Block Cypher

The printing contract changed from Harrison to Waterlow on 1 Jan 1924. At the same time, the watermark was changed from Royal Cypher to Block Cypher. The first booklets with this watermark were issued in Feb/Mar 1924.

Block Cypher booklets continued on from the 2s (series 4) and 3s (series 3) Royal Cypher booklets. The die for the front cover was redrawn with a new crown, and stops added after the “P” and “O”.

Watermarks Royal Cypher (Simple Cypher) and Block Cypher.

The first commemorative booklets were issued in 1929 for the Postal Union Congress, taking edition numbers out of the sequence of the 2s and 3s Block Cypher booklets.

A 5s booklet (series 5) was introduced in 1931, the first edition of which was printed on green card and had four different cover designs.

The printing contract went back to Harrison in 1934, and they continued printing the 2s, 3s and 5s series of booklets in letterpress up to the change to photogravure in 1935.

Printed by Waterlow

2s Booklet Series 4: BB12

To see BB12 editions 3-102 click here.
To see BB12 editions 108-254 click here.

Date: Mar 1924
Editions: 3-102, 108-254
Printer: Waterlow
Watermark: Block Cypher
Makeup: FC, int, NB15, int, NB14, int, NB13, int, NB12, BC
Cancels: 23, 24 (ed 73), 28, 28P (ed 89,90), 30 (ed 16,53), 33, 33P, I, J, K

Edition 8: advert labels accidentally inverted NB15(1a).
Edition 12: top advert label deliberately inverted NB15(67).
Editions 12-14: darker waxier card.
Edition 14 onwards: some editions omit the first interleaf.
Edition 15: advert pane exist with sideways watermark NB15b.
Editions 56-59: advert Dean & Dawson.
Edition 67: top advert label deliberately inverted NB15(69).
Edition 171: advert label printed in green NB15(72).
Edition 232: cover trial, for thickness.
Editions 235, 236: are dated out of order.
Edition 242: cover trial, unglazed deep blue card.

Issue dates for editions 3 to 128 (including the P.U.C. editions) are taken from cancels on Advertisers Voucher Copies as the date was not printed in these booklets. A dash indicates that an AVC is not known.

(Editions 103-107: used for P.U.C. BB13)

* These editions are known bound with staples.

A missewn booklet, given new covers and stapled so that stitch holes are present in the contents but not in the covers, and an Advertisers Voucher Copy dated 24 Jun 1927, cancelled Type 28.

An issued booklet marked “A” with stamps torn out, a booklet with deep blue matt covers marked “B” without stamps, and a buff front cover marked “C”. Thought to be a trial for thickness or colour, possibly for edition 242.

While interleaf numbers were used to aid assembly of most booklets, cover numbers, as shown on this booklet, were only used by Waterlow. There was a “2” on the inside front cover and a “3” on the inside back cover. This booklet has “171/1” on the first interleaf and “3” on the back cover, both inverted as the booklet is from the second column, bottom row. Booklets from the third column, bottom row have the numbers upright.

3s Booklet Series 3: BB24

To see BB24 editions 55-167 click here.
To see BB24 editions 173-273 click here.

Date: Feb 1924
Editions: 55-167, 173-273
Printer: Waterlow
Watermark: Block Cypher
Makeup: FC, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB13, int, NB12, BC
Cancels: 23, 24, 28, 30 (ed 118), 33P, F (ed 67), I, J, K

Edition 95: was a local edition, see below.
Editions 119-123: advert Dean & Dawson.
Editions 130, 131: are dated out of order.
Editions 191-215, 259-271: have an air mail pane after the front cover, or before the back cover.

(Editions 168-172: used for P.U.C. BB25)

* These editions are known bound with staples.

A missewn booklet, given new covers and stapled so that stitch holes are present in the contents but not in the covers, and an Advertisers Voucher Copy dated 24 Nov 1927, cancelled Type 28.

Edition 95 was a local edition. It contained adverts for the Port of Manchester, Union Bank of Manchester, Bank of Liverpool, and J. E. Lea (a Manchester stamp dealer). It was issued in the following towns:

Altrincham	Doncaster	Preston
Ashton under Lyne	Douglas	Rochdale
Bacup	Halifax	Rotherham
Barnsley	Huddersfield	Runcorn
Batley	Hyde	St. Helens
Birkenhead	Keighley	Sheffield
Blackburn	Knutsford	Skipton
Bolton	Leeds	Southport
Bradford	Leigh	Stalybridge
Burnley	Liverpool	Stockport
Buxton	Llandudno	Wakefield
Chesterfield	Macclesfield	Wallasey
Chorley	Manchester	Warrington
Colwyn Bay	Mold	Widne
Crewe	Nantwich	Wigan
Dewsbury	Oldham	Worksop

5s Booklet Series 5: BB33

Series 5 booklets were introduced in August 1931. The booklets in this series were 5s values numbered from 1 to 29. This series covered the reigns of KGV, KEVIII, and KGVI, continuing until replaced by Series 8 in 1940.

