In a successful attempt to complete a collection of every issued plate number 71-225 used on cover, it soon became apparent from the contents of a large collection that I had acquired, that a majority of the different plate number copies that were used on cover, were all addressed to one person, a Mr. H D Kingdom (or his wife on some occasions), as if collected as such on purpose.

If this were the case, then this would be a wonderful positive indicator to the already suspected fact that plate numbers were collected at that time, and this, needless to say, may point to the possibilities that the printers of the time were aware of this fact and perhaps were ready to ‘oblige’ collectors!

My discussions with the late Don Madden did, on several occasions, revolve around the fact that stamps may have been produced with collectors in mind, in particular for those with influence or rank.

This encouraged me to research the addressee of these letters, a Mr. H D Kingdom of Willhayne, Colyton, Devon. In researching his name I have found out that he did reside in Devon at that time and had contact with London and The Kennel Club! His full name was Harry Dispenser Kingdom. The name ‘Sun Fire Office’ was also used in the address around 1867-68 only. There are 129 out of a possible 152 covers in his name in the collection all franked with stamps showing a different plate number. Each Kingdom cover has the plate number of the stamp imprinted in red on the left hand side of the envelope, and while we cannot prove that he did that, the possibility that he did does certainly exist, further  indicating his interest in this subject.

Two possibilities would now immediately come to mind as to how these covers with the varying plate numbers, and in his name could have come to be.

The first possibility is that Mr. H D Kingdom was a philatelist and as such ensured that stamps showing the various plate numbers from contacts around the country were sent to him on letters.

Secondly, Mr. H D Kingdom was not a philatelist but was in a position to amass a major correspondence due to his position or work and as such this accumulation of letters would have formed an estate, perhaps from which, at some later date, a collector would have been able to extract a collection of covers franked with stamps with differing plate numbers.

If the second option were true then my guess would be that the correspondence would have run into thousands of covers, as I believe one would need a very large number in order to form such a collection and then extract 129 covers with differing plate numbers. The earliest date on a cover addressed to Mr. Kingdom is one with a plate 76 stamp dated April 1865 sent from Manchester and the latest, a cover with a plate 208 stamp dated February 1880 from Newcastle on Tyne; a period spanning almost fifteen years.

If a massive correspondence spanning 15 years did exist for Mr. H D Kingdom then there is no doubt that letters addressed to Mr. Kingdom exist in large numbers, and many would have certainly been noticed by collectors, dealers or postal historians today. It is here where I need help from collectors or dealers who may have seen letters addressed to his name to let me know. Should such a massive correspondence not exist then this would be a wonderful indicator, and perhaps existing confirmation  that collectors at that time were actually aware of the interest value of plate numbers, and that collectors did collect them as such, with many perhaps knowing which were the rare or unissued plate numbers.

It is interesting to note that plates 219-225 in this collection are on separate covers addressed to a Mr. Archibald Stewart, 17 India Street, Edinburgh and dated between January and May 1880. Now could this also be another indicator?

These two groups of covers, if formed intentionally would therefore beggar the question, did the printers of the time, Perkins Bacon, oblige collectors by producing plate 77 stamps? After all this would not be against any ethical practice, in that the terms of reference for producing these stamps would have been fully adhered to, i.e. four corner letters and two identical numbers on each side, and as long as the stamps were released to the public in the normal way, as they must have been, vis a vis copies PH, PI, LL and NC, then no misdemeanor would have been exercised.

The Postal Authorities at that time inferring from this letter dated February 1864 from Ormond Hill to Perkins Bacon indicates that there was no interest in the plate numbers of this issue but merely in its status as a separate issue from the previous stars issue.

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 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.

In my view stamps showing a plate number 77 were produced from the earliest plates in order to mark the stamps that needed repair. The number 77 was not used and is an easy number to engrave. It possibly also served the purpose of producing some stamps showing a plate number 77 for plates for collectors. This option amongst the other possible options for the existence of plate number 77 stamps, far outweighs the currently held belief that the existing copies come from the one or so rejected trial sheets from plate 77  that ‘may’ have been produced over a year before this issue went to press.  

These trial sheets  which should have been accounted for and destroyed, were apparently  ‘somehow’ released in error over a year later, but not before someone knowing their value, removed copies AB and AC with scissors. An undoubted negligent and highly irregular act on the part of Perkins Bacon and in particular around the time of a correspondence between themselves and The Crown Agents, documented in Percy de Worms’ book, and which could have only confirmed that Perkins Bacon had to exercise the utmost of diligence, security and good work practice.

It is important here to mention the important fact that there are major differences between stamps showing a plate number 77 and the plate number 77 roller impression. These differences to date have not been addressed at all.

Abed H Najjar