The KGVI Bermuda £1 Perf 13 issues are an interesting group that are fairly easy to identify. There were three printings that were produced primarily for Revenue purposes to pay the "head" tax for leaving Bermuda.

According to Bob Dickgiesser & Eric Yendall's "King George VI Large Key Type Stamps of Bermuda, Leeward Islands, Nyasaland" (which is the primary reference for most of this article); the head tax was 12/6d from January 20, 1938 until July 25, 1952 when it was raised to £1. No one knows the exact number of £1 used for this purpose. It must have been significant because although the first two printings are fairly common, there are very few copies of the Bright Violet centered issue available. Ironically, it made up 40% of the £1 Perf 13 stamps produced. Where did they all go?

Here is what we do know about this issue, as paraphrased from Mssrs. Dickgiesser and Yendall:

1) There were a total of 156,000 Bermuda £1 Perf 13 stamps printed.

2) There were 128,500 passengers who left Bermuda from July 25, 1952 (when the departure tax became £1) until November 7, 1953 (when the QEII £1 became available).

3) 18,420 £1 stamps were distributed to the Crown Agents for sale or destruction.

4) Some stamps were used for postage (heavy parcels) and for other revenue purposes.

5) Finally, some £1 stamps were destroyed.

Ultimately, we will never know, but that is what makes collecting the stamps of King George VI so interesting. There are many mysteries, and some genuine rarities.

So the real question on the mind of most KGVI Collector's is this: Since CW 26A sells for 6 times CW26 - how do I find one for myself?

If you looked at the scans above, it is fairly obvious it is the one with the deep violet center. All of the stamps are Perf 13. All are on the same colored, chalk surfaced paper. But only the good one has the deep center.

I first heard about CW 26A as a reader of Bermuda High (a publication that was run primarily by George King and Bob Dickgiesser). There was discussion about this stamp, and reference to the deep center. Naturally, I began looking over my stamps and found a copy with a little deeper center which I assumed was CW 26A. Years later, when I was running the KGVI Exchange, Bob Dickgiesser sent me the copy shown above for sale. As soon as I saw it - I bought it. It was obvious that my deeper copy (which is pictured as the 4/52 printing) was just not the right stamp.

Please do not treat the scans as totally accurate in terms of color. Internet Browsers do not clearly show the entire range of colors in the spectrum. The centers of all the stamps appear a little washed out due to the effects of my scanner.

This article is intended to help collectors identify their KGVI Stamps. Please feel free to write with additional information. It will be added to revised versions of this article.

Comments or Questions feel free to write

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