Page 3 - Barbados Britannia Issues - Robert Lebow
P. 3
Watermarks
Perkins, Bacon & Co.
Although Perkins, Bacon & Co. used watermarked paper for stamps from 1854,
it was not until 1870 that they printed stamps for Barbados with watermarked paper.
There were two types as shown below, each star designed for a specific size stamp.
However, sometimes the right paper was not available making it possible to find
both types of star watermarked paper used for the same size stamp design.
large star c.1 870 small star c.1 871
I
12 - 13½ mm.
15- 16 mm.
Paper used for the Perkins Bacon & Co. printings was supplied by the T.H. Saunders Co , London.
Stamps can be found with parts of the private watermark.
slight trace of "SA" from the Saunders name
De La Rue & Co.
De La Rue & Co. was given the contract by the Crown Agents to print stamps for Barbados in late 187 4.
De La Rue & Co. was using (crown)/"CC" watermarked paper for printing all colonial stamps. The Britannias
printed by De La Rue & Co. were from Perkins, Bacon & Co. plates. The stamps of the Halfpenny,
One Penny, There Pence and Four Pence were printed in panes of 120 stamps (1 0 rows by 12 columns).
The watermark was positioned so that it aligned properly with one impression per stamp on these panes.
The stamps of the Six Pence and One Shilling were printed in panes of 110 stamps (11 rows by 10 columns);
therefore, the paper had to be turned sideways so that it aligned properly with one watermark per stamp on
these panes. Thus, the Six Pence and One Shilling are always found with the watermark sideways.
( crown )/"CC"
