Great Britain postage stamp year 1856 6d purple SG 68

Great Britain postage stamp year 1856 6d purple SG 68

🇬🇧 Great Britain 1856 – 6 d Purple (SG 68)

Name / Catalogue:

• Great Britain 6 pence purple, SG 68 in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue.

Issue & Type:

• Issue Date: 1856, part of the early surface-printed Victorian definitives — replacing the earlier embossed stamps of the 1847–1854 period.
• Design: Queen Victoria’s profile typical of mid-19th-century British stamps, no corner letters on the design (early surface-printed type).
• Printing Method: Surface-printed by De La Rue.
• Watermark: Heraldic emblems (various positions possible).
• Perforation: Perf 14 (common for 1856 surface-printed issues).

Colour & Appearance:

• The standard SG 68 colour is often described as lilac / pale lilac / purple in stamp catalogs.
• Different shades may exist (e.g., deep lilac SG 69) but SG 68 is usually the pale lilac purple referenced in mid-1850s issues.

Stamp Classification:

• SG 68 is among the earliest surface-printed 6 d Queen Victoria stamps (distinct from the earlier embossed 6 d issues, e.g., SG60 from 1854 or earlier, which were printed one at a time and often cut irregularly)

📌 Key Identification Features

✔ Queen Victoria portrait facing left with typical surface-printed line engraving design
✔ Perforated 14 — usual for this period.
✔ Watermark: Emblems watermark — check by watermark fluid or light if you want to confirm the variety.
✔ Colour: lilac/pale lilac purple (distinct from later duller or deeper purples).
✔ No corner letters — early surface-printed stamps lacked the corner control letters that were added on many later issues.