Great Britain postage stamp year 1855 2d blue Perforation 14 & 16

Great Britain postage stamp year 1855 2d blue Perforation 14 & 16 Used

🇬🇧 Great Britain 2 d Blue — Mid-Victorian Perforated Issues (c. 1854–1857)

The Two Penny Blue was one of Britain’s earliest postage stamps (initially issued in 1840), and from 1854–1857 it was produced in perforated form using several different combinations of perforation gauges and watermarks.

🟦 Overview of 1855-era Perforated 2 d Blues

• Face value: 2 pence (2 d)
• Portrait: Queen Victoria profiled to the left
• Perforations: Gauge 16 and gauge 14 used in 1854–1855 issues
• Watermarks: Small Crown initially, then Large Crown introduced during 1855
• Plates used: Primarily Plate 4, Plate 5, and later Plate 6 for the 1854–1857 issues

These stamps belong to the line-engraved Two Pence Blue series — distinct from the early Imperforate blues of 1840–1841 — and are usually identified by their perforation gauge, watermark type, and printing plate.

🔎 Perforation Details

🟠 Perforation 16

• First official perforation for the 2 d Blue began in 1854 with gauge 16.
• The holes are finer and closer together compared to perf 14 — this makes perforation 16 stamps easier to tear at the edges.
• Early gauge 16 stamps generally have the small crown watermark; later 1855 printings may have the large crown watermark.
• In Stanley Gibbons catalogues, examples are often listed under numbers such as SG 20a (small crown, perf 16, plate 5) and SG 27 (large crown, perf 16, plate 5).

🟢 Perforation 14

• Around 1855, the UK Post Office moved to gauge 14 perforations because the larger hole spacing was stronger and less likely to tear off accidentally.
• Perf 14 stamps exist with both the small crown and later large crown watermarks.
• These are also very collectible and are listed in catalogues as SG 23 (small crown, perf 14, plate 4), SG 23a (small crown, perf 14, plate 5) and SG 34 (large crown, perf 14, plate 5).

📊 Typical Combinations Around 1855

Collectors differentiate these early perforated Two Pence Blues by perforation gauge, watermark, and plate number. Here are common combinations from the mid-1850s:

(Note: Plate 4 is generally earlier; Plate 5 was printed in larger numbers and thus produces many of the mid-1850s examples.)