Trinidad & Tobago
King George V
1922 Badge of the Colony Set

Updated - December, 2017
 

Identifying the Trinidad & Tobago King George V 1922 Badge of the Colony Set issues is a matter of sorting a few stamps for the watermark, and identifying the color shades for many of the values.

If you have trouble determining the watermarks on these stamps, try looking at them face down against black paper. The stamps watermarked Multiple Crown CA will have sans serif letters with a crown that is narrow and straight edged. The Multiple Script CA watermark has cursive letters and a crown that is more rounded. See the images of the two 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 the colors. Color shades can be difficult to sort, especially when you only have a couple of stamps to compare. They typically occur when the stamps are printed after the initial printing. Today we have computer color matching, but during this time it was done by hand with components that might differ from the original ink formula. I like to place the stamps against black and then white paper and view them under a strong light. You really need to look at the back of the stamps to see the paper colors clearly. Please see these web site to view the various King George V era 4d yellow backs. The images shown attempt to show the colors, but they do not show them as well as viewing the stamps in person. So use the images as relative indicators.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, definitive sets from this time period were issued very conservatively. I do not have the print quantities for these issues, but typical sets from other Colonies at this time were printed in quantities of less than 30,000 for the higher values during this time period. Please feel free to supply the print quantities if you have them.

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 and dates are 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.

       
   
  Watermark
Multiple Crown CA
Watermark
Multiple Script CA
 
CW G71 - SG 218 - ST 21
1/2d Green
CW G72 - SG 218 - ST 21
1/2d Bright Green
CW G73 - SG 218 - ST 21
1/2d Yellow-Green
     
CW G74 - SG 219 - ST 22
1d Brown
CW G75 - SG 219 - ST 22
1d Dark Brown
CW G76 - SG 220 - ST 23
1-1/2d Rose
     
CW G77 - SG 220 - ST 23
1-1/2d Rose-Red
CW G78 - SG 220b - ST 23
1-1/2d Scarlet
CW G79 - SG 222 - ST 24
2d Grey
     
CW G80 - SG 222 - ST 24
2d Deep Grey
CW G81 - SG 222 - ST 24
2d Pale Grey
CW G82 - SG 223 - ST 25
3d Blue
     
CW G83 - SG 223 - ST 25
3d Royal Blue
CW G84 - SG 223 - ST 25
3d Pale Blue
CW G68 - SG 216 - ST 32
4d Black & Red
Pale Yellow Paper
Watermark Multiple Crown CA
     
CW G85 - SG 224 - ST 26
4d Grey & Carmine
Yellow Paper
Watermark Multiple Script CA
CW G86 - SG 224 - ST 26
4d Jet-Black & Carmine
Pale Yellow Paper
Watermark Multiple Script CA
CW G87 - SG 224 - ST 26
4d Grey & Scarlet
Pale Yellow Paper
Watermark Multiple Script CA
     
CW G88 - SG 225 - ST 27
6d Dull Purple & Purple
CW G89 - SG 225 - ST 27
6d Dull Purple & Bright Purple
CW G90 - SG 226 - ST 28
6d Green & Red
Emerald Paper
     
CW G91 - SG 226 - ST 28
6d Green & Brick-Red
Emerald Paper
CW G69 - SG 217 - ST 33
1/ Black
Emerald Paper
Watermark Multiple Crown CA
CW G70 - SG 217 - ST 33
1/ Grey & Black
Emerald Paper
Watermark Multiple Crown CA
     
CW G92 - SG 227 - ST 29
1/ Black
Emerald Paper
Watermark Multiple Script CA
CW G93 - SG 228 - ST 30
5/ Dull Purple & Mauve
CW G94 - SG 228 - ST 30
5/ Dull Purple & Purple
     
   
  CW G95 - SG 229 - ST 31
£1 Green & Bright Rose
 
       

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

Comments or Questions feel free to write
 
Classic St. Kitts-Nevis Stamps for sale based on the identification from this article.
       
Index to KGVI Stamp Description Web Sites
       
Links to British Colonial Stamp Sites