The London Prints

London Prints

1855

1d Dull Carmine

Without doubt, the 1d Dull Carmine is the quintessential New Zealand stamp. Not only NZ’s first stamp, but a stamp of beauty and rarity in any condition. No NZ collection is complete without a copy.

The carmine colour of the One Penny London print is quite distinctive. Although it may be found in various depths of shade, the basic colour is carmine, rather deep, but generally speaking, reddish. The 'dullness' as mentioned in the title of this presentation and most catalogues, is represented by a 'rich' shade similar to a deep 'dried blood' colour.

All copies of the London 1d value were printed on white paper. No copies were printed on paper with bluete condition like the 2d and 1/- London prints described below. In addition, the paper of stamps that have been treated for stains or rust often appears whiter than that of untreated stamps.

From a collector's point of view, the 1d London print offers a number of challenges. First, although the number printed was 12,000, very few mint or unused copies are in existence today. It is estimated that less than 20 presentable copies in mint condition exist and the word 'mint' is used in this context rather loosely, for it would include all copies in reasonable unused appearance.

Second, any used copy is scarce enough and fetches a healthy price so having any copy is way better than no copy at all.

Third, copies on cover are very scarce with only three known covers with pairs in existence.

The Collection

'The Collection' is fortunate to have three copies, all used. The left stamp below looks unused but if you look carefully you can see a hint of cancellation, which is confirmed by the certificate beneath it. Whether someone has tried to 'clean' the stamp or it was cancelled without much ink - nobody knows.

The first 1d dull carmine in 'The Collection' was the 'repaired' stamp on the right with the Campbell Patterson note below. Repaired or not, any 1d dull carmine is a good one if it's in your collection!

1855 1d Dull Carmine used - SG 1*

1855 1d Dull Carmine used - SG 1*

1855 1d Dull Carmine used - SG 1*

Back of 1855 1d Dull Carmine used - SG 1 - showing white paper

White Paper

The 1d dull carmine is printed on a white paper with large star watermark. It can at times be confused with the Davies prints, especially SG 35, but with experience (and comparison to authentic copies) the dullness aspect becomes obvious. The white paper is significant as it is very different ot the other two London print denominations below. The above image is the back of the left hand stamp.

London Prints

1855

2d Dull Blue

The 2d Dull Blue was the most used of the London Prints. It was in fact the rate of almost all mail being sent within or out of NZ for some time. 66,000 copies of the 2d were received in NZ, although many of these were thought destroyed in the Wellington Post Office fire on 27 April 1856.

The 2d blue London print is perhaps the most easily confused of the London printings. Some of the early New Zealand printings on 'star' watermarked paper in shades of blue approach the shade used by Perkins, Bacon for the London prints. Nevertheless, these lack the blueing found on the London prints. Viewed from the back, the stamps show a chemical blueing where the ink on the front is most dense, and less where the ink is not so concentrated.

An explanation of the cause of the blueing of the paper (sometimes called bleute paper), was submitted by Mr. Benjamin Goodfellow in The London Philatelist in 1928.

“The bleute appearance is the result of the chemical reaction of the ferric oxide which was undoubtedly present in some (but not all) of the early pigments used by Perkins, Bacon with yellow prussiate of potash (ferrocyanide of potassium) which was contained in the gelatine or sizing material used in the manufacture of some of earlier supplies of star watermarked paper, although apparently not used in the case of later supplies. The resultant discolouration of the paper was usually in a greenish tone of blue, and the damping of the paper for the purpose of assisting the printing operation not only facilitated the chemical reaction, but also was necessary for its occurrence.”

Both the blue ink used for the London printed 2d and the green ink used for the London printed 1/- (which was obtained by mixing a yellow pigment with blue) contained ferric oxide, but the carmine ink used for the London printed 1d contained none, which can be seen on 1d display page).

