COLOUR ESSAYS

The Postmaster General was impatient to release as many of the required new stamps as possible before the coronation of King George V on the 22nd June 1911. Rather than wait for the final dies, the Inspector of Stamping at the Inland Revenue offered to supply colour trials for the whole series of values using ordinary printing blocks made from photographs. Needless to say, the offer was readilly accepted by the Postmaster General.

Zinc Block Essay

These essays were produced towards the end of November 1910 using zinc line-blocks made by Hentschel & Co using photographs of the original frame designs combined with a proof of the Downey Head.

Half Tone Essay

On the 14th of December 1910 essays of the 3d and 7d values were sent to the Post Office from half tone blocks. These were made using the original frame designs into which a photograph of the Downey head were pasted. They were printed using the then new process called "Simplex" which was a primative form of the photogravure process.

The letter and number found either printed (as in the W/56 of the illustrated zinc block essay) or in manusript (as above) refer to the ink manufacturer (of which there were three) and the individual colour.