the engraver scratched the inscription "Post Office" by mistake, with the result that his dies were soon discarded. The stock of stamps was quickly used up, for just as the labels were issued, a ball was being arranged at the Government House, and numerous invitations were sent out by post. About twenty-two copies only are known to exist, and most of these have been discovered on the communications which, nearly seventy years ago, summoned the Governor"s friends to the long-forgotten festivities.
The rarest stamp in the world is usually considered to be the one cent (1856) of British Guiana. A single specimen only of this variety is known, the owner being Monsieur de la Renotiere, a celebrated collector of Paris. To say that this treasure is worth its weight in gold is to understate its value by a great deal, for specialists claim that 2,000 would not buy it.
One would suppose that so costly a square inch of paper would have a prepossessing appearance or claims to artistic merit, but the unique specimen is said to be ugly, of a dullish magenta colour, and not in the best of condition. The design is a ship, around which the motto "Damus petimusque vicissim"[3] is written, together with the words "British Guiana, Postage One Cent."
[3] We give and we ask in turn.
Another very rare British Guiana stamp is the sorry-looking two cents of 1851. Having more the appearance of an obliteration stamp than a postal adhesive, this specimen bears the name of the colony and the value, two cents, in a circle. It was printed at short notice by the proprietors of the _Royal Gazette_, and was intended to serve for a new rate of letter-carrying which applied to the town of Georgetown alone.
Apparently the new charge failed to serve its purpose, and was withdrawn after a brief s.p.a.ce of time. Very few copies were made use of, and those which still exist are worth about 600 each.
From the Hawaiian Islands comes another valuable stamp, also of poor design: it is the two cents (1851), black on bluish paper. This adhesive was printed at Honolulu, and served mainly for franking the letters which the American missionaries sent home to their relations in the States. The issue suffered an untimely fate, for no sooner had the stamps been put into circulation than a serious fire devastated the quarter of the town in which the post office was situated and destroyed almost all the stock in hand. A round dozen copies are known to exist.
One reposes in the Tapling Collection at the British Museum, but the authorities have removed it from the show-cases, where it used to lie, and placed it under lock and key in the Cracherode Room. It may be well to add that it can be inspected on request. Its value is probably 800 or more.
If we turn to the United States, many rarities will be found, but none are so much sought after as the issues known as the "Postmaster Stamps."
For the want of a better term these adhesives have been called "locals,"
but they must not be confused with the worthless labels spoken of in Chapter II.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PORTRAITS OF SOME EUROPEAN MONARCHS
1 King George V 2 Albert 3 Nicholas II 4 Peter 5 Victor Emanuel III 6 Christian X 7 Gustav V 8 Manoel 9 Franz Josef I 10 Alfonso XIII 11 Wilhelmina]
Each postmaster in the early years of the States designed and printed his own stamps, and some weird and curious effects were produced as a result of this arrangement. The master at Milbury, then a tiny place in Ma.s.sachusetts, issued a two cents label (1847) which was no exception in the matter of design. Milbury was such a small town that the demand for this two cents stamp was insignificant, and consequently to-day copies are worth quite 300.
Another local stamp--more highly priced on the Continent than in England--is the ten centimes "Double Geneva." This curiosity was issued by the Canton of Geneva before Switzerland possessed a regular supply of adhesives. The stamp is composed of two sections, each bearing the value five centimes, but a narrow strip of paper joins them together and bears the value ten centimes. The idea was that, in its entirety, the stamp would frank a letter anywhere within the Canton of Geneva, but if cut in halves, the postage was only sufficient for letters circulating within any individual commune. A complete "Double Geneva" is worth 80 odd unused, but a halved copy may be procured for a 5 note.
Before concluding this chapter on rarities, some mention must be made of the triangular "Capes." Curiously enough, everybody has heard of these stamps, whether they are collectors or not, and every non-collector who happens to possess a copy nourishes the idea that some day a huge fortune may be realized by selling the valued possession.
Granted that the specimen is not a forgery, which it very well may be, the stamp is perhaps worth no more than five shillings, for this is the market price of the fourpenny blue, 1855--the stamp most frequently met.
There are two valuable triangular "Capes," however, namely, the fourpenny red and the penny blue, both of 1861. The origin of these stamps is as follows: In making up the dies for printing some penny and fourpenny stamps, a block of the penny stamp was accidentally placed in the plate of the fourpenny value, whilst a fourpenny block found its way into the penny plate. As a result of this mistake, one stamp on each sheet which was printed bore the wrong colour for its value. Gibbons catalogues the blue penny at 85, and the vermilion fourpenny at 95.