The 2d was the basic rate for letters sent almost anywhere. Even overseas mail at this stage was only paid to the point of departure whereby the receiver would pay the international cost when delivered. Therefore, 2d stamps were popular. Very popular. 66,000 were delivered to NZ compared to the 12,000 1d and the 8,000 1/-.

While this value is the most common of the three London printed values in unused condition it is rare; very few copies are known of the 2d in perfect mint condition. Used copies vary considerably in quality and in ordinary condition the 2d is reasonably available, but few used copies in superb condition are known.

Unused multiples are of great rarity, with only a unique pair known. Used pairs are more common than in the 1d value. A census of covers from the first year of use of the London prints yields 56 covers or examples on piece of the 2d London print, along with a few Richardson printings on blue paper. The 2d London print on piece with an early date stamp offers a positive indication of the identity of the stamp.

The Collection

'The Collection' has a reasonable sample of the 1855 dull blue SG 2, including a mint copy, multiple copies with different obliterator numbers and a copy on cover. The majority of these were sourced from Klaus Moller's collection when he sold up recently in early 2024.

1855 2d dull blue unused*

1855 2d dull blue used*

Back of 1855 2d dull blue used showing 'bluete'*

Because of this, copies of the stamp with various ‘obliterator’ cancellations are more available than the other denominations – although many are very scarce. Should you find a copy of SG 2 with a different obliterator cancel to what I'm displaying, let me know! It's good to know what exists.

'1' Auckland*

'2' Russell*

'6/9' New Plymouth*

'7' Wellington*

(only known copy)

'10' Wellington*

'11' Ahuriri (Napier)*

'12' Wanganui (Petre)* on piece

'14' Nelson

'16' Port Victoria*

(lyttleton)

'17' Christchurch*

'18' Dunedin*

Ship letter, Wellington (JA 26 56) to Sydney (FE 21 56 date stamp on reverse). Perkins, Bacon ‘10’ obliterator. Colonial rate 2d per ½ oz. pre-payment mandatory. Earliest recorded use from Wellington to Australia.

London Prints

1855

1/- Pale Yellow-Green

The green colour shade of the 1/- London printing is a delicate yellow green, not noticeably pale. The beauty of the engraving is particularly well shown in this London print value as the impression is a clean, soft one with remarkable clarity in every position of the design. Coupled with this fineness of detail is the accompanying blueing of the paper, which is necessary to confirm a genuine one shilling London print. 8,000 copies of the 1/- Pale Yellow Green were delivered to NZ.

1855 1/- Pale yellow-green London print used

1855 1/- Pale yellow-green London print used

1855 1/- Pale yellow-green London print used back showing 'Bluete' effect.

As with the 2d the 1/- value was once thought to occur with 'white paper varieties'. It is safe to assume, according to current knowledge of this issue, that unless there is some blueing of the paper, the 1/- stamp being studied is not a genuine London print.

The impressions of the 1/- in the plate were generally laid down very closely together. In several instances stamps are so close that it is virtually impossible to separate them without causing damage to one or both of adjacent stamps. It is because of this that large-margined copies of the 1/- are very rare.

Although fewer copies of the London 1/- were printed, a greater proportion of them appear to have been saved because of their use on mail to overseas countries, particularly England. Local mail had a greater tendency to be destroyed whereas mail received from far-away places, tended to be kept in attics and similar places for sentimental reasons or were on heavy envelopes from legal archives.

1855/57: Chalon 1 s. pale yellow-green on blued paper, wmk. Large Star, a fine example of fresh colour with ample to very large margins all round, used on second sheet of 1857 entire letter from New Plymouth to London, tied by "9" numeral obliterator in black. Reverse with "NEW PLYMOUTH / NEW ZEALAND" despatch cds (Dec 5) and London arrival in red (April 6, 1858). The letter contained a solicitor's document for signature and presumably weighed over 1 ounce, however there is no indication on the cover of a further removed adhesive. Provenance: Collection Joseph Hackmey FRPSL.

Richardson Prints on Blue Paper