Singapore is an island city-state on the South coast of the Malay Peninsula under Johore. British influence began in 1819 when Sir Thomas Raffles negotiated a treaty with Johore that allowed a trading port on the island. Straits Settlements stamps were used until 1948 when this set of stamps was issued.

The 1948 set features the image of King George VI, and was printed on paper watermarked with Multiple Script CA. You can identify stamps from this set by first sorting by perforation and then identifying the various colors that evolved during the five years the set was printed.

The stamps were initially perforated 13.75 x 14 in 1948. Beginning in 1949 a different perforator was used that created the 17.5 x 18 perforation. It is pretty easy to see the difference by comparing the 8c scarlet with the 5c magenta issues. Both stamps were only printed in one perforation. However a good perforation gauge can also be used to separate them.

Many collectors have trouble identifying colors. I find it helps to have a number of stamps to sort rather than just one or two. I place all of the same value stamps on black and then white paper and look at them under a strong light. The color differences tend to stand out when viewed this way. Then it becomes a matter of deciding if a stamp is a darker or paler in comparison to the other stamps in the group you are sorting. When you have isolated the color differences, look at your catalogue reference to see what is listed. Remember there were multiple printings of this set, so there should be some variation in many of the values. You can use the stamps shown below as a reference of what might be found.

The catalog numbers are from the 2008 Commonwealth King George VI Postage Stamp Catalogue (CW) published by Murray Payne, 2013 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue (SG) and the 2011 Scott catalog (ST). You can access the catalogue publishers using the "Links to British Colonial Stamp Sites" at the bottom of this page.

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.

CW 23a - SG 25 - ST 14a
25c Deep Red-Purple &
Orange
Perf 17.5 x 18

This article was written to help you identify your stamps.
Please feel free to ask a question, or include a correction.