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. King George V "high values" printings and flaws of Bermuda

Bermuda issued its first stamps with a face value above one shilling on 1 st April 1918 when it
released values of 216, 5s, 1 Os and L 1. This was followed by the 2s and 4s in May 1920 and
the 12/6 in July 1932 with another in October 1936. However as the highest postage rate
was 3s for parcels up to 11 pounds there was little regular postage need for the values.
Most of the stamps where used for fiscal purposes such as payment of tax duties or
passenger tax.

The next three frames are devoted to the high value stamps of KGV with the first frame on
the printings and papers, the second to the major flaws as listed by Stanley Gibbons and the
third to other flaws and positional items.

Proofs from the De La Rue day book

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Original four values made on the same card after striking the molds, although this is not specified: the notation '60+2
Leads each' signifies that 62 cliches (including two spares) were made for the four duty plates. The date shown above
1
each proof (e.g. 'Oct 19h' Oct 1th' etc) is believed to be that when the proof was made and submitted to the Crown
Agents for approval. The notation 'Nov gth 1917' suggests that the duty plates of the four denominations were used on
that day to print stamps in those values. The lines drawn through the proofs identify these as being from the De La
Rue records.

1
Proofs of the 2s and 4s values are dated 'Feb 28h' (4s) and 'March 1st· (2s); these were also made after striking the
molds, the notation '60 Leads' signifies no spare cliches were produced for these two duty plates. A horizontal line
was drawn through these proofs and dated May 1920, presumably indicating when these two values were printed.