Help Me Understand Stanley Gibbons Numbers (D046)

I have collected stamps since Elementary school almost exclusively United States Stamps so I am mostly familiar with the Scott catalogs.

My Father died and I inherited his collection and the scope is overwhelming. My Father collected some British stamps and I found an inventory list with stamps labeled as "SG#", which I assume means Stanley Gibbons Number. Then there are numbers beginning with a D and I would like to understand what the D means.

For example:

D046 1/2d Orange
D002 1d Carmine

Any help is appreciated.

Yes, those two are SG numbers.

D means "postage due". D46 is the ½d value from the 1955-57 set with watermark St Edward's crown (sideways). D2 is the 1d value from the first issue of postage due stamps in 1914 with watermark simple cypher (sideways).

My printed catalogue gives the numbers as I have typed them, without the leading zeroes.

Phil

They will look like these:

Perfect, thanks... Now I know what I am looking for.

Those are beautiful examples of the stamps. I have always been partial to stamps with a plate in the selvage.

These are controls, not plates. The number stands for the year in which the stamps were printed. The letter stands for an accounting period. Up to the late 1930s, the accounting year was split in two.

For this particular set, it allows to identify the printer of the stamps.

Interesting, thanks for the clarification on what those things on the bottom of the stamps are....

A used SG catalog from ebay can be had super-cheap.