Identifying the Trinidad King Edward VII issues watermarked Crown CA is a matter of sorting the new colors, identifying the watermarks used, and sorting between ordinary and chalk paper for a few of the values. This set of stamps replaced the Queen Victoria issues of 1896 using the same design but with new colors for all of the values. It was replaced with stamps printed on paper watermarked Multiple Crown CA in 1904.

If you have trouble determining the watermarks on these stamps, try looking at them face down against black paper. The lower value stamps were watermarked Crown CA. The watermark was modified for the higher values which is called CA over Crown. Crown CA watermarks have sans serif letters with a crown that is narrow and straight edged. The Multiple Crown CA watermark has cursive letters and a crown that is more rounded. See the images of the three watermarks below for reference. They are shown as normally seen from the back.

Once you have determined the watermark, the next step for two of the stamp values is to sort them between chalk and ordinary paper. The initial stamps were printed on ordinary paper. The later issues of the 4d and 5/ stamps were printed on chalk coated paper. Although a silver coin will draw a line when rubbed gently against most chalk paper, I find this does not work very well for the KEVII watermarked MCA issues. I look for a shiny coating on the paper when viewed under a good light source. You can also rub your finger across the face of the stamp. It will slide easily over the chalk coated paper, and will feel like it is catching against the ordinary paper. Another test is the quality of the impression. The chalk treatment was used to insure a better quality printing. For the record, the term chalk is not scientifically accurate, but it is the term that has been used in the catalogs.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, definitive sets from this time period were issued very conservatively. I do not have the details on the printings for this set. Please feel free to supply them if you have this information.

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.