Page 60 - Barbados Britannia Issues - Robert Lebow

Issue 7 - Paper Watermark: Small 6 point Star

Stamps with the Small Star watermark were issued by Perkins, Bacon & Co., London
on paper similar to that of the unwatermarked paper of previous issues.
The paper was supplied by the firm of T. H. Saunders & Co., London.
The star measures 12 to 13½ mm from point to point and on 24mm centers vertically.
It was first used for the Queensland stamps sent out on August 16, 1860.
In the Fall of 1871, Perkins, Bacon & Co. began use of this watermarked paper
for subsequent issues of Barbados stamps. The small star is supposed to be placed so that
one impression is centered on each stamp of a sheet of 110 stamps (11 rows of 10 stamps per row).
This watermark saw limited use on Barbados stamps as it was discontinued in 1873.
The Small Star paper was supposed to be under tight security as it was used
under Government contract; however, this example escaped detection.

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