TRINIDAD 1847-1868

Return To Catalogue - Trinidad 1869-1914 - Trinidad and Tobago

Note: on my website many of the pictures can not be seen! They are of course present in the cd's;
contact me if you want to purchase them: evert@klaseboer.com.

1847 The Lady Mc Leod stamp

  (5 c) blue

This stamp was issued on the steamship Lady McLeod, it carried letters from San Fernando de Trinidad to Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad). This privately issued stamp is the earliest stamp used in any British Colony and was issued in April 1847.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

I have only seen this stamp cancelled with the penstrokes as shown above. Cancelling devices don't seem to have been used on these stamps. They were either left uncancelled, received a pencancel or simply a piece was torn of to make them invalid. If my information is correct only 26 unused stamps are still in existence.

A forgery of this stamp on a letter:

I have seen two of these letters, with the same handwriting and the same adress, example of a forgery of such a letter:

(Forgery on a similar letter as above)

And a forgery made by Peter Winter:

(Peter Winter forgery, produced somewhere in the 1980's)

Could the above forged letter also have been made by Peter Winter?

Literature: 'The Private Ship Letter Stamps of the World, Part 1 The Caribbean ' by S.Ringström and H.E.Tester.

This forged cancel "TRINIDAD MY 27 1851" can be found in the Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries. I don't know on which stamps Fournier applied this forged cancel.

1852 Brittania seated, No value indicated, Imperforate

  (1 Penny) red
  (1 Penny) blue
  (1 Penny) brown
  (1 Penny) grey

A locally printed 1 p blue exists with straight diagionally crossing background lines:

The values in grey and red also exist printed locally (due to stamp shortages) in a very poor quality:

Similar stamps exist for Barbados and Mauritius.

Perforated

  (1 Penny) red

  HALF PENNY on (1 Penny) violet
  ONE PENNY on (1 Penny) red

Bisected stamp:

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Cancels:

Numeral cancels '1' and '2', circular date cancel and towncancel 'TRINIDAD'

Forgeries exist, examples:

There is a coloured line around these forgeries. Inside a white space can be found, before the background pattern starts. The cancel (always?) consists of a numeral cancel with '1' in the center. I've also seen the color grey of the above forgery set. These forgeries are often attributed to the forger Panelli, however they might have been made by Oneglia and only sold by Panelli. I've also seen these forgeries on bluish paper. The forger also made similar forgeries for Mauritius and Barbados:

(Trinidad forgery next to a similar forgery for Mauritius and Barbados)

Some other blotchy forgeries:

(There should be a white outline around the hair, which is absent in the above forgery)

Another forgery:

Forgeries, note the position of the foot, which is too high with respect to the "N" of "TRINIDAD".

Another blue forgery

Perforated brown forgery with too thin lettering and blotchy appearance.

Another black forgery.

Other primitive blue forgery, first image reduced size. The border is very strange.

A few very primitive forgeries.

Part of the page from the Fournier Album

In 'The Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries' a forgery of the red stamp can be found (imperforate) sold by Fournier. Apparently this forgery was not made by him, the text reads: 'Faux fabriques en Italie en 1920-1921 par la Maison V.E.U. à Gênes par un nouveau procédé' (forgeries made in Italy in 1920-21 by the house of V.E.U. in Genova with a new technique. So these forgeries were produced after Fournier had died.

1859 As before, but now with value indicated, perforated or imperforated

  4 p lilac
  4 p grey
  6 p green
  1 Sh grey
  1 Sh lilac
  1 Sh orange

Surcharged

(Reduced sizes)

  '1 d.' (red or black) on 6 p green
(exists bisected as in the pictures above)

For the specialist: these stamps have no watermark or watermark 'CC crown' or 'CA crown'. The perforation varies from 11 1/2 to 14.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Cancels

Numeral "1" cancel and "TRINIDAD" date cancel

(With "TOO-LATE" cancel)

Forgeries

Some forgeries seem to exist with "TRINIDAD" placed too low; there are ornaments above this words which do not exist in the genuine stamps. Examples:

Note the strange cancels on these stamps. Also note the strange "C" in the "SIX PENCE" value.

Other forgeries:

I've also seen this forgery with a cancel consisting of a lozenge with paralell lines inside, note the strange shape of the "S" of "SHILLING"

Two blur 1 Sh forgeries.

Forgery of the 1 Sh value with the "S" of "SHILLING" different.

Other forgeries

For issues Trinidad from 1869 to 1914 click here.

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer