Halfpenny Yellow

Technical details

Issuing authority

Malta (British colonial administration)

Postal purpose

Postage

Currency

GBP pre-decimal

Designer

Not documented

Printer

De La Rue

Printing process

Typography

Stamp dimensions

18½ × 22½ mm (historic reference)

Stamps per sheet

240 stamps in four panes of 60

Plate number

1

Perforation

14

Watermark

None

Paper

Thin bluish wove paper

Colour

Buff / pale brown-orange

Quantity

Not documented

Sources & verification

The first issue date, blued paper, lack of watermark and perforation 14 are supported by Séfi. This scan is representative of the design, not a certified identification of its paper or shade. Later white-paper and watermarked structural types have their own records. Collin and Calman describe the first halfpenny on thin bluish wove paper. The 18½ × 22½ mm dimension is the reported historical reference for this halfpenny design, not a certified measurement of the illustrated specimen or a new physical-type distinction. Current date, perforation and watermark identification are retained.

• A. J. Séfi, The Postage Stamps of Malta (1913), chapters III and XV–XX: original sheet arrangements and plate marks ↗
• Henry Collin and Henry L. Calman, A Catalogue for Advanced Collectors, Part VII, Smithsonian Libraries scan, printed pp.427–428: halfpenny reference size and thin/thick wove papers ↗

Image & attribution

Stamp: British Government; scan: Rmjd / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain — expired Crown copyright

• Image source & licence ↗

Base designs only; shades, errors, proofs and later printings excluded.