Queen Victoria 1856-1864

The Queen Victoria stamps issued between 1856 and 1864 were printed on yellowish-to-white paper and had a perforation of 14. The stamps were designed by De La Rue & Co., England and measured 22 1/2 mm x 18 3/4 mm (smaller than the British counterparts).

All designs were engraved on steel to create dies. All designs carried the head of the Queen within an oval frame with an outer squarish frame. The printing method was by typography or surface painting. Each sheet consisted of 4 panes, each pane with 80 stamps, making a total of 320 stamps on one sheet. The watermarking included ‘GOVERNMENT OF INDIA’ at the top and ‘EAST INDIA POSTAGE’ at the bottom of each pane. The vertical margins carried the watermark ‘GOVERNMENT OF INDIA – EAST INDIA POSTAGE’.

Different colours were used from 1855 onwards, black (1855), orange (1858), yellow buff (1859), dull pink (1860), and yellow (1863). As requested by the Director-General, the printers adhered to yellow buff from 1860. The denominations carried 2 annas, 4 annas, and 8 annas. Imperforate copies of the stamps exist, probably originating from the proof sheets delivered to the Government of India and later siphoned off to be sold to collectors. Forgeries of the imperforate stamps are known to exist as well.