The die proof
of the 2.5d for the 1898 New Zealand definitive set, engraved by Hill, has the
endorsement 'SHELL with Mr. Rapkin', which implies that Joseph
Rapkin Jr also worked on
this particular die.
Mr Hill's work
on the 1940 New Zealand centennial issue involved a lot of reworking of
details. After the die proof for the 4d stamp had been submitted, Hill was
asked to make a number of changes: the engine had to be made smaller and the
bullocks larger, the frame had to be adjusted and a wireless aerial had to be
added to the steamer to make it historically accurate.
The engraving
of the 1 shilling, too, proved troublesome. Hill found it hard to engrave the
large tree in such a way that it would not end up resembling a stone tower. The
work involved many trial printings and even when a finished die proof was
finally submitted, changes had to be made to the fern alongside the tree. It
had to be put back in perspective so as to emphasize the size of the tree.
In 1941, Hill engraved the 25g value from the set issued by
the Polish exiled government in London. His design of the moment the Germans
demolished the statue of the poet Adam Mickiewicz was based on a photograph taken
by a member of the Polish underground that had been smuggled to England via a
secret route Die proofs of this value exist in black.
Hill also engraved the top value of the second issue for the
polish exiled government, the 1z50. The design shows a scene in an underground
newspaper office. The name of the paper being printed is clearly visible as
being the Rzeczpospolita Polska (Polish Republic). Originally, the name of the
paper read Polska Zyje (Poland is Alive), but this was changed after it was discovered
that this newspaper was opposed to the exiled government. Die proofs are
thought to exist with this original name before the change was made.
You will find A. B. Hill's database HERE.