Appendices
Appendix A1
Announcement from Rowland Hill regarding the alteration in the corner lettering format of the penny and two penny postage
stamps
"In order to prevent frauds, which have sometimes been attempted upon the Revenue, by the use of Postage Stamps, formed by
joining together clean portions cut from labels, which have previously passed through the post, the letters which now appear at
the lower corners of the Postage Labels, will in future, be repeated at the upper corners; transposed, however, so as to afford
still greater security, thus :- (An illustration to represent a postage stamp, done from a wood-block, was printed here, which
showed Queen's head on a background of horizontal lines, enclosed within an upright rectangular frame with the letters 'BA' in
the upper corners, 'AB' in the lower corners and the number '123' in small figures at each side. This was evidently copied from
the Essay of the One Penny we have already described.)
On the right and left-hand side of each Label, the number of the Plate from which it is printed will appear in small figures as
shown above.
If any Postage Label passing through your office, should appear to have been formed by pieces cut from separate stamps, you
will be careful to ascertain whether the letters at the corners are arranged in the manner above described, and whether the
number on each side of the Label is the same. Should any difference appear in these respects you will treat the letter in the
manner laid down in the 130th Rule of Instructions to Postmasters.
Two penny Labels with these alterations will shortly be issued, and the change will ultimately be extended to the Penny and
other Labels.
(signed) ROWLAND HILL
Secretary."
July 24th, 1858
The copy of this circular in the archives of the General Post Office has written at the top: "Circulated 29th, July 1858"
Appendix A2
Letter of instructions to the printers requesting the discontinuation of the two corner lettered stamps and the commencement of
printing, as soon as possible, of the new four corner lettered stamps.Instructions for packaging are included and it is abundantly
clear that the main desire was to keep the two different batches of stamps separate. It is also clear and that no interest
whatsoever existed in what plate numbers any of the sheets had.
Inland Revenue
Somerset House, W.C.;
22nd February 1864
It having been decided to discontinue the issue of the present two corner lettered Id. Postage labels and to commence that of
the four corner lettered stamps as soon as the latter kind can be produced at at sufficient rate to meet the demand, and
considering the desirableness of gradually replacing our large stock with the new sort; in the meantime I have to request that as
soon as there are fourteen of the new four-lettered plates ready they may be put to press and worked simultaneously with as
many of the old kind as may be necessary to maintain the regular supply, that afterwards each new plate be registered and put
to press as soon as completed, an old one being withdrawn on each such occasion, and that as soon as eighteen new plates be
at work all of the old kind be withdrawn.
I have also to request that so long as you have in your possession printed sheets of both the two-lettered kinds you will keep
them unmixed and send them here in parcels consisting wholly of the one or wholly of the other kind. Also that you will allow
your superintendent to distinguish the parcels of the new kind from those of the old kind by marking every parcel of the former
at each end in the manner already agreed upon between him and me.
I am &c., &c.,
(signed) O. Hill
Messers Perkins & Co.
Appendix A3
69 Fleet Street, E.C.;
Feb.17th 1864
Dear Sir,
We find that the facts regarding the time taken in the manufacture of a Postage Plate are as follows:- To transfer the 240 labels
on to a Plate takes one day, and a very hard day's work it is. Perfect accuracy in the arrangement of the labels cannot however
at present be secured if the roller is taken off the Plate during it's manufacture and therefore it must be assumed as one day's
work. To transfer the Legends and scrape the burr off the steel takes 3 full ordinary days, so that a Plate takes in the Transferring
Room 4 days exclusive of the hardening and subsequent cleaning.
To put in the letters at the 4 corners and retouch the work where it is injured by this process takes Mr H Gill 4 days good work
also. The hardening and cleaning cannot be reckoned at less than a day. It therefore takes 9 days to make a Plate from first to
last, and the week is only five and a half days, so that to promise on complete plate a week is to lock up from all our other work
2 of our engravers for the greater part of the time. Still we undertake to do this from this time until a stock of 22 Plates with the
new lettering, &c., is completed. There is no difficulty in lettering as fast as the Plates are transferred. and in fact Mr H Gill
will have finished Plate No. 85 before 86 is ready for him.
