The SMALL HEAD
It's the "successor"
of the previous lilac gray stamp. It represents Francesco Giuseppe facing
right, enclosed in an oval; around it there is a rectangular frame with rounded
corners with Greek background and labels "STAMPEL K.K. ZEITUNGS POST"
(clockwise from left to right). To be noted as for the change from the second
to the third issue where the royal effigy changed "direction" (from
left to right), the same thing happened with the newspaper stamps (the effigy
of this value is the same as the one of the third issue). This stamp is the
first to be used exclusively in the Veneto territory, being the Lombardy ones
(with the exception, as said several times, of some of the Mantova territories)
already under Sardinian dominance. To be picky, the previous value lilac gray
too was not able to get use on the Lombardy soil but, for convenience, we
like to call the "small head" as the first Veneto sample.
In sheets of 400 samples (4 groups of 100 each separated by an horizontal
inter-space of around 23/25 mm) is printed on machine made paper without watermark
It was printed typographically in relief in Vienna in the State Printing House
on Josef Tautenhayn engraving. It was used applied on a single newspaper copy
(1,05 Soldi or 3 centesimi). It was valid up to May 31st 1864. It is unknown
the number of printed pieces.
Between the varieties more interesting we have samples showing in the margins
the marks of the typographic composition border and the couples with group
inter-spacing: just the usual things...
To be noticed some significant variety in the chromatic shades.
Official reprints were made in the years 1866, 1884, 1886, 1887 e 1894.
Fig. 1:
lilac-gray 'small head'