The Prussian Blue

Keith Heddle, Investment Director at Stanley Gibbons, writes on the Proactive Investment website,"King George V was known as the 'Philatelist King'. He was passionate about stamps. So when the Royal Mail came to issue stamps to celebrate his Silver Jubilee in 1935 it was only right that the King would be heavily involved in their production."

According to Adrian Roose also at Stanley Gibbons, "On January 17th 1935 the final design was presented to The King for his final approval, with one question...what colour did he want the stamp to be? Given the choice of 'prussian blue' or 'blue' The King opted for the latter."

However, things did not go exactly as planned. 

To learn how the 2½d Prussian blue (shown above) became one of Great Britain's rarest stamps, click here.