Identifying the Barbados 1921 issues is primarily a matter of determining the watermark of the 1/ issues and a few color changes. The design is a smaller version of the one that was used in the 1916 set, so size would be a third factor in identifying these stamps.

Unlike modern stamps which are issued in the millions, sets like this one were issued very conservatively. This set was issued from 1921 until 1924. The 2/ and 3/ issues of this set were issued in a quantity of 29,640 and 29,040 respectively.

The quantities printed are from "The Stamps of Barbados" by Edmund A. Bayley. Mr. Bayley indicates that there were from one to six printings of values from this set. Some of the printings resulted in color differences which are listed in some of the catalogues.

Most of the stamps were printed on paper watermarked Multiple Script CA, but the 3d, 4d and 1/ were watermarked with the older Multiple Crown CA paper. So you can find the 1/ issue with both watermark, so you will need to compare at least this issue. Keep an eye open for stamps that have an inverted or reversed watermark. They are pretty scarce. The watermark examples shown below are how they are viewed when you look at the stamp from the back. So anything different is a watermark variety. I like to view the stamp against black paper under twin spot lamps. It makes most watermarks stand out without having to use watermark fluid.

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 is from the Commonwealth Catalogue. Please contact Bridger & Kay to obtain a copy of this publication.

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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.