Identifying the Cayman Islands King Edward VII 1907 issues is a matter of determining the watermark for the 1/ issues and the colors for a few other stamps. The keyplate design was modified to include usage for both Postage and Revenue. The stamps were initially issued in 1907 using paper watermarked Multiple Crown CA, except for the 1/ and 10/ issue which were watermarked Crown CA. The 1/ issue was reprinted in 1909 on paper watermarked Multiple Crown CA. The stamps were used until they were replaced by a new design of King George V issues in 1912.

If you have trouble determining the watermarks on these stamps, try looking at them face down against black paper. The stamps watermarked Crown CA will always be centered fairly well on the stamp, and the design does not repeat, so even if you can not see the entire watermark, the CA will always be toward the bottom, instead of letters to the sides for the watermark Multiple Crown CA. See the images of the two watermarks below for reference. They are shown as they are normally seen from the back.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, definitive sets from this time period were issued very conservatively. The 4d issues was printed in a quantity of 2,400 stamps. The 1/ issue was printed in a quantity of 6,000 for the initial Crown CA printing. The 10/ issue was printed in a quantity of 3,000 stamps.

The catalog numbers are from the 1980 Commonwealth Five Reigns Catalogue (CW), 2013 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue (SG) and the 2011 Scott catalog (ST). The description, print quantities, and dates are from the Commonwealth Catalogue. Please contact Bridger & Kay to obtain a copy of this publication. You can access the other publishers using the "Links to British Colonial Stamp Sites" at the bottom of this page.

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