First Transitional Issues

Barely legible impressions often seen in early 1857 prompted a desire to eliminate the bluing.  The following is a typical poor impression.

This led to experimentation in which an attempt to remove the bluing took place.  The printings of the Perforated Star Issues made between about October 1856 and March 1857 are extremely interesting as they can be regarded as marking the first phase of the attempts made by the printers to eliminate the bluing of the paper to obtain a constant shade of color of the stamps.  The experiment was only partially successful in that many stamps show blotched areas of blue still remaining. *

The following are examples of the First Transitionals:

Typical papers of the First Transitionals demonstrating progressive elimination of Bluing

Example of a First Transitional on cover showing patchy bluing in the upper margin. 

     * For further details see Stanley Gibbons Queen Victoria Specialized Catalog Vol. 1, 11th Edition, Page 179

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