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[Illustration]
THE
Stanley Gibbons Philatelic Handbooks.
SAINT VINCENT
WITH
Notes and Publishers’ Prices.
BY
FRANCIS H. NAPIER
AND
E. D. BACON.
STANLEY GIBBONS, LIMITED,
391, STRAND, LONDON.
1895.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE
Stanley Gibbons Philatelic Handbooks.
SAINT VINCENT.
WITH
_NOTES AND PUBLISHERS’ PRICES_.
BY
FRANCIS H. NAPIER
AND
E. D. BACON.
London:
STANLEY GIBBONS, LIMITED,
391, STRAND.
1895.
_391, STRAND, LONDON._
_The large number of collectors, not only in this country, but also on
the other side of the Atlantic, who now make the postal issues of the
various West Indian Colonies of Great Britain the object of their quest,
justifies us in believing that the present volume (the fourth of the
series) will be received with as much interest as that which has been
evinced for the preceding volumes._
_The authors of this Handbook, Lieut. F. H. Napier, R.N., and Mr. E. D.
Bacon, have in preparation a Handbook on the Stamps of Barbados, which we
hope will be ready for publication in the course of the present year._
_The prices quoted will in some cases be found higher than the prices
given in our General Catalogue and Price List, but it must be borne in
mind that those in these Handbooks are specimens of more than average
quality, for it is a fact now generally recognized by all philatelists
that a specimen in exceptional condition commands a higher price than
that which rules for an average specimen._
_We have priced only those varieties which we have in stock in certain
quantities, but it must not be concluded from this that all those
unpriced are of such rarity or value that we are unable to supply them._
_STANLEY GIBBONS, LIMITED._
_May, 1895._
SAINT VINCENT.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
The prehistoric times of Philately may be said to have ceased in 1863,
when the publication of the _Stamp Collector’s Magazine_ and the
_Timbre-Poste_ commenced. The few and meagre catalogues which preceded
them in 1862—such as those of Mount Brown and Dr. Gray in England, Moens
in Belgium, and Potiquet in France—can only be looked upon as archaic
productions, interesting certainly because of their associations, but
of no appreciable utility now-a-days to the student of stamps. It is,
however, worthy of remark that the difference between imperforate and
perforated stamps was then recognized, as they are distinguished from
each other in the catalogues both of Moens and Potiquet; this shows that
even at that early date the true philatelic spirit was already abroad.
When studying countries of which the philatelic histories begin prior
to 1862 or 1863, we are dependent entirely on public notices emanating
from postal authorities, official records, and information derived from
the books of firms who manufactured the stamps, or supplied the plates,
paper &c. for printing them, sources of knowledge not always easy of
access. Luckily for our present purpose, seeing that postage stamps were
not adopted in St. Vincent until 1861, we are not so dependent on these
official or commercial records, having a great number of philatelic
works, such as catalogues and periodicals, to rely upon, all of which we
have carefully searched and collated; at the same time we have received
great assistance from Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., Limited, the printers
of the stamps included under the head of Section I. This Company have
been good enough to furnish us with a complete list of every stamp sent
out by them to the Island, a copy of which we give in Appendix D, and we
acknowledge with thanks our indebtedness to the Managing Director and
Secretary, for the valuable material they have so considerately placed
at our disposal, which has enabled us to satisfactorily clear up several
points that before were more or less obscure. It will also be seen that
the list helps in no small degree to form what we hope may be considered
a fairly complete history of the stamps of this Island.
Our method of designating and arranging the perforations of the stamps
supplied to the Colony by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co. from 1861
to 1882 is a novel one, but we think it will remove the difficulty
that has hitherto been felt in classifying the perforations, as it
has always seemed impossible to assign any limit to the number of
so-called compounds, which, if we are to believe some recently-published
catalogues, must indeed be infinite, and incapable of any classification
whatsoever. For instance, in one of these catalogues, five simple and
seven compound perforations are given to the stamps of 1861; to those of
1866 seven simple and five compound; to those of 1869 four simple and
five compound; and so on through later issues. On the other hand, another
catalogue, also of recent date, is content to make the general statement
that the issues up to 1880 are perforated 11½ to 15, simple and compound.
