George VI

Errors & Varieties


This web site contains scans of mostly unlisted flaws and varieties of various British Colonial stamps of the reign of King George VI (1937-1952) of interest to the specialist KGVI collector. They are chosen from a range of colonies and reflect the work of different printers.

In item 3, there are 3 scans to illustrate the point I am making. In items 2, 4 and 9 there are two scans, the first is a copy of the whole stamp and the second is the flaw magnified.

I invite you to comment on these flaws. Can you provide any information on them whether you have seen them before, whether they are constant flaws and what printings they come from.

  1. Seychelles KGVI 45c (SG143) with an Accent above the ‘E’ of PIROGUE.

Is this a printing flaw or a mis-spelling of the word PIROQUE. As it is a French word, did someone at the printers place an accent over the 'E'.

  1. Bermuda One pound, SG121b, with significant damage to the left value tablet .

Keyplate specialists. It has been suggested that this is not a flaw in the true sense of the word, ie., damage to the plate, but that some grit may have gotten between the plate and the paper during printing. If this was the case, then it may be a semi-constant flaw, which occurred during one printing and other examples may exist. What do you think?

  1. Falkland Island Dependencies 1944, 9d (SG B7) & 1/- (SGB8 ) South Georgia Overprint, both with S-O joined.

These two flaws appear identical on both values. As there was one printing with the South Georgia overprint, do the two values represent the same position on the sheet? If you can, view both images side by side. I also have a copy of the 3d value of the same set with the same flaw partially developed. Did the flaw develop over the period of the printing and become progressively more noticeable by the time the 9d and 1/- values were printed. That is, if the values were printed sequentially? If you look closely at the 9d and 1/- scans you can see that the flaw is more developed on the 1/- value. Might the 4d and 6d values show the progress of the development of the flaw.

The position of the ‘S-O’ joined flaw has been identified from two philatelic sources.  Dickon Pollard & Tanzy Brown at MurrayPayne and also Tony Belfield, both in the UK, have identified the position as R2/6.  Tony Belfield added that it is from the August 1944 printing.

I would like to thank these KGVI specialists for their assistance in identifying the flaw.

  1. Leewards,  2-1/2d Light bright blue, SG105a) with a broken left point of the value tablet.

Keyplate specialists. Was this major break caused by actual damage to the value tablet? If so, it would have been noticed and repaired quickly. Has anyone seen any other similar examples?  Also included is a scan of the value tablet. 

Dickon Pollard & Tanzy Brown at Murraypayne Ltd have looked at this scan and consider that the position of this variety is found at R10/4RP on the Nov ’42 printing.

Again thanks to Dickon and Tanzy

  1. North Borneo 8c Overprinted BMA (Sg325) with Line below ‘B’ of BMA .

Does anyone know about this flaw? North Borneo is not my area.

  1. Gilbert & Ellice Islands (SG48) with a major flaw resembling a Tropical Tornado.

This is a very noticeable flaw that undoubtedly should not have gotten past quality control during printing. As a result, it is unlikely that many examples exist. What do you think caused it? Is it a scratch?

  1. Bahamas 1/- (SG155c) with flaw "O’NE for ONE" in the value tablet.

Does anyone know if this is a constant flaw and which printing it comes from.

8.     Mauritius 12c (SG257) with Short right leg of "A" of Mauritius.

Keyplate specialists. Is this a constant flaw and which printing does it come from?

9.  The Bermuda 1947 UPU Congress presentation envelope.

Recently I have been getting the impression that very few KGVI and/or keyplate specialists have ever seen this presentation envelope before. The Bermuda Post Office, for whatever reason, did not send an A5 size hardcover folder to the UPU congress in Paris in 1947 along with the other colonies. Instead they sent this envelope to the congress containing samples of stamps on sale in the colony. Have you seen it before.

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You can Contact me by email at acole@bigpond.net.au