Engraved in taille-douce, varieties as above, watermarked with a star, which is usually very distinct. There is a square ornament in each corner of the stamp, and the lower corner of each of the upper ornaments touches the outline of the oval, opposite to the C and N of CEYLON, but neither of them encroaches across the outline. The coronet is composed of alternate crosses pattée and things which look like shamrocks, though the latter may be some leaf or flower emblematic of the island. The last cross and the last shamrock, towards the back of the head, are smaller than the rest, or rather placed on a lower level; and the coil of hair at the back of the head stands up high above these last two ornaments. The Queen’s forehead is distinctly convex or rounded, and the lower lip does not project so far as the upper one. There are two curls of hair, of almost equal length, hanging down from the back of the coronet; the outer one comes down almost to the level of the heavy shading of the base of the neck. Following the curve of the word CEYLON, there will be seen two lines of white dots, formed by spaces in the lathe-work of the background, but they are not very prominent; and inside these again there are two other lines of dots, a little less distinct. There are only eight jewels, of various shapes, to be seen in the lower band of the coronet. Inside each end of the POSTAGE label there is a small, eight-pointed star, and, from each corner of the label, two oblique lines run towards the star, so that each end of the said label looks like an incomplete miniature copy of the corner-ornaments of the old English black (and red) 1d. stamps.

Engraved in taille-douce, on stout, white wove paper, varieties as above. The Queen’s head is on a ground of crossed, oblique lines, the said lines being wavy. The outline of this oval of crossed lines can be seen all the way round, even near the top of the chignon. The rest of this central compartment is filled in with fine, parallel, horizontal lines, all very regular; and nine of these lines can be counted above the top of the T of POSTAGE, including the top outline; and there are eight of these lines between the bottom of the oval and the bottom of the inner frame. The ornaments on the coronet are two crosses pattére, and two fleurs-de-lys, alternately one of each. The front cross pattée is in profile, and there is a colored line drawn down it, close to the front edge. If prolonged downwards, this colored line would cut the pearl below it almost exactly into two equal parts. There is a similar pearl below each of the other ornaments; they are slightly graduated in size, the front one being the largest, and the fourth and last one the smallest, being not much more than a half-pearl. The front pearl projects noticeably beyond the profile of the front cross pattée. There are 20 lines of shading down the back of the neck, and the whole of the rest of the face and neck is entirely covered with dots, except the lower lip. The face has a pleasing expression, the chin curves well forward, and there is a very distinct hollow between the chin and the lower lip. The white octagonal line, surrounding the central design, has all its angles and corners sharp, and not rounded at all.

Engraved in taille-douce, like the 4d. just described, varieties as above. The details are the same as in the genuine 4d.

This, like the forged 4d., is an excellent counterfeit. My specimens are all unperforated. Engraved in taille-douce on moderately stout, hard, white wove paper, watermarked with a crown as before.

The crossed, oblique lines, in the oval ground, behind the Queen’s head, are straight, as in the forged 4d. The outline of this oval can be traced all the way round in this counterfeit. There are 8 horizontal lines above the T of POSTAGE, and 7 below the bottom of the oval. The left- hand cross pattée on the coronet has a line on it like the genuine, but the line slopes too much, and is drawn only along the top arm of the cross, instead of right down to the pearl. The pearl itself, in all my specimens, happens to be covered by the postmark, but, as far as I can make out, it does not project. The other pearls are only partly outlined, and thus run into the ornaments above them. There seem to be only 19 lines of shading down the back of the neck, and they are very scratchy and irregular, whereas, in the genuine, they are the exact continuations of the rows of dots across the neck. There does not seem to be any shading on either lip. The eye is looking rather downward, instead of straight forward. The mouth, chin, the expression of the face, etc., are all very like those of the forged 4d.; but there is a strong, dark outline to the front of the profile, from the forehead to the chin, which does not exist, either in the genuine or the forged 4d. In the genuine 9d., the curl at the back of the head curves slightly outwards, so as to point directly towards the top corner of the last E of PENCE; in this forgery, the curl hangs almost straight downwards, so as to point distinctly towards the C of PENCE. The Queen’s chin is not quite so retreating as in the forged 4d., and there is some indication of a slight hollow between the lower lip and the chin.

