The 1881 1d Provisional

In 1881 stocks of the 1d brown became low and new stamps were ordered from de la Rue. However, before these stamps arrived stocks were exhausted and it was necessary to produce a provisional value in the meantime. The existing five shilling green value was relatively little used and there were considerable stocks on hand and therefore this value was overprinted with "1d".

There were several types of overprint and three different settings:

• First setting: a small 1 and roman d throughout (type A).
• Second setting: bolder type and a thin antique d. Four types of numeral (types B-E).
• Third setting: a large, thick roman d and ten types of numeral.This setting is poorly known since few examples survive.

The settings are distinguished not only by the fount used but also by the size and spacing of the overprint and cancelling bars.

Type A

Numeral 2.5 mm tall with a straight serif. Typically pale and indistinct.

This example shows the typical placement of the overprint on the left of the stamp.

Type B

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Numeral 2.75 mm tall with a sloping serif.

Type C

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Numeral 2.75 mm tall with a straight serif.

Type D

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Numeral 3.25 mm tall with a straight serif.

Type E

Numeral 3.00 mm tall with a sloping serif. There are variants of this type.

Oddities

There are known to be stamps that show spacings or other peculiarities that do not match the first and second settings, which are well documented. It can probably be assumed therefore that these stamps come from the third setting, about which we have little information.

This stamp has a combination of characteristics that do not occur together in the first and second settings:

• The 2.75 mm tall overprint and straight serif of type C, but also has a dropped stop (which only occurs on type D in the second setting). The stop is also larger than normal.

• A distance from the bottom of the numeral to the top of the bar of 10.75 mm, which does not match any of the known first or second setting stamps. It is not recorded from the third setting either, for that matter.