The Tonga pictorial set of stamps were initially printed in 1897 on paper watermarked with multiple tortoises, Initial versions of the watermark have the turtle heads facing diagonally upright alternating from right to left. Later versions which are described as watermarked sideways have the turtle heads alternating from upright to downward (still at an angle). The set was in use until it was replaced with the same designs on paper watermarked Multiple Script CA in 1942 until it was replaced in 1953 with a new set.

During the course of this set, you will see the watermark changing as stated before along with multiple color shades of many values, three die changes in the 2d issues (see below), and perforation changes in the 1d, 2d, and 1/ issues. It is a very interesting set to study.

The pages are from my collection, and are identified by the Commonwealth, Gibbons, and Scott numbers in that order. The page images were scanned in a larger size and at a higher resolution so you can more easily see the details used in viewing them. Feel free to select the page and let it download to your screen and save it to your hard drive for viewing. If you are using a PC, selecting the page will typically open it in Microsoft Photo Viewer (or whatever you are using as your default). From there you can enlarge the size for more close-up viewing. If you are using a phone - go find a PC or a Mac. The images are 1200 pixels wide and you will go mad trying to view them on your phone.

Please be patient if it takes a few minutes for each page to load.

This article was written to help you identify your stamps.
Please feel free to ask a question, or suggest a correction.