Engraved in taille-douce, on stout, rather hard, yellowish-white wove paper, watermarked with a star. The lines of the design stand out only very slightly from the paper. The Queen’s head is on an oval of crossed oblique lines, so closely set as to appear almost solid, unless looked at with the microscope; the lines are wavy. The oval is outlined on the left side, but on the right side it seems to melt almost imperceptibly into the next portion of the design, which is slightly lighter in color, and consists of horizontal lines, rather thick, perfectly regular and parallel, and placed very close together. In the portion above POSTAGE, there seem to be seven of these horizontal lines, and eight in the portion below the neck. The front point of the neck does not touch the edge of the oval. POSTAGE is on a solid label, but the label is hardly any darker than the rest of the background. The engine-turning in the frame which contains name and value-labels is not continuous, but is interrupted, each side, by a set of (about five) short, thick horizontal lines, serving to join the angles of the outer and inner frames together. Below this, on each side, but especially noticeable on the left side, the engine-turning, besides the usual fine lines, has a lattice-work of thick lines. This lattice-work on the left side reaches to the beginning of the value-label; there are two thick lines running down from right to left, and three from left to right. The right side is similar, but not so distinct. These broad lines appear to be laid over the fine lines of the engine-turning. The profile of the Queen is not outlined. The name and value-labels are also not outlined, being formed, apparently, by cutting away the engine-turning of the background. The stamps are set very close together horizontally, being barely three- quarters of a millimeter apart. (I do not know whether they are equally close together vertically.)

Engraved in épargne, on wove paper, varieties as above. The letters of CEYLON are a considerable distance apart (3/4 mm., or more), and the O of that word is circular, with a dark, circular center. The E of ONE has its central tongue much shorter than the upper and lower limbs. The Y of PENNY has its arms widely spread open; and the whole inscription, ONE HALF PENNY, is in very clearly-cut block lettering. The dark base of the neck, where it is cut away, extends from back to front, but it is, of course, of varying width, and, in the widest part, six dark horizontal lines can be
seen, counting both upper and lower outlines. The back outline of the neck, from the base to the hair, stands out prominently from the background. Of the horizontal lines in the background, seven may be counted, from the top of the central circle to the front point of the coronet. The easiest test is the curl of hair hanging from the chignon. This curl hangs down perfectly straight, so that, if it were lengthened, it would touch the right side of the G of POSTAGE. I am not able to give any further tests, as the only counterfeit that I possess is very faint, and partly covered by the post- mark, so that very little of the design is clear.

Engraved in épargne, on white wove paper, CC, perf. 13. This need not delay us very long, as the forgery is decidedly poor, compared with the very clear-cut original. The shading on the nose
does not reach to the front edge, leaving a narrow line of white all down the profile of it. The lower lip is of normal shape. A considerable portion of the ear is plainly visible. The ornaments on the coronet are: pearl, thistle, pearl, shamrock, pearl, thistle, pearl. The three diamond-shaped jewels in the lower part of the coronet are distinct. The band of the coronet at the back of the head contains 5 lines running along it, including the two outlines. The horizontal lines of shading on which the head is placed, are beautifully drawn and quite clear; they do not come to the edge of the containing-circle, but leave a ring of white between them and the circular outline, quite as broad as the next ring of white, which runs under CEYLON and above POSTAGE. There are 14 horizontal lines, from the top of the central circle to the top of the chignon, the uppermost curl of the chignon reaching to the top edge of the fifteenth line; and there are 43 similar lines from the bottom of the circle to the tip of the curl below the chignon, the curl touching the forty-fourth line. The front peak of the base of the neck comes to the very edge of the horizontal lines, and the lowest line of shading on the front of the neck, runs very nearly to the front of the peak. The letters of CEYLON are very clear, and so are those of POSTAGE. The R of FORTY is not much more than 1/4 mm. from the end of the label.

Engraved in épargne, on fairly stout, hard, white wove paper, watermark CC, perf. 14, as above.

The diamond-shaped jewels, along the base of the coronet, stand out well from it, as in the 3d. of the last issue. The front pearl on the coronet points to the right side of the O of CEYLON. The horizontal lines of the background do not show through either the first or second pearl. After the first pearl there is a thistle, after the second pearl a shamrock, and after the third pearl another thistle. The band at the back of the coronet, which passes from the top of the ear to the back of the head, under the chignon, shows three clear dark lines along it, in addition to its two outlines. The top curl of the chignon is a sort of arch, with a good deal of white showing on the left side; the bottom curl hangs down very little lower than the level of the bottom of the band of the coronet behind the head; indeed, it only reaches down far enough to touch the second horizontal line of the background, below the bottom corner of the said band. The face and bust are shaded all over, except the front of the forehead; the eyebrow is formed by six strong, parallel curved lines. The horizontal lines of the central oval do not touch the dark line of the said oval anywhere, but stop short, leaving a narrow white space, of equal width all round. The bottom of the S of POSTAGE is no nearer to the outline below it than any of the other letters, and the vertical stroke of the T of that word is not carried beyond the cross-bar.