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| The Royal Seals |
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In STAMP MAGAZINE October 2000, John Tivers from London SW19 'Asked the Experts' to identify a black stamp depicting a 'VR' monogram and a crown. It was quite correctly identified as a cypher seal issued during Queen Victoria's reign. We both felt that the subject of cypher seals was important enough to devote an article to them. So, here goes...
The authoritative book on cypher seals - entitled The Royal Cypher Labels of Great Britain, Ireland and the Colonies (1701 to 1922) -was published in 1988 by William A. Barber and A. Frank Brown. The book is long out of print, but reading a library copy 'provides a fascinating insight into the collecting of these seals.
Why were they produced? In 1694 embossed duty stamps were applied to parchment or vellum for Stamp Duty purposes. In the early years these impressions tended to fade with time due to the parchment expanding and contracting with changes in climatic conditions. To avoid fading, embossing was transferred to a blue 'basepaper', which was then stuck to the parchment. However these basepapers could be removed and transferred to another document, with the intention to defraud the Stamp Office. To stop this fraud, in late 1701, two parallel slits were cut through the basepaper and the parchment itself. A thin film strip of 'tinfoil'- an alloy of tin and lead - went through the slits and was folded on the reverse of the parchment. A cypher seal was then glued over the tinfoil ends to secure them and protect against the foil damaging other papers. The impressed duty was applied to the sandwich of tinfoil/basepaper/parchment/cypher label, and thus forming a composite security device. It was so successful that the method actually continued in use until as late as 1922.
The cypher seals themselves were printed in sheets, and were very similar to their grander, but much later cousin, the Penny Black. Printing was by engraved copper plates. The early cypher seals were engraved individually, and thus there are minor variations between examples in the same sheet. By the nature of their usage - tying individual embossed duty impressions to parchment-there's no possibility of multiples ever existing. |
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| Individually Numbered |
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King George III seals
showing original state
and four recut states |
However, collectors are fortunate in that until 1865, each seal in the sheet carried an individual number that indicated its position in the sheet. The numbering of each cypher seal was deliberate to assist in preventing fraud - the same reason for the letters used in identifying the individual stamps within the Penny Black plates. Having enough of these seals would enable a collector to attempt plate reconstructions, especially as Barber and Brown illustrate most of the plates. There are difficulties - for example only two stamps are known from the third plate produced in King William III's reign. Also, the plate sizes vary considerably. The earliest plate, used from 1701 until 1703, is believed to consist of nine rows of eight labels. Other sheet sizes are 17 rows of 11 (Queen Anne, 1702 until 1715), 16 of 10 (King George I, 1715 until 1726), 16 of 20 (Geo I, Geo II, Geo III, Geo IV and Queen Victoria, 1725 until 1854), 16 of 24 (Queen Victoria, 1854 until 1865), and finally 20 of 12 (Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and George V, 1865 until 1921).
There are 39 different designs, from King William III to King George V, and it is relatively easy to obtain one of each, with the exception of the William III designs (seven different), one type of which (used 1703) there are only two examples known. In addition, an enthusiast could collect the cypher seals of Ireland, which are very similar to the British examples. But Stamp Duty wasn't imposed on Ireland until 1774, and thus Irish cypher seals were only used for King George III (2 plates, second plate having a '3' in the design - see the illustration) and Queen Victoria until 1861 - a total of three designs. These seals were printed in either black or red. From 1861 until 1921 British cypher seals were used in Ireland, and can only be distinguished if on document.
As mentioned earlier the sheets were printed using copper engraved plates up until 1865. From 1865 to 1886, the printing plates (two plates) were manufactured by Perkins, Bacon & Co, and were manufactured from steel. The individual stamps in the sheet of 240 labels were identified by the corner check letters (AA to TL, as for postage stamps). From 1886 to 1921, Thomas De La Rue Ltd, using surface printed techniques, manufactured the plates, and there is no distinguishing marks for individual stamps in the sheet of 240 subjects.
During King Edward VII's reign, the stamps were first issued imperforate (May 1902), then as coil stamps (pert 12 by imperf, August 1904), and finally as perforated (perf 14, May 1905). The King George V stamps were all perforated (perf 14, from July 1915). Copper printing plates are intrinsically soft, and wear takes place during printing runs. Typically, after between 1,500
and 2,000 sheets have been printed, the plates had to be recut to restore the design features. To distinguish a recut plate from its predecessor, recut marks were prominently inserted in the design for the cypher seals of George II, III, IV and plates 1 and 2 of early Queen Victoria. |
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