The Prince Consort Essay was a surface printed printer's sample stamp created in 1850 as an example of the surface printed stamps that Henry Archer

Henry Archer

Henry Archer was the son of an Irish landowner and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was called to the Irish Bar and spent most of his time between North Wales and London.- Ffestiniog Railway :...

 proposed to print and perforate under contract with the British government at a lower price than the current printing firm of Perkins Bacon

Perkins Bacon

Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co was a printer of books, bank notes and postage stamps, most notable for printing the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamps, in 1840.- Origins :...

. The Prince Consort stamps were provided by the artist Robert Edward Branston, from an engraving executed by Samuel William Reynolds

Samuel William Reynolds

Samuel William Reynolds was a mezzotint engraver, landscape painter and landscape gardener. Reynolds was a popular engraver in both Britain and France and there are over 400 examples of his work in the National Portrait Gallery in London.- Biography :Reynolds was born on 4 July 1773...

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Although commonly known as an essay

Essay (philately)

In philately, an essay is a design for a proposed stamp submitted to the postal authorities for consideration but not used, or used after alterations have been made. By contrast, a proof is a trial printing of an accepted stamp....

, the stamp was not really an essay as it was never intended that a postage stamp be produced based on the design, nor was it an un-adopted design. It is more accurately described as a printer's sample stamp, or dummy stamp.

Background

The first essay depicted Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

, but Edwin Hill

Edwin Hill (U.K.)

Edwin Hill was a Victorian postal official, the older brother of Rowland Hill, who invented a mechanical system to make envelopes and who campaigned for legal and political change.- Early life :...

 cautioned Reynolds not to make any essays with the Queen's portrait. Therefore Prince Albert's portrait was used instead. It is noted that the essays have the check letters "F" and "J" and it is believed by some scholars that they are the initials of Ferdinand Joubert, who designed Britain's first surface printed postage stamp, the 1855 Four Pence stamp printed by De La Rue

De La Rue

De La Rue plc is a British security printing, papermaking and cash handling systems company headquartered in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex and Bathford, Somerset...

, and who may have played a role in the creation of the Prince Consort Essay.

Production

The Prince Consort Essay was printed from electros taken from one master plate of 12. The twelve positions all have unique characteristics. The essays were printed in red, red-brown, black and blue, in sheets of 36 (3 horizontal rows of 12), in sheets of 240 and in sheets of 252 (21 panes of 12). The essays are scarce and there are approximately 25 recorded examples perforated 16 by Archer. The majority are imperforate, and there is one rouletted

Postage stamp separation

For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes...

 example in the Royal Philatelic Collection

Royal Philatelic Collection

The Royal Philatelic Collection is the postage stamp collection of the British Royal Family. It is the most comprehensive collection of items related to the philately of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with many unique pieces.- Early history :...

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Collecting

Imperforate copies are available to collectors, typically for around several hundred pounds. There are approximately 36 perforated examples recorded and these sell for much higher prices. Of the 36 examples, 3 are in brown, three are in blue (the latest realized £38,080.00 at auction) and the remainder are in black.

External links

• Full sheet of the Prince Consort Essay in black. British Postal Museum & Archive R.M. Phillips Collection Vol.XXII.