Identifying the Trinidad King Edward VII issues watermarked Multiple Crown CA is a matter of identifying the watermark, sorting between ordinary and chalk paper for a few of the values, identifying paper colors for the 1/ stamps, and noticing the new design differences for the three lower values. This set of stamps replaced the King Edward 1901 issues that were on paper watermarked Crown CA. It was replaced by the Trinidad & Tobago issues beginning in 1913.

If you have trouble determining the watermarks on these stamps, try looking at them face down against black paper. All of the stamps in this set were watermarked Multiple Crown CA. 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 is to sort them between chalk and ordinary paper. Although many of the stamps were printed on chalk paper, only the 1/2d and 1d values were printed on both kinds of 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.

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