1957 - Gustaf VI Adolf, type II

More colour

The Gustaf VI Adolf, type I had a linear background engraved. The background turned out be too light and the colours were not  distinct enough. The background of type II consisted instead of a cross pattern and the colours became more noticeable. The big news was that the initial of the designer (del. = latin delineavit) and the engraver (sc. = latin sculpsit) was added at the bottom of the stamps.

As usual the colours changed for some denominations, sometimes as it seems in a not straight forward way. The green 10 öre vanished and was replace by the blue 10 öre New Numeral Type, type II since the lowest postal rate now was 15 öre. The 15 öre changed colour from brown to red that the previous 30 öre had, 20 öre got the same colour as before (grey), the same happened with the 25 öre which in fact was the colour of the by now disfunct 10 öre – brown from the first issue of Gustaf VI Adolf type I,  and finally, the 40 öre continued with the same green colour.

This second die, however, proved even more troublesome, with the portrait having lost its sculpture-like appearance, resulting in very flat printings. It was therefore only used for a couple of values in 1957, and the printers yet again asked for another die. This process was still ongoing when Ewert passed away, so the final die for this series was engraved by Czeslaw Slania.