Page 43 - Sierra Leone to 1961 - The Collection
P. 43
The First Victorian Keyplate 1872 to 1896
1884 UPU Specimens. Crown CA Watermark.
The UPU started the exchange between member countries in 1879. On 18 June 1884 Sierra Leone became
the first British Colony to contribute stamps overprinted SPECIMEN. The number of copies distributed by
the UPU varied, with one copy sent for each of the members in 1884 and three from 1885 to 1891.
. . . .
The majority of the specimens were overprinted Type D11 and Perf 14.
. . . .
A few examples are overprinted Type D11 and Perf 12. Only three sets are recorded.
. .
Type D12, Perf 14 Type D11, Perf 14
Inverted watermark.
Only recorded example
The initial printing of the ½d, 1d, 2d and 4d UPU standard colours was on 15 May 1884. When 100 copies
overprinted SPECIMEN were needed the next month to send to the UPU, the printers had limited stock and
were forced to use whatever stamps were to hand. Items that had probably been trial printings were used.
Overprint Type D11 and the slightly thicker Type D12 exist, and both Perf 12 and 14 can be found.
