A remarkable display of the Great Britain £5 orange

A remarkable display of the Great Britain £5 orange

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The £5 orange of 1882 is often the pride and joy of many a Great Britain collection and a sadly unfilled gap in countless more. It started life in 1877 as a Telegraph stamp with its range of die proofs, colour trials and specimen overprints. The plate was modified for the £5 Postage stamp by removing the word TELEGRAPHS. The resulting blanks were completed with ‘POSTAGE’ using a second plate – making it the first 2-colour GB high value, something not repeated until 1977.

Initial printings were on blued paper to a greater or lesser degree. White paper was used from 1889. Both papers have a variety of ‘Specimen’ and ‘Cancelled’ handstamps.

In its later printings, the plate started to develop defects and shows several frame distortions and breaks. Some of these are better than the well known TA and JC frame breaks of the £1 value. The display includes examples of several such breaks, two of which were used for the illustrations in the latest Stanley Gibbons QV specialised catalogue. Several of these varieties are progressive and illustrate the gradual deterioration of the plate.

The display ends with two items that did not progress to become issued stamps. One of these is unique.

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