Identifying stamps from the Montserrat King Edward VII issues watermarked Crown CA is simply a matter of sorting between the two watermark options: Crown CA and Multiple Crown CA (MCA). The 5/ issue is watermarked Crown CC, but it is included with this issue because of the date it was issued. The stamps printed on paper watermarked Crown CA were initially issued beginning in 1903 until they were replaced by the new Multiple Crown CA watermarked paper beginning in 1904.

If you have trouble determining the watermarks, try looking at them face down against black paper. The stamps watermarked Crown CA will always be centered fairly well on the stamp, and the design does not repeat, so even if you can not see the entire watermark, the CA will always be toward the bottom, instead of letters to the sides for the watermark Multiple Crown CA. See the images of the two watermarks below for reference. They are shown as normally seen from the back.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, definitive sets from this time period were issued very conservatively. I do not have the printing details, but it would be safe to assume the 5/ issue was printed in a quantity of less than 5,000 based on other issues of this time period.

The catalog numbers are from the 1980 Commonwealth Five Reigns Catalogue (CW), 2013 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. You can access the other 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.

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