The first O.F.S. stamps were printed typographically by De La Rue and Company and issued in 1868. A single master die (without value tablet) was engraved and used to strike a working die for each value. This in turn was used to strike lead moulds into which the actual printing plates were laid using a simple electrotyping process.
There were initially three values:-
Each value occurs in several distinct shades, some of which are illustrated below.
These definitives have been forged from an early stage, and information can be found here.
A mint block of four stamps.