This is at first sight an apparently innocent statement, but in reality
it opens up an appalling perspective of interminable lists. We think we
shall have justly earned the gratitude of the many philatelists who (as
far as it is compatible with strict accuracy) desire above all things
simplicity of arrangement, in having banished from the lists all mention
of these fanciful perforations, whether simple or compound. The fact is
that in the St. Vincent stamps printed by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co.,
with the exception of one (that is the yellow-green Six Pence of 1862),
there are only two simple perforations and one compound, and although
this last makes its appearance very frequently, it is always exactly the
same in every issue in which it occurs. No doubt the confusion which
has arisen has been caused by the too zealous and indiscriminate use of
a perforation gauge limited to two centimetres, and applied to single
specimens of stamps, which has led true compounds to be confounded
with those apparent deviations from the normal gauge arising from
irregularities in the spacing of the holes, irregularities existing in
both of the two machines used for these stamps by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon
& Co., but in a very much greater degree in one of them than in the other.
The whole point of our argument lies in this, that to separate
perforations, it is only necessary to differentiate between those
produced by distinct machines, and that there is no object in collecting
the same stamp over and over again merely because the perforation varies
within a space of 2 centimetres, _if_ it can be shewn that the stamps
were all perforated by one and the same machine. Hitherto it has been
the great aim of collectors and writers to try and gather together every
variety of perforation that can be found on a stamp of any one particular
issue—this quite regardless of the cause from which these varieties
arise. Our method obviously removes many difficulties, and greatly
simplifies the arrangement of all stamps that have been perforated by
machines in which the pins were irregularly spaced. We further claim
that our system is based upon strictly scientific lines, and that it is
applicable, not only to St. Vincent, but to the other British Colonies
whose stamps were printed and perforated by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co.,
although it must be borne in mind that in some of these there were other
machines used, besides those we describe for St. Vincent.
As in the Notes we go fully into all details of perforation, it is not
now necessary to dwell further upon this point; we only wish to insist
on the importance of the subject, as it was the uncertainty hitherto
regarding it that first induced us to particularly examine the stamps
of St. Vincent, and that now leads us to make public the results of our
investigations.
In order to make the list of the varieties of perforation as complete
as possible, we have during the last three years examined a very large
number of St. Vincent stamps, so many that we think it is highly unlikely
there still remains anything to be added to the tables of perforations
(Appendices B and C), and this in spite of the gaps that will be seen to
exist in them.
The history of the use of distinctive postage stamps in St. Vincent
dates from May 1st, 1860, when the Colonial Authorities took over from
the Imperial Government the entire management of the Post Office of the
Island, which, like the posts of many of the other British West Indies,
had up to that date been administered by the Postmaster-General of the
United Kingdom. The Local Legislature of the Island thereupon passed
an Ordinance, known as the “Post Office Act,” which became law on June
14th, 1860. This Act, amongst other things, provided for the appointment
of a Colonial Postmaster, a General Post Office for the Island, rates
of postage, and the issue of postage stamps. As many of the clauses of
the Ordinance possess a good deal of interest for Philatelists, we give,
in Appendix A, a copy of those which, from a collector’s point of view,
may be considered the more important ones. After the passing of the Act
postage stamps were ordered from England, and, as we shall afterwards
see, a supply was despatched to the Island on March 27th, 1861. The
stamps were no doubt put into use immediately on their arrival, as a
statement in the _Blue Book_ of the Colony for 1861 gives the amount
received for postage during that year as £158 16s. 5d., as against £78
5s. 4d. for 1860, and the increase is accounted for by the “Sale of
Postage Stamps which were obtained in 1861.” This fixes with certainty
the date of the first issue, but when we commenced to study those of the
later issues, and attempted to make a proper chronological list, we found
there were many discrepancies in the published catalogues we consulted;
from them we turned to contemporary notices in the pages of the
_Timbre-Poste_, the _Stamp Collector’s Magazine_, the _Philatelist_, the
_Philatelic Record_, and other less celebrated periodicals, in hopes of
removing our difficulties. Unfortunately Philately was decidedly under a
cloud from the middle to near the end of the seventies, and this is just
the time during which a number of issues took place in St. Vincent. The
_Stamp Collectors Magazine_ ceased with 1874, the _Philatelist_, never
a good source of _original_ information, stopped in 1876, and after that
the _Timbre-Poste_ alone filled the breach until the _Philatelic Record_
made its appearance in 1879. It is with regard to this important subject
of dates that Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co.’s list has been so extremely
useful, as we have thereby been enabled to check the notices scattered
through the pages of the various philatelic works we have mentioned. We
therefore believe that the dates of issue given by us will be found to be
more accurate than those in any previous publication.
