Great news! We have received an order from Ebay, where 37 GB embossed duty stamps with royal cyphers were purchased. This aligns with the database project to begin documenting more embossed stamps, and we also encourage all our readers and guests to submit photos and details of their collections of embossed stamps to robchernish99@gmail.com so we can continue to develop the database of surviving embossed stamps. While an ambitious project, it is believed that this project will eventually catch on and we will be able to put forth a considerable work on the subject. So without further adieu, let us show some images of these stamps so we can look at their values and the cyphers to determine what era they are from.

First, we have a set of stamps that are joined together, this means that the contract on the indenture required a few stamps to cover all the costs of duty. Depending on the die used for the embossed revenue stamps, solicitors would often have to create one, two, three, or even four stamps depending on the value of the contract. Each of the stamps is blue embossed, and are over 100-200 years old. Based on this estimate, these stamps are some of the oldest surviving relics in the form of stamps that have survived. Based on a recent search on Ebay in July, there are about 40 embossed stamps for sale. Some of the keywords used to find these stamps are:

• GB embossed revenue and duty stamps
• GB Blue embossed stamps with Royal Cyphers
• Revenue and Duty Stamps with Royal Cyphers

After poring over hundreds of listings, I am starting to get an idea of the market for these stamps, as well as some general numbers. While it is too early to make predictions about how many survived, the success of this project will depend on community buy-in and manual reporting of embossed stamps in personal collections. Right now, google has yet to populate the site in search engines and the topic may not be the hottest, but it is a long-term project, and the more stamps we showcase and document, the more successful the project will become.

So now, back to the blue embossed revenue stamps themselves. Here are the images of the items so we can look at the seals, dies, cyphers, and appreciate their historical design and importance.

What a haul! A total of 37 Great Britain embossed blue revenue and duty stamps with royal cyphers. The majority of these stamps are from the QV, Queen Victoria reign and have the QV cypher on the back with one King George 1, and 1 King George 3 cypher. These have all been included in the book.

And now to see the cyphers, as you can see, most of them are from the reign of Queen Victoria!

As you can see from the photos of the embossed stamps, the prices for each of the duty and revenue stamps is different. This depended on the total amount of the contract and was issued when payment for the contract was received. The King George 1 embossed stamp is baby blue and does not contain a cypher stamp. One of the embossed stamps also had the cypher removed and you can see how the tin of the escutcheon is showing on the backside. There is also a King George 4 cypher…..can you spot it?