Great Britain 1912 1½d ‘PENCF’ variety
The 1½d brown stamps of the 1912-24 Watermark Royal Cypher issue are a rich area for specialist attention.
The SG Specialised catalogue lists 16 different distinct shades, a range of watermark varieties (including a totally missing watermark), coil joins, various Specimen & Cancelled overprints and a host of constant plate flaws; the most famous being the broken bottom arm of the ‘E’ of ‘PENCE’, thus creating the sought- after ‘PENCF’ error.
The ‘PENCF’ error is the best known of the King George V definitive plate flaws and occurs at Row 15/12 on two plates only; these can be distinguished by a thin rule line in the right hand sheet margin (plate 12) and a thicker rule line for the other plate (plate 29). The printer subsequently repaired the error on 18 March 1921, resulting in the even scarcer ‘PENCE repaired’ variety, which is often overlooked by collectors and is actually worth more than its famous predecessor!
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As a child I would spend several weeks during the Summer holidays in Bournemouth, a large and reasonably well- heeled seaside town on the south coast of England.
A few weeks ago an experienced philatelist admitted to problems he was having in identifying the chalky paper versions of King George 6th Leeward Island stamps.
Sometimes discovering philatelic errors is easy, particularly when examples have been identified and are accurately described.