With regard to describing the colours of the stamps, we have met with
the usual difficulty of at once satisfying our own opinions, and those
of various friends whom we have occasionally questioned as to what they
would call the colour of such or such a stamp, and we do not think
we have got out of the difficulty either better or worse than other
compilers of catalogues usually do, the differences of opinion we have
met with, as to the proper names by which to call certain shades, being
generally hopelessly irreconcilable. No reference to other works is of
much use; for instance, we find the one shilling of 1874 called “dirty
rose colour” in the _Stamp Collector’s Magazine_, “dull rose-pink” in
the _Philatelist_, “lilac-rose” in the London Society’s list, “pink”
by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., “_rose sale_” in Moens’ Catalogue,
and “lake” in Messrs. Stanley Gibbons & Co.’s price list. It must be
confessed that all this is very confusing, and we are afraid that
collectors will always find the task of distinguishing between the
earlier red shillings of St. Vincent rather a difficult one. Fortunately
there are not many cases in this Colony where the identification of a
particular stamp depends on the description of its colour alone, as we
are generally helped to the desired conclusion either by the watermark or
the perforation.
We think that the two plates of autotype illustrations accompanying this
work will be found something more than mere embellishments, and will be
of real use to our readers as a means of discriminating between genuine
and false surcharges, and also of distinguishing the various perforations
alluded to in our text.
There are many interesting questions connected with the perforating
machines used by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., as well as with the
papers, unwatermarked and watermarked, employed by them for the numerous
British Colonies to which they supplied stamps; but in this handbook
we do not propose to enter into these questions more fully than is
absolutely necessary for elucidating our subject. We intend to do so at
greater length in a handbook of the stamps of Barbados, now in course of
preparation. This country is much more complex than St. Vincent, both in
its watermarks and perforations, and a thorough knowledge of the stamps
of the latter Colony will prove to be of the greatest assistance when the
more difficult subject of Barbados comes to be studied.
The stamps of St. Vincent are remarkable, inasmuch as this is the only
British Colony that still continues to print the whole of its stamps from
line-engraved plates. This is certainly noteworthy when we bear in mind
that since the year 1883 the stamps have been printed by Messrs. De La
Rue & Co., whose name is generally associated with surface-printed stamps.
The change of printers, although the same plates have always been
employed, marks such a distinct epoch in the history of the stamps,
that we have thought it advisable to place those furnished by the two
different firms under separate headings, and so break up the Reference
List into two parts, under the nomenclature of Sections I. and II.
It will be observed that our lists contain no mention whatever of postal
fiscals. Such stamps do not exist in St. Vincent, although M. Moens and
other writers have chronicled them. All postmarked specimens that may be
met with must have either been passed through the post by inadvertence,
or been obliterated by favour.
In concluding these remarks we beg to acknowledge with thanks the
kindness of Mr. T. Maycock, Mr. M. Giwelb, and Mr. W. H. Peckitt, who
have lent us stamps for illustration, and of Messrs. Whitfield King &
Co., who sent us for examination a great number of entire sheets of the
De La Rue printings, which have been of the greatest assistance to us in
writing the notes to Section II. of this Handbook.
REFERENCE LIST.
SECTION I.
_Stamps printed and perforated by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., London,
from 1861 to 1881 inclusive._
Issue 1.
_May 1861._
=Type= Shape, upright rectangular—22¼ mm.
× 19¼ mm. Diademed head of Queen to left
on engine-turned background. Straight
labels above and below, with “St. Vincent”
and value in words in white block capitals
on solid background.
Illustration No. 1.
=Paper= White wove, inclined to greyish, rather
rough, and varying considerably in
thickness.
=Watermark= None.
=Gum= Yellowish.
=Perforation= A.[1]
Illustrations 16 and 17.
[1] This is a roughly punctured, slightly irregular perforation, varying
from 14 to 15, but generally about 14½. See Note to Section I.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=1= | 1d., bright rose-red | 5 0 | 2 6
| | |
=2= | 6d., blue-green | 12 6 | 3 0
Variety. Imperforate vertically.
=2_a_= | 6d., blue-green | |
Variety. With double perforation horizontally.
=3= | 1d., bright rose-red | |
Varieties. Imperforate.
=4= | 1d., bright rose-red | |
| | |
=5= | 6d., blue-green | |
Issue 2.
_1862._
=Type and Paper= As in Issue 1.
=Watermark= None.
