Postage stamps and postal history of Hong Kong, Part Three
HF: The death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and the reign of King Edward V11 saw the release of a new series of definitives, commonly referred to as the ”bald man”’s definitives by local philatelists and stamp collectors. The first set (1903) of stamps featuring Edward V11 consisted of 15 stamps.
1903 Edward V11 one cent stamp Source: Hong Kong Memory Project
A second set (1904) was printed on different paper, followed by a partial set (1907) printed with different colours. These definitives saw a change in spelling for the name of the colony, from Hongkong to Hong Kong. This change was kept in the definitives of King George V but was reverted to Hongkong for the definitives of King George V1. No stamps for King Edward V111 were issued in Hong Kong. Apart from the differences in spelling, the stamp designs also did not agree on the translation of ”cent” in Chinese. The George V1 stamps also see the replacement of ”scrolls” design at the top left and right of the stamp with a crown, along with the portrait of the monarch facing right, instead of the traditional left. In total 23 stamps were issued for George V1.
Between 1 January 1917 and November 1917 and November 1922, Hong Kong stamps were used in Chinese and Japanese treaty ports. Stamps overprinted with China were also used in response to the devaluation of the Chinese dollar. After the treaty ports’ closures in November 1922, the China overprints were used exclusively in the leased territory of Weihaiwei until its closure in 1930.
During the Second World War, the De La Rue factory in London was bombed, leading to the issuing of a series of George V1 definitives printed on thinly-coated paper by Bradbury Wilkinson and Harrison, called the ”rough paper wartime printings”.
The De La Rue Factory, Bunhill Row, London c 1874 Source: delarue.com
HF: I cannot find an image of the bombed De La Rue factory and would grateful if someone could send me one.
Source: Wikipedia
This article was first posted on 19th December 2024.
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