The British KGV Downey Head Issue

The 'Downey Head' issues of King George V offer many hours of analysis for collectors.

After a consultation with the President of the Royal Academy, invitations were sent out to different designers to enter a competition to design a new stamp honouring King George V. Artists from De La Rue, Perkins/Bacon, Waterlow and The Royal Mint submitted essays, but it was the joint effort of Mr.Bertram Mackennal and Mr. G.W. Eve that ended up winning final approval. This design was based on a photograph of King George V taken by W.&D. Downey, the court photographers, and was unique because of the 3/4 profile used.
 
(The following is taken from a series of posts by Skilo54 at the Stamp Community Forum)

 An image of the Stage 3 Downey Head as engraved by Mr. J.A.C. Harrison is shown below:



The Drawing Board

This image was used to create many essays and proofs, and a range of designs were made in preparation for a full series. Some examples of these proofs are shown below:








A New King!

June 22 1911 marked Coronation Day for the new King, and along with that the first two values of the intended series were released. The ½d. Green features what is known as the "Dolphins" design, and the 1d. red that features the "Lion" design.







What Have they done!?!
These stamps met immediate disapproval and harsh criticism from the stamp community for artistic and other reasons. Even "Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal" printed the following in their July 31 1911 edition in an article on these stamps:

"We regret to say, we greatly regret to say it, that we cannot refrain from joining in the chorus of disapproval and disappointment with which the new stamps have been greeted on every side."

Some criticised the Artist, Engraver or Printer, while others found faults with the design to one extent or the other. This initial dislike for the stamp would prove to be fatal, as the design was quickly replaced by the KGV Sideface issues of 1913. RIP









GOOD NEWS!
During this 2 year period there were a total of seven different types of the 1d. Downey Head issued. Each one having slight changes in attempts to improve public opinion and overall quality. As with most issues there are sub-categories in each major type, (plateflaws, shades etc.) but to begin I would like to discuss the primary seven types and explain how to tell which one you've got in you own collection!









Identifying the Types

The first step to begin identifying your Downey Head would be to look at the Lion. The Lion is the key for determining whether your stamp is a Die 1 or Die 2 stamp. The Lion on Die 1 is sparsely shaded with large areas of the Lion completely white. Some critics thought this made the lion look like it was starving with its ribs showing, and was not a great image for the U.K. to use to represent itself! To answer this complaint Die 2 had the Lion almost completely shaded, giving the Lion a healthier, more powerful presence. Out of the 7 types, 4 are Die 1 and the remaining three being Die 2.






Die 1A or 1B?

Now that Die 1 has been established, a closer look is required to determine if it is a Die 1A or Die 1B stamp. Have a look at the shading on the ribbon to the right of the crown.








SG#329 - N8

This stamp was released on the heels of the first, with the Earliest copy of this stamp in my collection being July 2 1911, a mere 10 days after the initial release. It will look almost identical to the Die 1A with the primary difference being the broken shade line on the ribbon. Some of the more subtle differences will be in the clarity of the beard and detailing around the eyes. I believe these were some of the first areas that were tweaked in attempts to improve the quality of the printed stamp. The primary colour listed for this stamp is Carmine, and it has the Crown Watermark.











SG#332 - N9
This is the point where things get a little more interesting! June 1912 brought the release of this stamp sold only in booklets. Sg#332 was printed from Die 1B but a new shade of red was used, Scarlet. Since this stamp also has the Crown Watermark, we will need to analyse the colour and have a close look at the perfs to get an accurate assessment. You will notice on the stamp shown as an example below that the bottom perfs are cut in a very straight line, while the perfs on the top and sides look like they have been pulled from another stamp. Stamps from booklets will almost always have this feature on at least one side of the stamp, and it is a very good indicator for identifying your Downey Heads.








Here are the two colours shown in comparison. Carmine is more of a 'cooler' red closer to the purples, while Scarlet is 'warmer' red, closer to the oranges.








SG# 336 - N10

September 28 1912 brought the release of the last of the Die 1B stamps, SG#336. The Watermark holds the key to identifying this particular stamp, as it was changed from the Crown Watermark to the Crown and Simple Cypher Watermark for this release. This stamp was also only available in booklets, so it will also have the indicative straight perfs on one side of the stamp (hopefully). The primary listed colour for this stamp is Scarlet, with the Crown and Simple Cypher Watermark.









1d. Downey Head Die 2

January 1st 1912 not only marked the start of a new calender year, but it also brought with it the release of the 1d. Downey Head Die 2. As illustrated earlier, the most recognisable feature of a Die 2 compared with a Die 1 stamp will be the shading on the lion shown below again for convenience:







SG# 341 - N11

The first of the Die 2 Downey Heads was released on January 1 1912. This stamp has the Crown Watermark and the primary listed colour for this stamp is Scarlet. The key to identifying this or any Die 2 stamp lies with the watermark. This is the easiest, most accurate way of properly identifying these issues as each of the Die 2 stamps has a different Watermark.







SG# 345 - N12

The second release of the Die 2 1d. Downey Head stamp happened in August 1912. This stamp is identified by having the Simple Cypher Watermark and the primary listed colour is Scarlet once again.








SG# 349 - N13
The last release of this wonderful stamp happened in October 1912. The last of the 1d. Downey Head stamp is SG# 349. This Die 2 stamp is identified by having the Multiple Cypher Watermark, and the primary listed shade is Scarlet.







Catalogued Varieties

These can occur at any and all stages of stamp production. Design errors, errors from using the wrong paper, colour errors, inverted center errors and perforation errors are only some of the kinds of errors that are known.

Many old stamps have been extensively studied by specialists, who have found numerous differences that allow a person to determine the exact position of the stamp on the printed sheet. "Flyspecks" because of dust on the printing plates, or "donuts" because of an air bubble on an offset printing plate are not as valuable as more dramatic errors or errors that were constant throughout the stamp's print run.

Below is a Die 1B 'Superstamp' created to illustrate the catalogued varieties known to exist and listed in the specialized catalogue.