Castle series
Encyclopedia
The Castle
series or Castle High Value series are two definitive stamp
series issued in the United Kingdom
during Queen Elizabeth II
's reign.
The first series, designed by Lynton Lamb
was issued in September 1955. The second one was created from pictures taken by Prince Andrew, Duke of York
, the Queen's second son.
The stamps bore the highest denominations
completing the Wilding
and Machin
definitive series. Each Castle series was replaced by Machin stamps, respectively in 1969 and 1999.
The common aspects of the two series are the four chosen castles, one for each country of the United Kingdom.
and were illustrated by two pictures (HMS Victory
, Lord Nelson
's ship, on the 2 shillings and 6 pence, and the white cliffs of Dover
on the 5 shillings) and two symbols (Saint George and the Dragon
on the 10 shillings and the Royal Coat of arms
on the one pound sterling stamp). The King's death, on 6 February 1952, provoked the preparation for a new series with Elizabeth II's effigy.
Because comments in the philatelic press were negative about the two pictorial stamps, the Postal Services Department proposed to replace the pictures with two new allegorical images. But its director decided the artists invited by the Council of Industrial Design must be free in the proposal they had to submit at the beginning of 1953.
In June 1953, the allegorical designs didn't please Postmaster General
Herbrand Sackville
and the Council of Industrial Design. Inspired by Mary Ashead's projects using non allegorical images, including castles, they let some artists and printers Waterlow and Sons
create propositions with views of British monuments, known to the public and linked to Royal Family
history. The initial list was: the Tower of London
on the 2s6d green, Caernarfon Castle
on the 5s red, Edinburgh Castle
on the 10s blue and Windsor Castle
on the £1 brown.
Consulted, the Home Secretary
, David Maxwell Fyfe, advised adding a castle from Northern Ireland
: the Tower of London was replaced by Carrickfergus Castle
, located on the north side of Belfast Lough
. The proposed green colour for the 2s6d stamp was changed to brown: the goal was to avoid evocations of Irish nationalist sentiment. The pound sterling stamp became black. The remaining artists prepared their projects during the summer of 1953. They created drawings of the castles helped by postmen's and public servant's pictures, and projects for the frame.
At the same time, H.J. Bard, an engraver at Waterlow and Sons, prepared the royal effigy reproducing Dorothy Wilding
's photographic portrait already used on the definitive series
.
In January 1954, Lynton Lamb
's scenery, known as "broken grotto", was chosen: the castle is in the reader's sight through a hole in an old stone wall, next to which is standing the Queen's portrait. Under the guidance and requirements of officials, Lamb continued his work on the drawings of the castles during 1954, visiting in person Edinburgh and Windsor.
On 25 October 1954, Postmaster General Sackville thought the design was ready and brought it to the Council of Industrial Design in November. There, he defended the passage from two to one colour. Queen Elizabeth II approved the designs in March 1955. At Waterlow's, Ward under Lamb's attention made the master die for the printing in intaglio
. The issue was finally accepted by the Queen on 29 June 1955.
From 1955 to 1957, the stamps were printed by Waterlow and Sons on watermark
ed paper: the St. Edward's Crown
with the Royal Cypher
("E 2 R"). In 1958, with the same watermark, then a crowned watermark in 1959, the printing was given to De La Rue
. The contract passed in 1967 to Bradbury Wilkinson
who did not use watermarked paper anymore.
In the United Kingdom, the four stamps were withdrawn on 15 May 1970, one year after the issue of Machin high value stamps
printed in high format in intaglio by Bradbury Wilkinson. The three lesser value of the Castle series were invalidated on 1 March 1972.
The 2 shilling and 6 pence, 5 shilling and 10 shilling stamps were issued with overprint
s in British postal agencies
overseas. Only Waterlow and Sons
and De La Rue
printed stamps were so issued. The overprint indicated the territory of use.
Around the Persian Gulf
, stamps needed a new denomination in Indian rupee
s, later in Gulf rupee
s, being overprinted to be used in Bahrain
, Kuwait
, Qatar
and the Trucial States
.
In Tangier
, Morocco
, the three Castle stamps were available at the British post office
in 1955. When the office had to be closed in 1957, its centenary was celebrated with a second overprint ("1857 - 1957") on all Wilding
and Castle stamps. Some Castle stamps are known without the hyphen
or with one printed thanks to a third overprint.
issued a minisheet for the 50th anniversary of the Castle series. Denominations were changed to 50 pence for a brown "Carrickfergus Castle" and a dark brown "Windsor Castle", and one pound for a red "Caernarfon Castle" and a blue "Edinburgh Castle". The Dutch printer Enschedé
succeeded in using the original dies to create the new printing material, but for the Windsor Castle stamp digitalization of a 1955 stamp was necessary.
