King George V Definitive Issues
Watermarked Multiple Crown CA
Updated - January, 2018
Identifying the Bahamas KGV watermark MCA issues is primarily a matter of determining the difference between the two watermarks, and finding the various color shades. This set was in use from 1912 until it was replaced with the KGV MSCA Set in 1921.
The two watermarks used for the KGV definitive issues were the Multiple Crown CA and Multiple Script CA. All of the stamps in this set are on paper watermarked Multiple Crown CA. I find it is easiest to see the watermarks by placing the stamps against black paper and looking at them under a strong light. If you can't see the watermark under these conditions, feel free to use safe watermark fluid. The various catalogues have good examples of these watermarks, but if you just look for either the difference in the shape of the crown, or the font used. The Multiple Crown CA uses a sans-serif style font. The Multiple Script CA watermark uses script style of font compared to the block letters found in the Multiple Crown CA watermark.
Most of the colors are fairly easily seen against black paper with a strong light. It helps if you have more than a few copies so you can start to see the contrast. The comments made about colors under the stamps are in relation to the other stamps, so it helps if you have more than a few copies when you make your comparisons.
The catalog numbers are from the 1980 Commonwealth Five Reigns Catalogue (CW), 2011 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue (SG) and the 2011 Scott catalog (ST). The description is from the Commonwealth Catalogue. Please contact Bridger & Kay to obtain a copy of this publication.
The images were saved in a larger size and at a higher resolution so you can more easily see the details used in sorting them. Please be patient if it takes a few minutes for this page to load. You should also note that colors shown on the internet are not exact, so use the colors shown in reference to each other rather than as an exact match.
Multiple Crown CA
Multiple Script CA
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| CW G15 - SG 81 - ST 49 1/2d Green |
CW G16 - SG 81a - ST 49 1/2d Yellow-Green |
CW G17 - SG 81 - ST 49 1/2d Deep Green |
| If you have all three shades this will fall between the other two. |
A little lighter color than the green. | The deepest of the green shades. |
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1d Rose-Carmine
1d Deep Carmine
1d Carmine on Bluish Paper
1d Scarlet
of the color options.
be misleading, but it is darker.
than CW G18.
2d Grey
2d Slate
2-1/2d Ultramarine
2-1/2d Deep Dull Blue
slate shade.
than grey.
deeper color.
4d Orange
4d Yellow-Orange
6d Bistre-Brown
6d Malformed E Error
the Yellow-Orange shade.
lighter than the Orange shade.
on the issues from QV to KGV.
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| CW G29 - SG 87 - ST 54 1/ Jet Black & Carmine |
CW G30 - SG 87a - ST 54 1/ Grey-Black & Carmine |
CW G31 - SG 87 - ST 54 1/ Black & Carmine Bluish Paper |
| A deeper black frame than the Grey-Black issue. |
Lighter in comparison to the Jet Black shade. |
The paper seems more Greyish than a true Bluish color. |
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5/ Dull Purple & Deep Blue
5/ Purple & Bright Blue
£1 Light Green & Black
£1 Dull Green & Black
the Blue lettering.
as deep as CW G32.
of the frame color.
deeper than CW G34.
This article was written to help you identify your stamps.
Please feel free to ask a question, or include a correction.
We are always interested in additional shades or more information on these
stamps. Please feel free to let us know if you have anything helpful.