Identifying stamps from the Jamaica King George V Keyplate issues is a matter of determining between two watermark options for the 6d stamps, and then sorting the color and paper color of the stamps. The image was used from 1912 until 1927, but it was effective replaced in 1919 with the Pictorial set.

If you have trouble determining the watermarks, try looking at them face down against black paper. The stamps watermarked Multiple Crown CA will have sans serif letters with a crown that is narrow and straight edged. The Multiple Script CA watermark has cursive letters and a crown that is more rounded. See the images of the two watermarks below for reference. They are shown as normally seen from the back. Since only the 1/2d and 6d issues were printed on paper watermarked Multiple Script CA, only those values will show the watermark information. All of the rest of the values are on paper watermarked Multiple Crown CA.

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. Please see these web site to view the various King George V era 3d yellow, 1/ green, and 5/ yellow backs. The 4d stamps would use the same paper as the 3d issues. 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. I do not agree with the color descriptions of every stamp, but they were copied as they were written for consistency purposes.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, definitive sets from this time period were issued very conservatively. Typical 5/ stamps from this time period were produced in a quantity of 20,000 to 30,000 stamps, so that should be expected for this set. If you have the quantities, please feel free to send them so they can be added to this article.

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 print quantity is 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 catalogues list these stamps by watermark, so you will note the order seems different than you might be used to seeing. For this article, the stamps were listed by value and in order of the date they were issued.

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.