The Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1888 established duties on the transfer of shares. The duty was 3d (for less than £25), 6d (for £25 to £50), or 6d for every £50 or part thereof for greater values.
In 1872, a series of standard revenue stamps, known as Key Types, were prepared by De La Rue. The designs used Theed’s head of Queen Victoria with a blank tablet which could be overprinted according to the required use. Each value had a different design, and there were three different sizes. Transfer Duty only used the small and medium sizes as all stamps were below £1.
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Small stamps have watermark Orb, medium stamps have Script VR, all are Perf 14.