, printed in photogravure
and issued since February 1977, were replaced by a new Castle series. The four new stamps were printed in intaglio
, and their illustrations were based on photographs taken by Prince Andrew
. The profile of Queen Elizabeth II appeared on one of the upper corners, and was based on Arnold Machin
's sculpture that appears on the Machin series. The same castles were used as for the 1955 series: Carrickfergus on a £1 green stamp, Caernarfon on the £1.50 brown, Edinburgh on the £2 blue and Windsor on the £5 brown. The broken grotto design was replaced by a white background, and was considered austere compared to the romantic approach of Lyndon Lamb.
was added to the sides, and Optically Variable Ink
(OVI), which appears green or gold depending on how it is viewed, was used to print the Queen's profile. The latter was no longer the Machin head with crown, but the monocolour profile created by Machin for commemorative stamps.
In 1995, the £1 Carrickfergus Castle stamp was reissued with a new denomination of three pounds, because inflation no longer justified the use of an expensive printing method like intaglio for the one pound value. A £1 Machin definitive stamp was created the same year, printed in a blue-violet metallic ink. On 9 March 1999, the second Castle series was replaced by four Machin stamps printed in intaglio from a gravure by Czesław Słania.
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
series or Castle High Value series are two definitive stamp
Definitive stamp
A definitive stamp is a postage stamp, that is part of a regular issue of a country's stamps available for sale by the postal service for an extended period of time...
series issued in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
's reign.
The first series, designed by Lynton Lamb
Lynton Lamb
Lynton Lamb RDI, FSRA, FSIA was an English artist-designer, Author, lithographer and illustrator who was notable for his book jacket, poster, architectural decoration and postage stamp designs....
was issued in September 1955. The second one was created from pictures taken by Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, the Queen's second son.
The stamps bore the highest denominations
Denomination (postage stamp)
:This article deals with the price of a postage stamp. For other meanings of the word 'denomination' see Denomination .In philately, the denomination is the "inscribed value of a stamp"...
completing the Wilding
Wilding series
The Wildings were a series of definitive postage stamps featuring the Dorothy Wilding photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that were in use between 1952 and 1967 until they were replaced by the Machin series.- History :...
and Machin
Machin series
The Machin series of postage stamps is the main definitive stamp series in the United Kingdom, used since 5 June 1967. It is the second series to figure the image of Elizabeth II, replacing the Wilding series....
definitive series. Each Castle series was replaced by Machin stamps, respectively in 1969 and 1999.
The common aspects of the two series are the four chosen castles, one for each country of the United Kingdom.
Genesis
The 1955 Castle series replaced another four stamp series of high value issued in 1951. They featured the profile of King George VIGeorge VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and were illustrated by two pictures (HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
, Lord Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
's ship, on the 2 shillings and 6 pence, and the white cliffs of Dover
White cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the British coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation. The cliff face, which reaches up to , owes its striking façade to its composition of chalk accentuated by streaks of black flint...
on the 5 shillings) and two symbols (Saint George and the Dragon
Saint George and the Dragon
The episode of Saint George and the Dragon appended to the hagiography of Saint George was Eastern in origin, brought back with the Crusaders and retold with the courtly appurtenances belonging to the genre of Romance...
on the 10 shillings and the Royal Coat of arms
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom, and are officially known as her Arms of Dominion...
on the one pound sterling stamp). The King's death, on 6 February 1952, provoked the preparation for a new series with Elizabeth II's effigy.
Because comments in the philatelic press were negative about the two pictorial stamps, the Postal Services Department proposed to replace the pictures with two new allegorical images. But its director decided the artists invited by the Council of Industrial Design must be free in the proposal they had to submit at the beginning of 1953.
In June 1953, the allegorical designs didn't please Postmaster General
United Kingdom Postmaster General
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom is a defunct Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs...
Herbrand Sackville
Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr
Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr, GBE, PC, DL, JP , styled Lord Buckhurst until 1915 , was a British politician. He was the first hereditary peer to join the Labour Party and became a government minister at the age of 23...
and the Council of Industrial Design. Inspired by Mary Ashead's projects using non allegorical images, including castles, they let some artists and printers Waterlow and Sons
Waterlow and Sons
The Waterlow and Sons Limited was a major worldwide engraver of currency, postage stamps, stocks and bond certificates established in 1897, in England.-Portuguese Bank Note Crisis:...
create propositions with views of British monuments, known to the public and linked to Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
history. The initial list was: the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
on the 2s6d green, Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle is a medieval building in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure...
on the 5s red, Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
on the 10s blue and Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
on the £1 brown.
