Page 28 - Sierra Leone to 1961 - The Collection
P. 28
The Sixpence Stamp 1859 to 1895
Marginal Inscriptions
The text in the selvage of the sheets was based on the
contemporary Great Britain sixpence stamps.
The De La Rue current number 140 appears in the top-
left corner of Pane 1 and in the bottom-right corner of
Pane 12; the plate number 1 appears in the opposite
corners of the overall sheet.
The other inscriptions are identical on the top and
bottom halves of the sheet. The text between the
vertical panes reads:
6 Pence 2 Shillings 1 Pound
PRICE per label per Row of 4 per Sheet of 40
This suggests that the intention was to divide the sheets
of 12 panes into vertical pairs prior to sale.
The presence or not of ‘140’ and ‘1’ allows a pane with
full margins from the outside of the sheet to be readily
identified. The perforation guide marks above Pane 2
and below Pane 11 allow them to be distinguished
from Panes 8 and 5 respectively.
Reconstruction of the top half of a
sheet from the tenth printing.
