Anthony Cole

George VI Specialist


                                        George VI 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.

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.

You will notice that I have trimmed down the number of items and scans on pages 1 to 5.  This is primarily because I have obtained sufficient feedback on my queries and also because I have decided to remove some of the less significant flaws in order to make room for more web pages. 

I would like to thank those collectors who have contacted me to discuss the scans.  You have been very helpful.

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  1. Mauritius KGVI, 1938 Pale violet (SG261a) with part of the right frame line largely missing & ‘Revenue’ doubled.  

This is a very noticeable & significant flaw and easily seen without magnification.  It is unlisted and I don’t know whether it is mentioned in any articles on the Mauritius keyplates, but in an article by Dickon Pollard he mentions “that the last stamp on plate 3 on each row has “ a shadow extra frameline at the right accompanied by doublings of ‘Revenue’ and the ornaments at right”.  Is this current copy a variation of this flaw that Dickon mentions? Or is it a completely different flaw.  It comes from the Tangri collection and was not identified as a

 

2.  Aden 1951 overprints, 15c deep ultramarine (SG38) with a small “S” in ‘cents’ in the overprint. 

Is this small ‘s’ actually a small ‘s’ or is it a poor impression of the ‘s’ of ‘cents’ during printing.  Either way, it looks nice as a flaw & is easily seen with the naked eye.  

 

3.  Mauritius 1938 KGVI 20c blue (SG258) with apparently a break in the plate through the ‘E’ of ‘postage’.

Did someone drop the plate at the printers?  They should be more careful.   I understand that this flaw is mentioned in articles on the KGVI small keyplates.  It comes from the Tangri collection, but along with the Mauritius 2.25R above, was not among the flaws identified in the collection.

 

4.   Jamaica 1938 KGVI 2d green, (CW 6B) with the ‘man fishing’ flaw.   

 

On the other hand, this listed flaw is also from the Tangri collection and is identified in the collection.  In fact, there are two copies of the flaw (copy 1 & copy 2) & I have scanned them separately for viewing.  If you look closely, you will see that the flaws appear to be different & that they are two different shades.  One also has an additional flaw at the top of the scan & also on the bottom frame.  I would assume that this means that they are from different printings.   I did not have even one copy previously, so I’ll leave the two to keep each other company. 

 

5.  Tangier 1949, KGVI 10/- Blue (SG275) overprint with damage to the ‘PEE’ of ‘RUPEES”. 

 

I am not very familiar with the flaws in the KGVI Tangier overprints.  I notice that among my collection, they are not very common, but I am not really sure.  Anyway, it is nice to see flaws in the high values.  

 

  1. Bahamas KGVI, 1942, ˝d Green (SG162) with a double impression of the Overprint.

 

  I found this flaw on a multiple that I have of the value. It is at R10/6 and the flaw is best seen in the last two lines of the overprint.   Are these double impressions very common.  It is the first that I have come across on this set.  

 

  1. Hong Kong 1938 KGVI , Three different flaws. The $2.00 Orange & green SG157) with damage to the ‘H’ of ‘Hong’,  The 30c yellow-olive (SG150a) with the stop after ‘Kong’ and the 2c Grey (SG 141a) with the break in the frame below ‘E’.  

The Hong Kong KGVI definitives are a great area for the specialist.  Like Bahamas, Straits Settlements & Leewards/Mauritius it is a local keyplate set with numerous errors and flaws to interest the collector.  Has anyone seen these flaws before and know their position on the sheet.  I am particularly interested in obtaining information about the ‘stop after G’ variety.  It is easily seen with the naked eye. Look out for it whenever you look through any of these definitives while visiting a dealer or a stamp show.    8New Hebrides (French), 1938, 1 Franc, Chiffre Taxe overprint, Lake/pale green (SG FD69) with a stop after the second ‘F’ in ‘Chiffre’.

Does anyone know about this flaw?  We don’t often see flaws in the New Hebrides KGVI sets. 

  1.  Mauritius, 1938, 4c  Deep blue-green (CW3b), a plate block of the 4/48 printing with a broken value tablet at R 2/2, similar to the Leeward 2-1/2d on page 1 of this web site.  All four stamps in the block have noticeable flaws.  Notice that R2/2 also has a break in the lower value tablet frame below the ‘c’.     

For the keyplate specialists.  This is obviously not the same flaw as the Leewards 2-1/2d as the value tablets are not common to both the Mauritius and Leeward small keyplates.  It perhaps represents similar damage to the plate in the same spot.  They make a nice pair.  How did either of these broken tablet flaws get past the scrutiny at the printers.   Incidentally this plate block is part of the Mauritius section of the recently auctioned Tangri KGVI collection that I purchased. 

9. Hong Kong 1938 KGVI , Three different flaws. The $2.00 Orange & green SG157) with damage to the ‘H’ of ‘Hong’,  The 30c yellow-olive (SG150a) with the stop after ‘Kong’ and the 2c Grey (SG 141a) with the break in the frame below ‘E’.  

The Hong Kong KGVI definitives are a great area for the specialist.  Like Bahamas, Straits Settlements & Leewards/Mauritius it is a local keyplate set with numerous errors and flaws to interest the collector.  Has anyone seen these flaws before and know their position on the sheet.  I am particularly interested in obtaining information about the ‘stop after G’ variety.  It is easily seen with the naked eye. Look out for it whenever you look through any of these definitives while visiting a dealer or a stamp show.   

10 . New Hebrides (French), 1938, 1 Franc, Chiffre Taxe overprint, Lake/pale green (SG FD69) with a stop after the second ‘F’ in ‘Chiffre’.

Does anyone know about this flaw?  We don’t often see flaws in the New Hebrides KGVI sets. 

11.Mauritius, 1938, 4c  Deep blue-green (CW3b), a plate block of the 4/48 printing with a broken value tablet at R 2/2, similar to the Leeward 2-1/2d on page 1 of this web site.  All four stamps in the block have noticeable flaws.  Notice that R2/2 also has a break in the lower value tablet frame below the ‘c’.     

For the keyplate specialists.  This is obviously not the same flaw as the Leewards 2-1/2d as the value tablets are not common to both the Mauritius and Leeward small keyplates.  It perhaps represents similar damage to the plate in the same spot.  They make a nice pair.  How did either of these broken tablet flaws get past the scrutiny at the printers.   Incidentally this plate block is part of the Mauritius section of the recently auctioned Tangri KGVI collection that I purchased.  

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