Great Britain 1936 ½-1½d King Edward VIII Definitives (Watermark Inverted) imprimaturs, SG457/9var.
A superb unmounted mint, with full original gum, set of three imperforate imprimaturs showing watermark inverted, with "NPM IMPRIMATUR" handstamps on reverse.
Provenance: Ex. National Postal Museum Archive sales (1984/5).
A very rare set, particularly with the inverted watermark, of the only stamps issued during the short reign of King Edward VIII from the first approved printing sheet, released by the National Postal Museum .
When Edward became king of the United Kingdom in January 1936, he made it clear he planned to marry Wallis. When he was told by Parliament this was impossible, he abdicated in December of that year. The couple lived out the rest of their lives in a whirl of parties and foreign travel.
The profile portrait chosen for the King Edward VIII stamp issue was taken by Hugh Cecil's studio. The design was suggested by H.J. Brown, an 18-year-old man, and sent in February 1936 to the postal authorities. The stamps were printed by Harrison and Sons printers.
The only graphic decorations on the stamp were the crown, the denomination in the upper corners, and the word "POSTAGE" at the bottom. Brown's project, the simplest of all submissions, placed the words "POSTAGE" and "REVENUE" on the lateral sides.
The Post Office wrote to Mr Brown telling him that his proposed design could not be used. After the stamp came out, clearly using Brown's design, Brown's father issued a statement regretting the Post Office's deceit.
Watermarked with a crown and "E8R", the 1⁄2d green, the 1+1⁄2d brown and the 2+1⁄2d blue stamps were issued on 1 September 1936, and the one penny red on 14 September.
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