CHAPTER VI
COMMON STAMPS
Probably the twelve commonest stamps which have ever been issued are the following:
1. Great Britain, Queen, 1d. lilac, 1881.
2. Great Britain, King Edward, 1d. scarlet, 1902.
3. Germany, 1880, 10 pfennig (without the final "e") rose.
4. Germany, 1889, 10 pfennig rose.
5. Austria, 5 kr., Francis Joseph, 1857, red.
6. Austria, 5 kr. rose, 1883, double-headed eagle.
7. Austria, 5 kr., Francis Joseph, 1890, red.
8. Belgium, 10 c., Leopold II., 1885, rose.
9. Belgium, 5 c., arms, 1893, green.
10. France, 15 c., Mercury and Commerce, blue, 1877.
11. France, 5 c., Mercury, etc., green, 1877.
12. Hungary, 5 kr., numeral on envelope, rose, 1875.
From the above list it will be seen that all but three of the adhesives are of the penny value, or its foreign equivalent. The presence of the French three-halfpenny (15 c.) stamp is due to the fact that, for many years, this was the rate charged for letters circulating within the Republic.
Of these stamps the Queen"s head of Great Britain enjoyed the longest life, whilst the two French specimens took second and third place, they having a prosperous run of sixteen years to their credit.
Whilst speaking of the length of currency enjoyed by stamps, it may be well to say that, of all the adhesive specimens issued throughout the world, the large fivepenny green, New South Wales, remained unchanged for a longer period than any other; whilst the Queen Victoria penny embossed envelope, with a light pink stamp--not, of course, an adhesive--was current still longer, being on sale from 1841 to 1902.
Neither of these labels, it should be added, may be reckoned among the commonest varieties.
Of each of the twelve stamps mentioned in the list above prodigious numbers must have been issued. Just how many copies of each were used for franking letters cannot be gauged, but by turning to the postal records published annually by Great Britain some idea may be obtained of their colossal totals. During the year 1913 the General Post Office dealt with--
3,298,300,000 letters.
899,000,000 postcards.
1,079,000,000 halfpenny packets.
202,300,000 newspapers.
130,200,000 parcels.
Of the letters, postcards, and halfpenny packets, it seems fair to a.s.sume that three-quarters were franked by halfpenny and penny stamps in the proportion, probably, of two of the former to one of the latter. In other words, roughly 1,500,000,000 penny stamps and 2,500,000,000 halfpenny stamps were used in Great Britain during the year 1913 alone.
As the life of our British stamps averages a trifle over ten years, we must multiply the huge figures by ten to obtain a rough estimate of the individual copies which are likely to be printed of these two stamps.
Looked at from the point of view of use, the dozen adhesives mentioned above have undoubtedly scored heavily; but if they be examined from the artistic point of view, little can be said in their favour. The lilac head of Victoria, it is true, is a fine dignified stamp; whilst the two French specimens, depicting Mercury and Commerce, are pleasing. The remainder, however, can claim but little respect, either on the score of design or workmanship. Truly the commonest labels seem to be the least beautiful!
What can we do with our acc.u.mulations of valueless stamps? is a question often asked by the young philatelist. A good plan is to collect the various shades of colour and minute variations of design, which are sure to creep into issues that extend over a lengthy period. In this way an interesting a.s.sembly of stamps may be secured which might, in time, prove extremely valuable to a collector who specialized. The Georgian stamps of Great Britain, for instance, though they have only been in use a few years, already show numerous variations in design and colour, and thus lend themselves to such work. The halfpenny is known in two or three shades of green; there are at least two different engravings of the penny; the twopenny varies in shade from dark to light orange; whilst the threepenny may be found in dull purple and also vivid purple.
Another good plan is to make what might be called a type collection, with the aid of the acc.u.mulations of common stamps. Such a collection should comprise (_a_) specimens of all known perforations from eight to sixteen; (_b_) cases of varied perforations--_i.e._, one gauge for the vertical, another for the horizontal sides; (_c_) stamps separated by other means than perforations; (_d_) stamps of every shade of the spectrum, arranged in a line and gradually merging from red through orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo to violet; (_e_) labels printed by different processes; (_f_) labels printed on all the commoner forms of paper; (_g_) stamps mounted face downwards to reveal the watermarks, etc.
A third form of collection, which helps to use up the valueless stamps, is a historical collection. In such a gathering as we have here in mind, it becomes possible to trace out, by means of postage labels, such interesting matters as the genealogical tables of royal families, the changes which certain Governments have undergone, lists of succession, etc.
CHAPTER VII