Consulted, the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, David Maxwell Fyfe, advised adding a castle from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
: the Tower of London was replaced by Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus Castle is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Belfast Lough. Besieged in turn by the Scots, Irish, English and French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best...
, located on the north side of Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough is a large, natural intertidal sea lough at the mouth of the River Lagan on the east coast of Northern Ireland. The inner part of the lough comprises a series of mudflats and lagoons. The outer lough is restricted to mainly rocky shores with some small sandy bays...
. The proposed green colour for the 2s6d stamp was changed to brown: the goal was to avoid evocations of Irish nationalist sentiment. The pound sterling stamp became black. The remaining artists prepared their projects during the summer of 1953. They created drawings of the castles helped by postmen's and public servant's pictures, and projects for the frame.
At the same time, H.J. Bard, an engraver at Waterlow and Sons, prepared the royal effigy reproducing Dorothy Wilding
Dorothy Wilding
Dorothy Wilding was a noted English society photographer from Gloucester. She wanted to become an actress or artist but this career was disallowed by her uncle, in whose family she lived, so she chose the art of photography which she started to learn from the age of sixteen.By 1929 she had already...
's photographic portrait already used on the definitive series
Wilding series
The Wildings were a series of definitive postage stamps featuring the Dorothy Wilding photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that were in use between 1952 and 1967 until they were replaced by the Machin series.- History :...
.
In January 1954, Lynton Lamb
Lynton Lamb
Lynton Lamb RDI, FSRA, FSIA was an English artist-designer, Author, lithographer and illustrator who was notable for his book jacket, poster, architectural decoration and postage stamp designs....
's scenery, known as "broken grotto", was chosen: the castle is in the reader's sight through a hole in an old stone wall, next to which is standing the Queen's portrait. Under the guidance and requirements of officials, Lamb continued his work on the drawings of the castles during 1954, visiting in person Edinburgh and Windsor.
On 25 October 1954, Postmaster General Sackville thought the design was ready and brought it to the Council of Industrial Design in November. There, he defended the passage from two to one colour. Queen Elizabeth II approved the designs in March 1955. At Waterlow's, Ward under Lamb's attention made the master die for the printing in intaglio
Intaglio (printmaking)
Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or...
. The issue was finally accepted by the Queen on 29 June 1955.
British career
The issue of the four stamps took place in two stages: 2 shillings 6 pence brown "Carrickfergus Castle" and 5s red "Caernarfon Castle" were issued on 1 September 1955, and the sale began on 23 September for the other two: 10 shillings blue "Edinburgh Castle" and 1 pound black "Windsor Castle".From 1955 to 1957, the stamps were printed by Waterlow and Sons on watermark
Watermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...
ed paper: the St. Edward's Crown
St. Edward's Crown
St Edward's Crown was one of the English Crown Jewels and remains one of the senior British Crown Jewels, being the official coronation crown used in the coronation of first English, then British, and finally Commonwealth realms monarchs...
with the Royal Cypher
Royal Cypher
In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a crown. In the case where such a cypher is used by an emperor or empress, it is called...
("E 2 R"). In 1958, with the same watermark, then a crowned watermark in 1959, the printing was given to De La Rue
De La Rue
De La Rue plc is a British security printing, papermaking and cash handling systems company headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex and Bathford, Somerset...
. The contract passed in 1967 to Bradbury Wilkinson
Bradbury Wilkinson
Bradbury Wilkinson & Co were an English engraver and printer of banknotes, postage stamps and share certificates. The original company was begun in 1856 by Henry Bradbury . In 1861 the company was established at New Malden in Surrey where it remained until the 1986 when it was acquired by De La Rue...
who did not use watermarked paper anymore.
In the United Kingdom, the four stamps were withdrawn on 15 May 1970, one year after the issue of Machin high value stamps
Machin series
The Machin series of postage stamps is the main definitive stamp series in the United Kingdom, used since 5 June 1967. It is the second series to figure the image of Elizabeth II, replacing the Wilding series....
printed in high format in intaglio by Bradbury Wilkinson. The three lesser value of the Castle series were invalidated on 1 March 1972.
