Cleft Skull varieties
Best known and most sought after variety of the 1935 South African Silver Jubilee stamps. It is the second stamp in row 14 (14/2). Because the same headplate (which provided the King's head) was used for all printings (except the third printing of the 1d), the same variety can be found amongst all four values. The cleft is due to a scratch on the original multi-positive. The ½d and 1d stamps had additional printings. A new headplate was used for the 3rd printing of the 1d, but it was taken from the same multi-positive as the original headplate. Differences permit identification of a particular printing.

Printing
Description
Other identifiers
½d
1d
3d
6d
1st
cleft clearly defined
hair missing behind ear
l
l
l
l
2nd
cleft clearly defined with long "1" on stamp 13/1
hair missing behind ear
l
l
"halo" around cleft
hair missing behind ear
l
l
3rd
cleft fainter and indistinct
hair complete behind ear
l

The drawings illustrates these points. The pictures below show examples.
(Drawings taken from "The Springbok" Vol 33, No.3 May/June 1985 page 55
Reproduced with Permission from The Springbok, a publication of the South African Collectors' Society)

1st Printing
2nd Printing
3rd Printing

Note paler colour of the face of the king during the 1st printing. This appears to be a characteristic of this particular stamp. The picture below shows the long "1" in position 13/1 and the distinct cleft skull in position 14/2. As the long "1" is only found on stamps from the second Printing, this verifies that this version of the cleft skull is from the second Printing. Note also the small scratch above the 'R' of Silver. This appears in all three printings.

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