Halfpenny Yellow · white paper, no watermark

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 white wove paper

Colour

Buff and brown-orange shades

Quantity

Not documented

Sources & verification

Bonnici gives November 1861 for release of the second supply; the third supply was invoiced in September 1862 but released in 1863. The year here is the first public issue year of this grouped type, not an invoice date. The historic account separates white wove paper from the bluish first paper within the thin-wove type. The 18½ × 22½ mm dimension is the reported historical reference for this halfpenny design, not a certified measurement of the illustrated specimen or a new physical-type distinction.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.

• Alfred Bonnici · Halfpenny Yellow study, chapter 2, revised (1978) ↗
• 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

Image permission not established

Structural paper/watermark/perforation group, with ordinary colour printings grouped. Not a specialised shade, individual-supply, error, proof, specimen, watermark-orientation or pane-position listing.