The 8a Single-Die Oilcolors
The 8a brick-red oilcolor on white European vertically laid paper, and partially gummed. Sometimes called a trial, and assumed to be from 1878. The upper portion is very heavily printed here, and thus gives a healthy idea of what this pigment is like. The triplet of circulars were also done in this pigment (but on native paper.)
The 8a Reprints
The 8a reprints seem to be rather scarce. At least we are not able to show any example from the Séfi & Mortimer accounting. The image of an anomalous item follows the list; the design seems to be good.
| black | native |
| black | toned wove |
| deep red | native |
| orange-vermilion | native |
| vermilion | toned wove |
| dull orange | toned wove |
| ochre | toned wove |
| purple | toned wove |
8a Missing-Die Forgeries
The “missing-die” forgeries (ca. 1890) were imitations of six stamp designs. Preliminary comments on these forgeries were made with the ½a circulars.
The most characteristic features of these forgeries, which are shared by the Kashmir 4a forgeries, are the double framing, the absence of dots in the spandrels, and the small sun at the top of the design.
| black | native |
| black | thin toned wove |
| black | thin white wove |
| red | native |
| red | thin toned wove |
| red | thin greyish-wove |
| bright red | thin greyish wove |
| vermilion | native |
| vermilion | white laid |
| orange | native |
Brighton Forgeries
| 8a red oilcolor on tissue |
Staal-Sharma Reprints
No examples from this die exist. Although the 8a die was indeed defaced with the others in 1898, that implement alone of the defaced pieces was not found in the museum in 1981.