Dr.  James C.  Perry,  in an  article published  in the American Journal of philately for September  1903 , stated  that  there  were  two printings of the issue of 1899  and that a separate set of lithographic stones was prepared for each printing. He had  seen only one type  of design in the  first printing  but  listed three   types  of  the  second   printing. He said  that these variations in  the second printing occurred  "as a result of  more than one engraver having  been  employed  in  preparing  the stones. The stamps are printed  in sheets of  fifty, and has minor  varieties  could easily occur when the stones are hurriedly prepared". Concerning  two types listed   by Morley as  occurring   in the  1.20p, 2p, 4p, 5p and   6p denominations, Dr.   Perry  wrote:  "These  stamps were  reprinted  from new stones,  as   those  in  use became broken  during  the  process of  printing.”  Dr. Perry's  explanation of the  occurrence of  these variations  in design is   sound,   but, because  of its  brevity,  is  probably  not entirely satisfactory to  those not  familiar with the   lithographic  process  of  printing.

The  basis  for lithography  is the  fact that limestones  has an  affinity for both  fatty  ink and  water, but that when the limestone  is saturated with water the fatty ink will not adhere to  it. A design drawn with fatty ink upon a properly prepared  surface of  dry  limestone  will  adhere  so  firmly that it  cannot be removed except  by mechanical means. After the design is drawn the stone is saturated with water. A roller  bearing   fatty  ink is then passed over the surface of the stone and the ink will adhere only to the  design. After the   stone is thus  inked, a sheet of  paper may be placed upon it and by the  application of  pressure  the ink which adhered  to  the design will be transferred  to  the paper. This  process of   inking the stone and   transferring the ink to a sheet of paper maybe repeated  in the  same manner as in  the case of ordinary   printing. The design  on the  stone wears  down with use,  however. Hence, in order to increase the number of clear impressions  which may be taken from the stone it  is etched with  acid  after the  design  is  applied. The   acid  etches away a portion of all parts  of the  surface except  those which are covered by the design. Thus,  by etching,  the design  is  raised above  the  surface of  the   stone. If   the  stone  is  not  sufficiently etched, it may not be possible to obtain more than a  few clear impressions.  But from a well etched  stone several  thousand impressions may be  taken before  the stone is  worn out. It  is evident,  therefore,  that the number  of  clear impressions which  maybe taken from a  stone is  extremely variable  and  depends upon  the  care with which  the stone  is  prepared.  Thus it is not   infrequently necessary  to  prepare more  than one   stone  in order  to complete  a single printing.

There   are several  methods  of   placing  the design  upon  the stone.  It may be  drawn by hand  by  an  artist directly  upon  the stone with a wax pencil made of   fatty substance. A drawing made on paper with  fatty, ink maybe  transferred  to  the stone by  "dapening" the paper,  placing  it  face down  upon the  stone  and applying suitable pressure. If  transparent paper  is  used,  a tracing of the  drawing  may  be made with  fatty ink and  transferred to  the stone in  this manner. If the tracing  is not made with fatty ink, it may  be   placed face down upon the stone an a sheet of  paper coated with  fatty substance may be placed between the  tracing and  the stone. The design is then  traced with a knife which cuts  through  the  paper and   forces the fatty substance into  the stone along the  lines  thus traced. When the  stone is to  receive several  subjects of  the same  design  and great uniformity in the  repetition of   those subjects is  desired, it  is a common practice  to first etch or engrave the design of a single subject upon  a  zinc or copper plate.  This  plate  is then inked and as many repetitions of  the subject as desired are  transferred  to the  stone.  In this case all  subjects transferred  to  the stone will be identical  if  the transfer is  carefully made. But if  sufficient care is not taken,  small  portions of  the design, such as periods  may be missing  from some  subjects,   due  to   failure of  the  fatty ink to  adhere  completely  to the  stone. These  defects may subsequently be repaired,  but the  repair will usually result in  slight  variations in the design of the  subjects  thus  repaired.

There  are  so many slight variations in the  design of different  specimens of the  Giro stamps  of 1899  that it seems  probable that the design was transferred to the stones by means of   tracings.  It is  also probable that all of  the tracings were taken  from two master  designs drawn upon paper. The first master design would consist of  a single subject without the  upper and lower labels. The second master design would consist of  a  small set  of labels,  one pair  of upper and lower labels for  each denomination. A tracing  of  fifty  subjects of  the  first master design would be prepared for each denomination. The labels which were different for each denomination would then be traced  from the   second master  design. The completed tracing of fifty subjects would be transferred to the stone in the manner above described. This method of transferring the design to the stone would result in many  slight variations  in the design of different subjects on the same stone.  If there were fifty subjects there would probably be fifty varieties of the subject. But if the tracing was done with sufficient skill, the variations might be slight as to be hardly noticeable. Carelessness or lack of  skill, on  the other hand,  might result in one or more subjects showing considerable variation from the master design.

The complete set of stones for  the first (January) printing of  the Giro  stamps of 1899 seem to have been prepared with great care  by one artisan. There  are  slight variations in design, both of different specimens of  the same denomination, and of specimens of different denominations. But these variations are so slight that only one type  for all denominations of the first printing has been recognized. In  this type the 1 of   1899  is without serif.

It appears that the first set of stones for the  second printing was  prepared by the same artisan with  almost equal  care,  and  that the same master  designs were  used as were used  in preparing  the stones  for  the first, printing. The most common type of second printing  is almost identical for all specimens of all  denominations and is  so similar  to the type of the first printing thatthe only noticeable difference is that in the second printing the 1 of  1899 has a serif.

Dr.  Perry has stated  that  the  first stones prepared  for  certain denominations  of the second  printing  were  broken and  that it was necessary to prepare new stones for  these  denominations  in order to complete  the printing. It seems  probable  that these new stones were  very hurriedly prepared and that they were prepared by  several  artisans who were much less skillful than the artisan who prepared the first set of   stones for the second  printing. There is also the  possibility that more than one  artisan was employed  in preparing the tracing for a single  stone in the case of certain denominations,  or that more than  two stones were  prepared, each stone by a different artisan, for  certain  denominations of  the  second printing. Only   in this manner can the large  number of types which have been observed be accounted for.