Sideface wmk first type TAS perf 11.8

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We consider the Sideface series from 1871 wmk first type TAS with perf 11.8, not the usual 11.4.
Denominations are 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d, 9d and 5/-. We don't consider the ½d as that appeared later
as an emergency printing in 1891.

The 2d has been dealt in an earlier post on this website. It is evidently very rare. There is still
an aura of mystery as Basset Hull tells us that some 30 sheets were perforated by Walch & Sons
in 1877, apparently perf 11.8? If this is correct, there should be more examples in existence.

The other five values do turn up from time to time but are not especially common. In the case
of the 1d, the first TAS paper issue had been largely exhausted by the end of 1878 with the new
version from London on second type TAS paper. The 3d appeared on second TAS around 1880 so
let us consider the 4d. This appeared on second TAS paper in 1883. So far, the perforation was
11.4 as a rule with the perf 11.8 machine coming into use in 1884 as Basset Hull tells us. Usage
of the perf 11.8 machine on the 1d, 3d, 4d (and also the 2d) would only arise in emergencies.

The 9d wmk first TAS lasted until 1896 so we might expect some stock of this 9d (held imperf)
might be perf 11.8 from 1884 onwards but Basset Hull doesn't tell us in his book. We do know
that the 10d wmk '10' was perforated some time to time, e.g. in October 1889 with the 11.8
machine. We expect that the 1877 perforation of the 10d was 11.4 as hinted in his article in
Philatelic Record (1888) with the 1870 perforation being 11.8. See Basset Hull's book.
It is possible that a few sheets of 9d were perforated 11.8 in the 1870s but we don't know.

The 1885 printing of the 5/- is normally perf 11.8, not 11.4 as for earlier printings. Perf 11.8
on these earlier printings might only arise in emergencies.

The Gibbons catalogue does not fully elucidate these early Sideface issues.