=Gum= Yellowish.
=Perforation= C.[2]
Illustrations Nos. 13 and 14.
[2] This is a clean cut, slightly irregular perforation, generally 15½,
sometimes 15, and more rarely 14½. See Note to Issue 2.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=6= | 6d., yellow-green | | 10 0
Issue 3.
_1863-1866._
=Type and Paper= As in Issue 1.
=Watermark= None.
=Gum= Yellowish to yellow-brown.
=Perforation= [3]B and B × A.[4]
Illustrations Nos. 18, 19, and 20.
[3] This is a clean cut, very irregular perforation, varying from 11 to
nearly 13. See Note to Section I.
[4] Throughout this handbook, in describing perforations made by two
machines, the first given measurement denotes the horizontal gauge, and
the second the vertical.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
(i.) PERFORATED B.
=7= | 1d., bright rose-red | 5 0 | 2 6
| | |
=8= | 6d., blue-green | 20 0 | 5 0
(ii.) PERFORATED B × A.
=9= | 1d., bright rose-red | |
Issue 4.
_August 1866._
=Type and Paper= As in Issue 1.
=Watermark= None.
=Gum= Yellowish, and white.
=Perforation= A, B, and B × A.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
(i.) PERFORATED A.
=10= | 1s., dark slate-grey | | 20 0
| | |
=11= | 1s., greyish-purple | |
(ii.) PERFORATED B.
=12= | 4d., deep bright blue | 17 6 | 12 6
(iii.) PERFORATED B × A.
=13= | 1s., dark slate-grey | 45 0 | 17 6
| | |
=14= | 1s., greyish-purple | |
Issue 5.
_April 1869._
=Type and Paper= As in Issue 1.
=Watermark= None.
=Gum= Yellowish and white.
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=15= | 1s., indigo | 65 0 | 25 0
Issue 6.
_September 1869._
=Type and Paper= As in Issue 1.
=Watermark= None.
=Gum= Yellowish.
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=16= | 4d., deep bright yellow | 60 0 | 35 0
| | |
=17= | 1s., bright brown | 65 0 | 22 6
Issue 7.
_June 1871._
=Type= As in Issue 1.
=Paper= White wove, varying considerably in
thickness.
=Watermark= A six-pointed Star, measuring 13 mm.
from point to point across the Star;
generally regular, but sometimes varying
a little in the shape of the rays.
=Gum= Yellowish, and white.
=Perforation= A and B × A.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
(i.) PERFORATED A.
=18= | 1d., black | 2 6 | 0 9
| | |
=19= | 6d., dull blue-green | |
| | |
=20= | 6d., dark blue-green | 20 0 | 6 0
Variety. Imperforate vertically.
=21= | 1d., black | |
(ii.) PERFORATED B × A.
=22= | 1d., black | 20 0 | 4 0
Issue 8.
_June 1872._
=Type= As in Issue 1.
=Paper and Watermark= As in Issue 7.
=Gum= Yellowish to brownish-yellow.
=Perforation= B and B × A.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
(i.) PERFORATED B.
=23= | 1s., bright rose-red | | 17 6
| | |
=24= | 1s., deep rose-red | | 17 6
| | |
=25= | 1s., dull red | | 17 6
(ii.) PERFORATED B × A.
=26= | 1s., bright rose-red | |
| | |
=27= | 1s., deep rose-red (?) | |
| | |
=28= | 1s., dull red (?) | |
Issue 9.
_Early in 1874._
=Type= As in Issue 1.
=Paper and Watermark= As in Issue 7.
=Gum= Yellowish to brownish-yellow.
=Perforation= B and B × A.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
(i.) PERFORATED B.
=29= | 1s., pale violet-rose | |
(ii.) PERFORATED B × A.
=30= | 1s., pale violet-rose | | 16 0
Issue 10.
_1875._
=Type= As in Issue 1.
=Paper and Watermark= As in Issue 8, but the paper is usually
strongly toned by the gum.
=Gum= Yellow-brown.
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=31= | 1s., dark claret | 70 0 | 17 6
Issue 11.
_February 1877._
=Type= As in Issue 1.
=Paper and Watermark= As in Issue 7.
=Gum= Yellowish, and white.
=Perforation= A, B, and B x A.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
(i.) PERFORATED A.
=32= | 6d., pale yellow-green (October 1878) | 15 0 |
(ii.) PERFORATED B.
=33= | 1s., bright vermilion-red (June 1880) | 30 0 | 10 0
(iii.) PERFORATED B × A.
=34= | 6d., pale yellow-green (February 1877) | 15 0 | 5 6
| | |
=35= | 1s., bright vermilion-red ( ” ” ) | 40 0 | 12 0
Issue 12.
_July 1877._
=Type= As in Issue 1.
=Paper and Watermark= As in Issue 7.
=Gum= Yellow-brown to white.
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=36= | 4d., dark deep blue | | 40 0
Issue 13.
_May 1880._
=Type= A provisional stamp of One Penny made
locally by surcharging “d./1” twice
vertically, in red, on the Six Pence,
dark blue-green, of Issue 7, the two
halves of this stamp being divided
vertically by a line of perforation
gauging 12. Illustration No. 2.
=Paper, Watermark, and Gum= As in Issue 7.
=Perforation= A, and 12 on one side.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=37= | “1d.,” in red, on right half of 6d., dark | |
| blue-green | 70 0 | 70 0
| | |
=38= | “1d.,” in red, on left half of 6d., dark | |
| blue-green | 70 0 | 70 0
Variety. With additional line of the local perforation.
=39= | “1d.,” in red, on right half of 6d., dark | |
| blue-green | |
Issue 14.
_June 1880._
=Types= As in Issue 1 for 1d. and 6d.
New type for 5s. Shape, large upright
rectangular—30 mm. × 25½ mm. Royal Crown
over white scroll, inscribed “Pax et
Justitia,” in small coloured block
capitals, below which are allegorical
figures, the whole contained in white
oval band, 2 mm. in width. The band is
inscribed ST. VINCENT above, and FIVE
SHILLINGS below, in coloured block
capitals; and the spandrels and background
are composed of engine-turning.
Illustration No. 8.
=Paper, Watermark, and Gum= As in Issue 7.
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=40= | 1d., pale grey-green | 10 0 | 2 0
| | |
=41= | 6d., bright yellow-green | 60 0 | 12 6
| | |
=42= | 5s., deep rose-red | £8 10 |
Issue 15.
_September 1881._
=Type= A provisional stamp of One Halfpenny,
made locally by surcharging “d/½” twice
vertically, in red, on the Six Pence,
bright yellow-green, of Issue 14, the
two halves of this stamp being divided
vertically by a line of perforation
gauging 12. The figure “1” of the fraction
has a curved serif. Illustration No. 3.
=Paper, Watermark, and Gum= As in Issue 14.
=Perforation= B, and 12 on one side.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=43= | “½d,” in red, on right half of 6d., bright | |
| yellow-green | 30 0 |
| | |
=44= | “½d.,” in red, on left half of 6d., bright | |
| yellow-green | 30 0 |
Variety. Figure “1” of fraction has a straight serif.
=45= | “½d.,” in red, on half of 6d., bright | |
| yellow-green | 80 0 |
Issue 16.
_November 1881._
=Type= A provisional stamp of Four Pence, made
locally by surcharging “4d.,” in black, on
the One Shilling, bright vermilion-red,
of Issue 11. The original values are
obliterated by black bars printed across
the sheet. Illustration No. 4.
=Paper, Watermark, and Gum= As in Issue 11.
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=46= | “4d.,” in black, on 1s., bright | |
| vermilion-red. | |
Issue 17.
_December 1881._
=Type= A provisional stamp of One Penny, made
locally by surcharging “One Penny,” in
black, on the Six Pence, bright
yellow-green, of Issue 14. The original
values are obliterated by black bars
printed across the sheet. Illustration
No. 6.
=Paper, Watermark, and Gum= As in Issue 14
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=47= |“One Penny,” in black, on 6d., bright | |
| yellow-green | 60 0 | 60 0
Issue 18.
_December 1881._
=Types= As in Issue 1 for 1d. and 4d. New
type for ½d. Shape, small upright
rectangular—20 mm. × 17 mm. Diademed
head of Queen to left on engine-turned
background. Straight labels above and
below, with ST. VINCENT and HALFPENNY in
white block capitals on background of
solid colour. Illustration No. 5.
=Paper and Watermark= As in Issue 7.
=Gum= White.
=Perforation= B.
Unused. Used.
s. d. s. d.
=48= | ½d., orange-yellow | 0 9 | 2 0
| | |
=49= | 1d., drab | | 1 0
| | |
=50= | 4d., bright ultramarine | | 12 6