Due to dwindling stocks of 2 pence stamps, stocks of the Queen Elizabeth II 1 1/2 pence definitive stamp issued on December 1, 1955, were overprinted. The overprint was a black circle to obscure the original face value. Above this, also in black, was imprinted the new face value, 2d. The overprinting was done in a smaller and a larger version. The overprinted stamps were issued on January 6, 1958. However, during overprinting, sheets of the 1953 1 1/2 pence stamp with the same image and color were also overprinted by mistake.

The only differences were 4 additional stars in the right corner and the smaller size of the face value of the 1953 issue compared to the 1955 issue. The error was not detected until well after issue.