NEWFOUNDLAND 224bii NSSC207b 1933 24c QE I GILBERT P13.8 INVERTED WMK MPH CV$150

Twenty-four cent 'Queen Elizabeth I' stamp from the Sir Humprey Gilbert issue of 1933, engraved, Coat of Arms watermark* - position 3 (normal is position 1). See scans for detailed information concerning this watermark. Line perf 13.8x13.8 - listed as 14.0x14.0 in most catalogues. The 7c, 9c, 10c, 14c, 20c, and 32c values also exist perf 13.8x13.8. All values exist comb perf. 13.4x13.4 - listed as 13.5x13.5 in most catalogues. A table indicating the number of stamps issued by value and perforation is provided. Approximately 30% of original gum disturbed by previous hinging. Sound, fault-free example of this Newfoundland stamp.Newfoundland stamp.

The normal position of the watermark for this stamp as viewed from the gum side is with the top of the Coat of Arms shield to the left and the caribou* facing up - this is listed as watermark position number 1 in the 2023 edition of the Walsh Newfoundland Specialized Stamp Catalogue (NSSC). The watermark on the stamp being offered here has the shield facing to the right and the caribou* facing up - watermark position 3 and inverted compared to the normal watermark. This watermark variety is listed as 207b in the 2023 edition of the Walsh Newfoundland Specialized Stamp Catalogue with a value of $300.00 USD for a stamp with original gum in mint previously hinged condition.

The 24c value shows the only portrait of Queen Elizabeth I used on a stamp of the British Empire. "The design" ... "was based on the famous Darnley Portrait painted by an unknown Flemish or Italian painter around 1575. It was named for the First Earl of Darnley, John Bligh who once owned the painting. The portrait is the source of the famous face pattern called the Mask of Youth which was used for authorized portraits of Elizabeth for decades afterward. Recent research has shown that the colors have faded. The oranges and browns would have been crimson red in Elizabeth's time. Today the painting hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London." (quoted text from the book Newfoundland Postage Stamp Designs by Cliff Brown).

Sir Humphrey Gilbert was an English adventurer, soldier, navigator and colonizer. Born in 1539 he was the half-brother to Sir Walter Raleigh, and was educated at Eton and Oxford with the intention of entering the law. In 1566 he petitioned Queen Elizabeth I for permission to seek the "Northwest" passage to the Orient. Finally after waiting for 12 years, he was granted a charter. He sold his estates to outfit this first expedition which unfortunately was unsuccessful. Despite the initial failure, by 1583 he had equipped another fleet of 5 ships (Raleigh, Delight, Golden Hind, Swallow and Squirrel) which sailed from Plymouth, England on June 11, 1583. After a voyage of nearly 2 months, he arrived off the present site of St. John's on August 3, 1583. Two days later he 'began the plantation of the first English Colony in North America'. Continuing further exploration to the south , he lost one of 3 ships near Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and on the homeward voyage to England, Sir Humphrey Gilbert drowned when his ship the "Squirrel" sank in a storm off the Azores.

The dies for the 14 stamps in the set were engraved, plates prepared and the stamps printed by Perkins Bacon for the contractors John Dickinson and Co.

*Note" Many people have assumed that the animal on the top of the Cost of Arms shield is either a caribou or a moose (both of which are quite common in Newfoundland). In the registered design granted in 1637 to the Colony of Newfoundland by Royal Letters Patent, the heraldic description for the Crest reads: "On a Wreath Or and Gules an Elk passant proper." (see attached article by Stanley C. Calder in BNATopics from October 1949) However, this still doesn't clear up the matter. Europeans refer to "elk" what North Americans call "moose". Moose became extinct in Great Britain 1,000s of years before the original Newfoundland Coat of Arms was designed and granted. Therefore it is not likely that the original designer used a "moose" as the model for the "Elk" on the shield. And since "caribou" were largely unknown to European royalty as well, just what was the animal used as a model for the Coat of Arms? In the British Isles, many people refer to some of the larger species of "deer" as "elk". This would probably be most particular to the royalty in reference to Red Deer and Fallow Deer held for their exclusive use on their country estates. Fallow deer were introduced by the Normans into southern England in the first century A.D. for hunting (a sport more or less reserved for nobility). The Fallow "deer" is the only species of deer other than moose with palmated antlers. I believe the animal shown on the Newfoundland Coat of Arms is neither a "moose", "caribou" or an "elk" but is in fact a Fallow "deer".