Top 10 Rare King George V Stamps

Britain’s early stamp issues are the envy of the world, we invented the postage stamp after all, and the designs issued during the reign of King George V rank amongst the finest GB stamps money can buy.

1 – The 1922-27 £25 Red & Black

The crisp, beautiful Kenya and Uganda red and black stamp was expensive the moment it left the printers in the 1920s, with a denomination of £25, and almost a century later it sold for over 1,000 times its original value.

In truth, stamps with this very high value wouldn't have been used for postage, but rather revenue or tax purposes. That means the number of stamps issued with this denomination would have been far lower than lesser values, and so today naturally attract higher sale prices at auctions.

An example of the 1922-27, £25 Red & Black was sold by Robert A Siegel in 2014 for £28,792. The US auctioneers described the stamp was being 'lightly hinged, dazzling bright colours and crisp impression on immaculate white paper, uncharacteristically well centred EXTREMELY FINE.'

Before going on to describe the specimen as 'a fabulous example of the rare £25 king George V that ranks among the finest known examples.'

2 – 1924 Stamp Sketch

Can a list of George V classics include a stamp, or rather stamp sketch, that doesn't feature the King at all? We think so.

In this example, we're treated to the hand-painted sketch of George and the Dragon by illustrator Harold Nelson, which was intended for the 1d value of the stamps marking 1924's British Empire Exhibition at Wembley.

Remarkably it was rejected, and Nelson would have to wait five years for the design to be resurrected for the 1929 Postal Union Conference stamp.

The blue and black sketch, on card (154 x 130mm) and signed by Nelson himself, sold at Grosvenor Philatelic Auctions for £2,400.

3 – Early 1930s Australian Error

Our next King George treasure is from Australia and is an error of sorts, since the 'SO' overprint is inverted; it should actually read 'OS' for 'Official Service'. These stamps were, as the overprint subtly suggests, for the use of Commonwealth and State Government agencies and were generally in use in the early 1930s.

The government departments obtained the overprinted stamps in bulk and thanks to the 'OS marking there was no danger of them being used for private postage.

Spink sold this example as part of the sale of the Chartwell Collection of Australian States and Commonwealth in May 2018.

The 1932 2d 'golden scarlet' stamp has the inverted overprint and is cancelled by part 'air mail saves time' machine slogan. It's said to be the only recorded example and sold for £32,000.

Suggested article: Top 5 Most Valuable British Stamps

4 – 1911 First Official UK Aerial Post

Any King George V collection should include an airmail cover flown in 1911 on the first official UK aerial post. The historic flights took place between Hendon and Windsor, and a huge amount of mail was taken onboard to mark the occasion, giving collectors a range of commemorative covers – the majority featuring a George V stamp – to collect.

Postal history dealer and expert Bill Barrell recently offered a lovely set of six covers for £1,250, each with a different London postmark, and 'cancelled with mostly superb strikes' of the 'FIRST UNITED KINGDOM/AERIAL POST LONDON' die 5 hand stamps, for the six different days of this event.

The covers were all addressed to one 'SJ Cardnell' who happened to be a Postal Clerk at Hendon Airport responsible for franking mail for the flights, no wonder it the set was described as 'a superb souvenir of the event'.

5 – Green 1/2d of 1924

A green 1/2d of 1924, which has been doubly printed. This particularly rare and striking error was sold as part of the headline-grabbing 'William H. Gross Collection of Great Britain Important Postage Stamps' sale (by Shreves Philatelic Galleries) back in 2007, when it fetched just over £8,000.

6 – Bertram Mackennal’s ‘Large Pen and Ink’ Essay

Having artwork for a stamp design is a fantastic way to tell the story of a stamp's creation, and this is a great example, showing artist Bertram Mackennal's 'large pen and ink' essay.

The item, offered by Stanley Gibbons for £2,950, shows Britannia and a galleon in the design and the central vignette with a rough pencil sketch of a three-quarter face like the Downey head stamp design.

According to the stamp dealers the design was rejected 'as it did not include a "Lion Couchant" as directed'. Apparently, this gem was discovered in Mackennal's estate after his death.

7 – 1913 dull blue-green £1

Mention King George V stamps to most collectors and they may start talking about seahorses, that's thanks to the iconic design that adorned higher value KGV stamps for much of his reign.

So naturally any George V collector will seek out the best examples of the stamp they can find. This unmounted example of a 1913 dull blue-green £1 is a great start, with the stamp slap-bang in the centre and the design looking fresh.

8 – 1922 2c Green

The King is shown dressed in his Admiral of the Fleet uniform. These are Canada’s first definitive stamps which were issued from 1911 until 1938, making them one of the nation’s most famous stamps.

Take into consideration the tumultuous period in which they were used, and the stamps offer collectors a huge number of varieties to look for.

This block of ten of the 2c green is from 1922 and was sold for the relatively affordable price of $325 (approximately £248) by Siegel.

9 – Jamaican Stamp

This a wartime example from Jamaica, touching on the King’s reign during the war to end all wars… which sadly didn’t end all wars but did leave collectors with countless varieties.

The ‘WAR STAMP’ overprint on the second of our pair is missing the ‘S’. This example fetched a more affordable £157 in a Great Britain and British Commonwealth sale by Sparks Auctions of Ottawa.

10 – Indian Postage

Finally, with any collection of British origins, the nation’s imperial past cannot be ignored.

Here we visit Kuwait and show a lovely example sold as part of a complete set of twenty, for $900 (approximately £689) by Robert A Siegel.

Overprinted Indian stamps were in use in Kuwait for many years, from April 1923, following an 1899 treaty with the British which saw the consul handle mail.

Such context can really add to a stamp collection and would no doubt intrigue casual onlookers who may believe a stamp collection is little more than small pictures in a row. It’s anything, as a King George V collection of any kind, collated with budgets big or small, will prove!

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