Pale Colours

Between 1941 and 1942, the King George VI definitives were re-issued in paler shades with the idea that this would save ink, writes Brian Austin.

I find these first day covers interesting for two main reasons, first that there was a war on, but collectors are collectors and they did not let this stop them visiting their Post Office and sticking their stamps to get a First Day Cover. And secondly the number of unusual combinations of stamps you find, far too many than was needed, meaning more stamps were used, and so more ink, and so defeating the reason they were issued.

The plain cover shown here is a good example of my second point with a block of five halfpenny Green’s stuck on cancelled with a Burton Leonard Harrogate CDS and lovely unaddressed condition, most covers for this issue sell for around £40.

I have seen these covers with various block, strips and pairs of stamps and even covers with the normal printing stuck on alongside the pale colour.

Covers were also done by, we believe, Francis Field, similar to their King George V Photogravure cover, with all the six dates on one cover.

As they were issued over the course of a year, getting a matching set is hard, a few dealers would have done them, but could they get the same envelope for each issue? Instead trying looking for the same addresses to make a set.

The issue dates you are looking for, and the prices you can expect to pay are, ½d (1st September 1941), 1d (11th August 1941) and 2½d (21st July 1941), you should be able to find in good condition for £40 £50 each, the 2d (6th October 1941) £75, 1½d (28th September 1942) and finally the 3d (3rd November 1941) £125.