Overseas use
Overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage stamp or banknote after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail...
s in British postal agencies
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
overseas. Only Waterlow and Sons
Waterlow and Sons
The Waterlow and Sons Limited was a major worldwide engraver of currency, postage stamps, stocks and bond certificates established in 1897, in England.-Portuguese Bank Note Crisis:...
and De La Rue
De La Rue
De La Rue plc is a British security printing, papermaking and cash handling systems company headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex and Bathford, Somerset...
printed stamps were so issued. The overprint indicated the territory of use.
Around the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, stamps needed a new denomination in Indian rupee
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
s, later in Gulf rupee
Gulf rupee
The Gulf rupee, also known as the Persian Gulf rupee , was a currency used in the countries of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula between 1959 and 1966...
s, being overprinted to be used in Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
and the Trucial States
Trucial States
The Trucial States were a group of sheikhdoms in the Persian Gulf.-General aspects:The sheikdoms included:*Abu Dhabi *Ajman...
.
In Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, the three Castle stamps were available at the British post office
British post offices in Morocco
The British post offices in Morocco, also known as the "Morocco Agencies", were a system of post offices operated by the United Kingdom in Morocco.-First office:...
in 1955. When the office had to be closed in 1957, its centenary was celebrated with a second overprint ("1857 - 1957") on all Wilding
Wilding series
The Wildings were a series of definitive postage stamps featuring the Dorothy Wilding photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that were in use between 1952 and 1967 until they were replaced by the Machin series.- History :...
and Castle stamps. Some Castle stamps are known without the hyphen
Hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...
or with one printed thanks to a third overprint.
Commemoratives
On 22 March 2005, Royal MailRoyal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
issued a minisheet for the 50th anniversary of the Castle series. Denominations were changed to 50 pence for a brown "Carrickfergus Castle" and a dark brown "Windsor Castle", and one pound for a red "Caernarfon Castle" and a blue "Edinburgh Castle". The Dutch printer Enschedé
Joh. Enschedé
Royal Joh. Enschedé is a printer of security documents, stamps and banknotes based in Haarlem, Netherlands. Joh. Enschedé specialises in print, media & security. The company hosts the Museum Enschedé and has branches in Amsterdam, Brussels and Haarlem....
succeeded in using the original dies to create the new printing material, but for the Windsor Castle stamp digitalization of a 1955 stamp was necessary.
Description
On 18 October 1988, the four large-format high value Machin stampsMachin series
The Machin series of postage stamps is the main definitive stamp series in the United Kingdom, used since 5 June 1967. It is the second series to figure the image of Elizabeth II, replacing the Wilding series....
, printed in photogravure
Photogravure
Photogravure is an intaglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a...
and issued since February 1977, were replaced by a new Castle series. The four new stamps were printed in intaglio
Intaglio (printmaking)
Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or...
, and their illustrations were based on photographs taken by Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
. The profile of Queen Elizabeth II appeared on one of the upper corners, and was based on Arnold Machin
Arnold Machin
Arnold Machin O.B.E, R.A. was a British artist, sculptor, coin and stamp designer.Machin was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1911. He started work at the age of 14 as an apprentice china painter at the Minton Pottery. During the Depression he learnt to sculpt at Stoke-on-Trent's Art School, which was...
's sculpture that appears on the Machin series. The same castles were used as for the 1955 series: Carrickfergus on a £1 green stamp, Caernarfon on the £1.50 brown, Edinburgh on the £2 blue and Windsor on the £5 brown. The broken grotto design was replaced by a white background, and was considered austere compared to the romantic approach of Lyndon Lamb.
Career
In 1992, the series was reissued with two changed elements, in order to fight counterfeiting. An elliptical perforationPerforation
A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes are called a perforation...
was added to the sides, and Optically Variable Ink
Optically Variable Ink
Optically variable ink is an anti-counterfeiting measure used on many major modern banknotes.The ink displays two distinct colors depending on the angle the bill is viewed at. The United States fifty-dollar bill, for example, uses color shifting ink for the numeral 50 so that it displays copper at...
(OVI), which appears green or gold depending on how it is viewed, was used to print the Queen's profile. The latter was no longer the Machin head with crown, but the monocolour profile created by Machin for commemorative stamps.
In 1995, the £1 Carrickfergus Castle stamp was reissued with a new denomination of three pounds, because inflation no longer justified the use of an expensive printing method like intaglio for the one pound value. A £1 Machin definitive stamp was created the same year, printed in a blue-violet metallic ink. On 9 March 1999, the second Castle series was replaced by four Machin stamps printed in intaglio from a gravure by Czesław Słania.