British embossed postage stamps very narrow which is why examples with four margins are rare. In some cases the impressions were impressed overlapping each other by quite a large amount. The stamps were embossed, (printed), at Somerset House. Early collectors would often cut the stamps to shape retaining only the embossed central design and cut square examples are much more valuable. In 1856 after the European postage rate was reduced the stamps were replaced by surface printed issues. British embossed postage stamps The adhesive embossed postage stamps of the United Kingdom, issued during the reign of Queen Victoria between 1847 and 1854 exhibit four
Postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies Postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies This is a survey of postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies and part of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany, as well as those of the individual countries and territories concerned. With the establishment of a colonial empire by the newly unified Germany after 1871 and before the issuance of specific stamps inscribed with the name of the colony, definitive stamps of Germany were used. Only postally used stamps can be identified as having been used in the colony as the cancellation mark identifies the point