Identifying the Cayman Islands King George V 1912 issues is a matter of sorting the color, and paper for many of the issues. The keyplate design was new for this issue. The stamps were issued beginning in 1912 and continued to be used until they were replaced by a new design in 1921. All of the stamps were printed on paper watermarked Multiple Crown CA, so it is not a factor in sorting the stamps. Unlike many of the King George V Keyplate issues, these stamps are all Die I, so you will not need to compare the Dies. The stamps are shown with the values together in order of when they were printed.

Color shades can be difficult to sort, especially when you only have a couple of stamps to compare. They typically occur when the stamps are printed after the initial printing. Today we have computer color matching, but during this time it was done by hand with components that might differ from the original ink formula. I like to place the stamps against black and then white paper and view them under a strong light. You really need to look at the back of the stamps to see the paper colors clearly. The 3d and 10/ value backs are shown next to the stamp. The images shown attempt to show the colors, but they do not show them as well as viewing the stamps in person. So use the images as relative indicators.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, definitive sets from this time period were issued very conservatively. According to Peter Fernbank's book "King George V Key Plates of the Imperium Postage and Revenue Design", the three printings of the 10/ values ranged from 1,560 to 2,520 stamps, with a total for the three printings of 5,880 total 10/ stamps. So this is a pretty conservative printing.

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 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.

The images were saved in a larger size and at a higher resolution so you can more easily see the details used in sorting them. Please be patient if it takes a few minutes for this page to load.

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