There were cover trials in 1931 in brown, orange, yellow, olive, and buff. Each trial booklet had eight panes of gummed perforated labels, the first pane with two advertising labels, and seven interleaves with postage rates from May 1931. A further trial in dark green had blank labels and interleaves with postage rates from June 1931.

The first 5s booklet had four different cover designs, a quarter million of each.

Date: Aug 1931
Editions: 1
Printer: Waterlow
Watermark: Block Cypher
Makeup: FC, NB15, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB13, int, NB12, BC

Edition 1: exists overprinted Specimen Type 32.

5s Booklet Series 5: BB34

Edition 2 with two different cover designs, a half million of each.

To see more BB34 booklets click here.

Date: June 1932
Editions: 2-6
Printer: Waterlow
Watermark: Block Cypher
Makeup: FC, NB15, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB13, int, NB12, BC
Cancels: 28P

Edition 2: exists overprinted Specimen Type 32.
Editions 4-6: have an air mail pane before the back cover.
Edition 6: all adverts are for The Prudential.

* These editions are known bound with staples.



An Advertisers Voucher Copy dated 12 Jul 1933, cancelled Type 28P.

Printed by Harrison

2s Booklet Series 4: BB14

To see more BB14 booklets click here.

Date: Feb 1934
Editions: 255-287
Printer: Harrison
Watermark: Block Cypher
Makeup: FC, int, NB15, int, NB14, int, NB13, int, NB12, BC
Cancels: 33P

Edition 258: trials exist made up with panes of commercial material.
Edition 264: all adverts are for The Prudential.
Edition 279: all adverts are for Drages Furniture.
Edition 284: all adverts are for Fixed Trusts.

* These editions are known bound with staples.


Edition 258 trial, uncut strip of four
Makeup: FC, labels, int, int, int, int, labels, BC

3s Booklet Series 3: BB26

To see more BB26 booklets click here.

Date: Mar 1934
Editions: 274-288
Printer: Harrison
Watermark: Block Cypher
Makeup: FC, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB13, int, NB12, BC

The design and position of the air mail pane was changed in July 1934:
Editions 274-279: have the first design after the front cover, or before the back cover.
Editions 280-281: have the second design before the back cover.
Editions 281-288: have the second design after the first stamp pane.
(Edition 281 exists with both makeups.)

Edition 276: trials exist made up with panes of commercial material.
Edition 288: has a Ford’s Blotter after the front cover.

Edition 276 trial, uncut block of eight
Makeup: FC, labels, int, int, int, int, air, labels, BC

5s Booklet Series 5: BB35

Date: July 1934
Editions: 7-8
Printer: Harrison
Watermark: Block Cypher
Makeup: FC, NB15, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB14, int, NB13, int, NB12, BC
Cancels: 28P

The design and position of the air mail pane was changed in July 1934:
Edition 7: has the first design before the back cover.
Edition 8: has the second design after the first stamp pane.
Edition 8: all adverts are for The Prudential.

An Advertisers Voucher Copy dated 9 Jul 1934, cancelled Type 28P.

Booklet Panes

Booklet panes of six were printed in letterpress, each sheet having an equal number of upright panes, and inverted panes. Cancellations (precancellations, “specimen” and “cancelled” overprints) are equally likely to be found on upright or inverted panes, unless otherwise noted.

The vertical gutter between the left and right halves of the sheet contained short horizontal bars which can be seen in the selvedge of panes from the inner two columns. Panes from the outer two columns do not have these bars. Panes with and without bars occur in equal numbers.

Sheets were perforated by Waterlow and Harrison using a vertical perforating machine which could be fed left side or right side first, the first pane to enter the perforator receiving an imperforate selvedge Type B3(I), and all other panes receiving perforated selvedge Type B3A(P).

Full sheet reconstructions are shown under Sheets & Perforations.

Watermark Block Cypher.

To see all advert panes click here.

The following were printed by Waterlow, then reprinted by Harrison:

To see all advert panes click here.

Adverts & Interleaves

This section gives a summary of adverts and interleaves, showing only a few examples. More can be found here: Dubarry, Ford, Air Mail Labels.

All Block Cypher booklets had adverts on the front and back covers, and on the interleaves. There were no full colour Dubarry adverts, but there were several black and white Dubarry adverts on the covers, including four different designs on the first 5s booklet.

Dubarry also had black and white adverts on the inside of the covers of some booklets.

An air mail pane was included in some 3s and 5s booklets. The inscription changed periodically, and the design and position of the air mail pane was changed in July 1934.

BB12 editions 56-59 and BB24 editions 119-123 included a two-colour Dean & Dawson advert.

BB12 edition 56 adverts (May 1927).

Next: Postal Union Congress