The 1874-1882 Queen Victoria Official Issue – The First “On HMS” Overprint – Blue-Black
Between 1874 and 1882 the final series of East India service stamps was issued – this time with a new overprint – “On H. M. S.”. A total of 5 values (½a, 1a, 2as (two shades), 4as and 8as) were issued. All 5 values were overprinted in black while 2 values were overprinted in blue-black.
Service
The 1882-1890 Queen Victoria Issue
Between January 1882 and 1890 a total of eleven new values were issue being ½a, 9 pies, 1a, 1a 6 pies, 2as, 3as, 4as, 4as 6 pies, 8as, 12as and 1 rupee. The values were issued in eleven different colors and, in some cases, different shades thereof. The stamps were printed on paper with a new watermark being a single star and most of the stamps exist with inverted watermark.