The De La Rue 'key plate' designs for the stamps of the British colonies

Abstract

The introduction to Stanley Gibbons' British Commonwealth catalogue, under the heading "Colonial Types - Types of the General Plates used by Messrs De La Rue & Co. for printing British Colonial Stamps", illustrates two designs prepared by that firm, known respectively as the "Victorian Key Type" and the "Georgian Key Type". What is meant by a Key Type design? Briefly, it is a bade design from which plates are prepared for the printing of the stamps of more than one country, where only the title and the value expression differ. There is nothing unique about this. Gibbons' 'Simplified' catalogue lists Key Type designs for France and for its overseas possessions, and for those of Germany, Portugal and Spain, the 'Crown' Key Type of Portugal for use in Angola appearing as early as 1870. [excerpt]