The 1937 Long Coronation Issue of Newfoundland

Unitrade lists two line perfs under the basic Unitrade number, and then lists one comb perf under the sub-varieties. According to them, the two common line perforations are 13.7 and 14.1. However, my examination of over 500 mint stamps from this set reveals this to be incorrect. I have not found a single stamp measuring either 13.7 or 14.1.  85-90% of the mint stamps that I examined measured either 13.8 or 14.25. 13.9 was also encountered frequently, though it seems to be much less common on the low values than on the high values. As far as Unitrade values go on the 3c, 8c, 10c and 20c, there is either no premium associated with the comb perf., or it is a very modest premium. This makes very little sense on the 8c & 10c, which are still much scarcer in the comb perf, than their line perforated counterparts. However, on all the other values of the set, the comb perf. is worth much more than the more common line perf., with the 14c black having a Unitrade value of $20,000, making it one of Newfoundland's most valuable stamps. 

First day covers can be found with all the basic perforations, which provides evidence that they were all issued at the same time.  As stated in my earlier posts, you can generally identify the line perfs. very easily by looking at the corners of the stamps and seeing that the perforations are irregular, whereas the comb perforated stamps have corner perforations that are uniform in all four corners, and will line up with one another perfectly on all four sides when placed on top of one another. 

13.8, 13.9 and 14.25 are the three line measurements that I have found that seem to occur on both sides of the stamp. The other five perforating heads have only been found in compound line perforations that exist in several different combinations, as follows:

• 13.8 x 13.9: found on the 1c, 3c die 1, die 2, 7c, 8c, 10c, 14c, 15c, 20c, 24c, 25c and 48c
• 13.9 x 13.8: found on the 10c, and 24c.
• 13.8 x 14: found on the 1c, 7c, 8c, 10c, 14c, 20c, 24c, and 25c.
• 13.9 x 14: found on the 1c, 7c, 8c, 10c, 14c, 15c, 24c, and 48c.
• 13.9 x 14.1: found on the 7c,  and 14c.
• 14.2 x 14.25: found on the 1c, 8c, and 48c.
• 14.1 x 14.25: found on the 14c.
• 13.9 x 14.2: found on the 15c,.
• 14.25 x 14.2: found on the 24c and 48c
• 14.24 x 14.4: found on the 24c.

The comb perforation appears to vary as well. I have found the following measurements on various values:

• 13.5: found on the 10c.
• 13.4: found on the 3c die 1, die 2, 8c, 10c, 15c, 20c, and 24c.
• 13.3: found on the 3c die 1, and 10c.
• 13.3 x 13.4: found on the 3c die 1, 3c die 2, 8c, and 10c.
• 13.4 x 13.3: found on the 3c die 1, die 2, 10c, and 20c.
• 13.5 x 13.4: found on the 20c,

I have identified 20 different perforations on this issue including the three basic ones. If all 11 values exist with all 20 different perfs, then you could easily collect over 200 different stamps. That is before you consider any shade or paper varieties.

Why so many? And why have they been overlooked for almost 80 years? With respect to the first question, I have a plausible theory, and it has to do with the circumstances around which this set was produced. When King George VI's brother Edward VIII ascended the throne in January 1936, the plan was to hold the Coronation on May 12, 1937.  However, Edward abdicated on December 11, 1936, just about six months in advance of that date. You would think that when George VI took over, that his Coronation would be postponed until say March or April 1938. However, such was not the case. It was decided to go ahead with the original date, which only gave all parties 6 months to prepare for the event. The Crown Agents had decided to issue an omnibus set for the Coronation, and it is easy for collectors to forget what an incredible feat it was to have a new set, designed, engraved, printed for every colony and distributed to every colony in time for the actual Coronation. Remember that all of this had to be coordinated when there were no computers, no internet, no fax machines and so on. So what this meant was that all of the printing companies that had regular contracts with the Crown Agents - Waterlow, De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson, were working flat out on omnibus common design.

Now the government of Newfoundland had decided to have Perkins Bacon prepare this issue as an additional contribution to the celebratory efforts. Once again, Perkins would have had very little time to prepare this issue, and in all likelihood they found that while three or four different perforating machines was almost sufficient to enable them to keep up with the demand and fill the order they had received from the Postmaster General, it wasn't quite sufficient. They had to employ other machines to perforate some of the printed sheets. While the calibration of these machines was very similar, it was not quite the same, which is why we see some of these very scarce compound line perforations. That's my theory on how there were so many perforations.

Why have they been overlooked? I believe that the reason is that very few collectors are accustomed to measuring perforations with a greater degree of accuracy than the nearest quarter perf. When you are only measuring to the nearest quarter or the nearest half, then you can have a crooked perf gauge and you will still get the right measurement. You don't have to line everything up perfectly. However, when you want to distinguish between 13.8 and 13.9, you have to be extremely careful with the gauge, and it is my belief that this is not something that collectors are accustomed to. So they simply didn't notice that there were additional varieties beyond 13.8, 14.25 and 13.4 comb.

So which perfs are common, and which are scarce? I can give a tentative answer by value, based on what I have examined to date:

Common Perforations

1c: 13.8 and 14.25.
3c: all the comb perfs, but especially 13.4, line 13.8 and line 14.25.
7c: 13.8 and 14.25.
8c: 13.9, 14.25 and comb 13.4.
10c: 13.8, 14.25, 13.9, and comb 13.4.
14c: 14.25, 13.8, and 13.9.
15c: 13.8, 13.9, 14.25 and comb 13.4.
20c: 13.9, 13.8, 14.25 and comb 13.4 & 13.4 x 13.3.
24c: 13.8 and 14.25.
25c: 13.8, 14.25 and 13.9.
48c: 13.8, 13.9 and 14.25.

