KGV Halfpenny Stationery Stamp

3 possible dies for the Halfpenny KGV "Downey head" STO printings.

"Hand Stop" is the leaved artifice at the bottom of the staff, above the dot.

Postal Stationery of Great Britain (Undated)
T. Brightmore Page 30

Thanks for the further info Rod.

It seems the Downey Head is the most common within the frame with the serpents, and my one is not so common? I certainly can't find a lot of reference to it, although without a reference book and only going by what I can dig up on Google, I'm fairly limited in information.

Here's an unwatermarked image of mine.

Thanks.

Hi paul_g,

Your cut-out is from a "Stamped to Order" (STO) item.

These were stamped by the Post Office on private stationery.

They are sometimes also called "Printed to Private Order" (PTPO) items, for example in the old Higgins & Gage catalogue.

In the designs of this period the STO dies are distinguished by having a full stop after "HALFPENNY".

The dies used in the regular post office items such as Don's reply card don't have this full stop.

Edit: typo corrected - "STO" instead of "CTO" - Thanks Rod!

Thanks very much for clearing that up Nigel.

Thanks Paul, for the new image obviously a Die 3
Postmark: Unreadable, but has come from an "S O" = Sorting Office
eg: "Greenwich S O "




Hi Nigel......."CTO" is that a typo?




Fabulous new info, was not aware of that ! I don't recall Brightmore
having that in his monograph.
Thanks Nigel.

Hi Rod,

Thanks for catching my typo, I've corrected it above.

I believe Paul's stamp may be a "die 4" which is the same as die 3 but has the horizontal shading lines reaching the oval frame.

This is shown for the three-quarter face dies in Collect British Postal Stationery (Huggins & Baker) which is a great book.

I'm ASSUMING that the dies for the different heads match up but I might well be confused here.

Hi Nigel,



I see, I see ! (comparing it to the Brightmore drawing.

Boy, this simple question went rather deep.
Undestandable with a Halfpenny issue at that time.
Must have printed millions.

If I recollect correctly, this also appeared with the KG6 issues of the Malay States

I made an offer on this catalogue on ebay last week,
asking $40
I made an offer of $28 which was declined .

That's the one Rod!

It's a really useful book. It calls itself "A Simplified Listing" but it has plenty of detail for me.

I don't know what the $/£ exchange rate is, but $40 may have been reasonable, judging by the progress of bidding on this -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353735475954

Thanks Geoff !
Wow! $80 $92 Aussie dollars.

I just re-offered twice, finally $35 was accepted (Free shipping) I now have that Catalogue.

I was using Brightmore and Andrew Whitworth monographs rather often,
so I welcome this tome into my family.

I cannot seem to "watch" that ebay auction, in blighty
but I'll revisit after close, 5 bids already

It's always fun to add a new volume…and to make discoveries that never would have been expected.