We are, &c., &.,
(signed) PERKINS, BACON & Co.
ORMOND HILL, Esq.,
Inland Revenue, Somerset House
Appendix A4
Letter confirming the rejection of plates 75 and 77, although the plate numbers are not mention, Bacon confirms that these are
the plates referred to in this letter.
Somerset House
7th February 1863
I am very sorry to be under the necessity of rejecting the two Postage plates on account of the irregularity of the placing of the
heads.
I am glad to hear that you have discovered the cause of the defects and are taking prompt measures to prevent their recurrence.
The width of the sheet could not be altered without entailing very expensive alteration in the perforating machinery. And the
length could not be increased by more that I-8th of an inch, which giving only I-160th in each space, would be inappreciable....
I am &c., &c.,
(signed) O. Hill
Messers Perkins & Co.
Appendix A5
Letter confirming that the intention behind defacement was to ensure that nothing was printed from the rejected plate in
question.
Inland Revenue
Somerset House W.C.
15th February 1861
Gentleman,
I am sorry to say that in new plate No. 69 the rows of stamps are so far oblique that we cannot perforate the impressions from
it. I have to request, therefore, that this plate may be condemned like plate 65. And to prevent the trouble which would occur
by these plates, either of them being brought into work by mistake, I request that they may be partially defaced without delay.
The picking out of the impressions of plate 65 which we are now doing gives us very considerable trouble.
The heads in plate No. 70 are by no means accurately placed; but the inaccuracy is not great but that we can manage to perforate
impressions from it.
I am &c., &c.,
(signed) O. Hill
Messers Perkins & Co
Appendix A6
Extract from a letter of Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co, to Mr Edward Barnard, Agent-General for the Crown Colonies, dated
May 19th, 1855. The letter shows that impressions on the plate did need to be strengthened throughout its life.
"We deeply regret the delay which has taken place, and think you are entitled to know the cause why we have sometimes of
late been so wanting in our usual punctuality. When we undertook to supply our Home Government with postage stamps we
did not anticipate anything like the demand, which began and continued annually to increase, and therefore prepared ourselves
with but one original die; but from that one die we have had to prepare and produce over 50,000 engravings on steel. This die
experienced no visible deterioration for many years. But about two years since the plates from it showed signs of weakness,
which continued gradually to increase until those that formerly produced 100,000 good impressions latterly gave only 20,000
to 30,000. The time occupied in preparing these plates at first was great; but owing to these causes we have been kept
incessantly occupied in their manufacture with the machinery appropriated to that purpose, as it was utterly impossible for the
Government to suspend any part of their supply of stamps to the public, as required. When we ascertained the origin of this
falling off in the productiveness of our plates, and that it was not accidental, which at first we suspected it to be, we obtained
permission to prepare another original die similar to the first, but from which we have now secured a sufficient number of flat
dies to last for centuries, and these we could easily have done in the former instance, had we supposed it would prove necessary.
The plates are now even better than they were at first; but it has taken a long time to meet this extraordinary and unexpected
drag upon us, which will, however, cease in two or three weeks, and we can promise the New South Wales 2d. postage plate,
with its accompaniments, in three weeks, and the 1d, and 3d. in six weeks from the present time."
Appendix A8
Extract from The Line-Engraved Stamps of Great Britain Vols I and II Printed by Perkins Bacon & Co
Edward Denny Bacon MVO 1920. The extract shows that fresh entries were a matter of course, and impressions which were not up to standard were burnished and re-entered using the roller.
"Although line-engravers draw a sharp distinction between "fresh entries" and "re-entries" made to a plate, philatelists have been
in the habit of classing both varieties under the latter designation and, so far as we know, the first term has never received
philatelic recognition by any writer. The difficulty philatelists labour under is, that it is impossible from an examination of
specimens of varieties of this kind to determine whether they are the result of "fresh entries" or of "re-entries."
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