Scarce to Rare Perforations Other Than the 7c and 14c Comb Perforations

1c: 13.9, 13.8 x 13.9, 13.8 x 14, 13.9 x 14, 14.2x 14.25 and any comb perf.
3c: 13.9 and 13.8 x 13.9.
7c: 13.9 x 14, 13.8 x 14, 13.9, 13.8 x 13.9, and 13.9 x 14.1.
8c: 13.8, 14.2 x 14.25, 13.8 x 13.9, 13.9 x 14, and comb 13.3 x 13.4.
10c: 13.9 x 14, 13.8 x 14, 13.8 x 13.9, 13.9 x 13.8, and all the comb perfs except 13.4.
14c: 14.2 x 14.25, 14.1 x 14.25, 13.9 x 14.1, 13.9 x 14, 13.8 x 13.9, and 13.8 x 14.
15c: 13.8 x 13.9, 13.9 x 14.2, 13.9 x 14, and any comb perf. other than 13.4.
20c: 13.8 x 13.9, 13.8 x 14 and comb 13.5 x 13.4.
24c: 14.25 x 14.4, 13.9, 13.8 x 13.9, 13.8 x 14, 13.9 x 13.8 and any comb perf.
25c: 13.8 x 14, 13.8 x 13.9, and any comb perf.
48c: 14.25 x 14.4, 13.8 x 14, 14.2 x 14.25, 13.9 x 14, 13.8 x 13.9 and any comb perf.

As you can see, this is quite the list. There would seem to be between 2 and 5 different shades of most values, so that even if there are only 34 different stamps in terms of perforations, that list can probably be at least tripled to over 100 stamps, and possibly many more than that if the compound line perforations exist. 

Now, how noticeable are these shade differences? Most are quite subtle and will not show up as readily in scans as they do in real life. However, I will attempt to illustrate some of these by overlaping the stamps in question, which should make the differences more apparent:

Let's start with the 3c:

Moving from left to right we have the dull ultramarine, the deep ultramarine, the Royal blue and the dull Royal blue. The Royal blue is quite distinct from the other three, and even more so in the flesh. It is a brighter, richer colour than the deep ultramarine. With the other three shades you have to look carefully. If you do this you will see that the stamp on the left is paler and duller than the stamp to its right, which in turn, is ever so slightly duller than the Royal blue. The dull Royal blue lacks the bright tone of the ultramarine shades and is also quite distinct. 

Now, for the 8c:

This is perhaps the most difficult one to see accurately in the scan. On the left we have the brownish black, then the agate, and finally the olive black. The scan makes it look though, as if the stamp on the left is more greenish than the one on the right, when the opposite is the case in real life. The agate is a slightly lighter colour that is an almost perfect blend of the other two colours.

Now, let's take a look at the 15c:

On the left we have deep green, then deep bright green, deep bronze green and deep olive green. If you look at the shading in the sky, you should be able to see that the second stamp from the left is clearly brighter than the one on the left. Beyond that, it is difficult to see much of a difference between the other three shades. The deep bronze green contains a little black, and a very tiny hint of olive, whereas the deep olive green contains the tiniest hint of olive, without the hint of black. However, these differences are extremely minute, and you could probably ignore them and just include the first two shades in a specialized collection.

Here is another scan showing the two most extreme differences:

On the next two values the differences are a bit more stark for at least 2 of the shades. Let's start with the 24c:

These varieties as well as the fish hook on the 1c, are illustrated below:

This variety occurs on position 23. If you look closely at the open mouth of the fish, you can see a heavy line protruding from it, which intersects a vertical line in the middle of the mouth forming a cross. If you go back to the large scan of the 1c shown at the beginning of this post, you will see that there is no such cross on the normal stamp. 

This variety appears as a heavy dot of colour on the King's lip.

This image is a bit blurry, but this variety shows up as a white area on the underside of the dog, which resembles a penis. Ordinarily this entire area is solid black. 

This variety shows as a weak vertical line protruding from the roof of the second house from the left on the cape. 

These are the known constant varieties that have been documented over the years. However, there could be others that are just waiting to be discovered by the observant philatelist, who also possesses the patience to seek them out. 

You can access his webpage here:

None of these are priced in Unitrade, but I would expect them to be worth $30-$40 each, just like the re-entries that are priced on this issue. 

Trimble illustrates, these three re-entries, but also lists many others, some of which have been plated, and others which have not:

• Die 2, position 34, which shows some marks in the "N" of "Newfoundland" as well as some doubling of the "E" of postage. 
• Die 1, position unknown, which shows doubling in the lower right corner.
• Die 1, position unknown, which shows the entire right frameline doubled.
• Die 1, position unknown, which shows doubling of the outer frameline above "wfound" and the upper right outer and inner framelines.
• Die 1, position unknown, which shows doubling of the upper left horizontal frameline.
• Die 1, position unknown which shows a misplaced entry through the "R" of "Corner".

You can view all of these re-entries here:

Trimble illustrates all of these re-entries, and you can view them here:

Trimble illustrates these two as well as one from position 96, which is quite weak, and appears to show only slight doubling of the lower left frame.

You can view these re-entries here:

Trimble has examined a full sheet of 100 of this stamp and notes that these are the only two re-entries that he has seen. He illustrates both of them here:

You can access the full listing, which contains links to scans of several of the items here: