The Die III printings seem to cover three basic stages. The
poor impression of the 1942 printing, the deep purple of the
1947 - 1949 printings, and the bright reddish purple of the 1950's
printings.
If you are able to find a 1942 printing, it will tend to look
like the early Die II printings, so it should be fairly easy
to distinguish from the other printings.
The late 1940's printings include four issues. They can be
sorted based on the these criteria:
1947 Printing - The most consistent color between the head
and duty colors.
March 1949 Printing - Similar to the May 1949 printing. Has a
more reddish purple duty plate color.
May 1949 Printing - Similar to the March 1949 printing. Has a
deeper purple duty plate color.
December 1949 Printing - Deeper and more vibrant color than all
of the other 1949 printings.
The bright red purple of the 1950's printings is unmistakable.
They stand out from all of the other printings, and tend to be
easy to isolate from all other issues. If you have multiple copies,
the 1953 printings are a brighter color than the 1951 printing.
I hope this helps you sort your stamps. We have these issues
for sale sorted by printing. Use the link below to request current
prices.
Please do not treat the scans as totally accurate in terms
of color. Internet Browsers do not clearly show the entire range
of colors in the spectrum. The centers of all the stamps appear
a little washed out due to the effects of my scanner.
This article is intended to help collectors identify their
KGVI Stamps. Please feel free to write with additional information.
It will be added to revised versions of this article.