Gold Coast Queen Victoria Key Plate Type

Gold Coast · 1902 · 1d

This definitive stamp features a left-facing portrait of Queen Victoria, set within an ornate frame. The design is a 'Key Plate' or 'Key Type' issue, where a common design (the 'key') was used for multiple colonies, with the country name and denomination overprinted in a different color. This example shows 'GOLD COAST' at the top and the denomination 'ONE PENNY' at the bottom.

Issued shortly after the death of Queen Victoria, this stamp is part of a series that continued her image on colonial postage. The Gold Coast was a British Crown Colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence as part of the nation of Ghana in 1957.