Tiger-striped fish on stamps

At one of the streams in MacRitchieReservoir I saw many Tiger Barbs. It is a pretty fish, about 5-10 cm long. It is a ‘Tiger’ because of its stripes. Take a look at these Singapore stamps, one issued in 1966 and one in 1981.

Oh! The 2 stamps look alike, you say!

Well, you are quite right. How did this come about?

A stamp, in a way, is a piece of paper currency. Back in 1966, the postal authorities had printed a big quantity of the 4-cent stamps. Fifteen years later, in 1981, there was still a substantial quantity left. The postal authorities covered the ‘4 cents’ in the bottom left corner with a black-colour pattern and inserted ’10 cents’ at the top right corner.

Perfectly legitimate way of making money; nothing ‘fishy’ here.

Re-trievia recalled: Excerpts from Year 2003/ 2004
Tan Wee Kiat