THE sale of the " Highland" ships of Royal Mail Lines will recall to many ship stamp collectors the three differently coloured King George VI stamps issued by Jamaica depicting the Highland Monarch, the only vessel of the old Nelson Line ever to have been featured on a postage stamp. All of the 3d. denomination, these stamps were printed in blue and green (1938), green and blue (1949) and green and red (1952), while the ship was printed in the first colour in each case, and the border in the second. The 1949 stamps are very much scarcer than the other two issues.
Unfortunately the engraver has applied the principles of modern commercial art in his work and although he has successfully captured the outline of the ship when seen by the naked eye, under a magnifying glass his work falls to pieces. This is so unlike the work of many contemporary foreign engravers whose designs require a glass to bring out the beauty, detail and craftsmanship. The Highland Monarch was built in 1928 by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, to the order of the Nelson Line, her four sisters following from the same yard within the next two years. In 1960, the Highland Monarch made her final commercial voyage, docking in the Royal Victoria Dock on Good Friday after a useful career of 32 years. She was sold for scrap and broken up at Dalmuir on the Clyde.
SG126 Sea Breezes 6/61
Highland Monarch
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aukepalmhof
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