Cayman Islands. Originally in 1912, however in 1917 the stamps were overprinted "War Tax" and their values changed from 2 Pence Halfpenny to 1 Penny Halfpenny. There are six varieties known of the overprint with some sub varieties of the overprint.