The stamp to the left is part of a stamp set that show portraits of various members of the British royal family. Many stamp collectors will recognise the people depicted but the faces will be a mystery for others.
In 1897 the then British colony of Newfoundland issued a set of definitives which had been engraved and printed in New York, a move away from the previously issued Newfoundland stamps which were produced in England by the firm Perkins, Bacon and Co. Ltd (for more see this article ).
The half-cent portrays the then curly-headed child, Prince Edward of York (later King Edward VIII). The one cent is a portrait of Queen Victoria. Although the stamp was released 36 years after the death of her husband Prince Albert, she wears – and continued to wear until her death in 1901 – widow’s mourning clothes.
Then we have a portrait (two cents) of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) in uniform. His wife, the Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra), is featured on the three cent. The four cent is a portrait of the Duchess of Cornwall and York crowned with a tiara.
The five cent is the Duke of York, possibly the first portrait of the future King George V to appear on any postage stamp.
I wonder how many stamps featuring the abovementioned have been issued since 1897?
