of Milan and Alexander figure on the
stamps of their respective reigns, and in the case of Alexander we
get one of those philatelic issues which must imprint on our minds the
memory of notable or notorious events. It is within the memory of
most of our readers that Alexander and his consort, Queen Draga, were
assassinated by a number of military officers in 1903, and the house
of Karageorgevich once again ruled in Serbia in King Peter, the
present monarch. At the time of the assassination a new series of
stamps bearing the portrait of Alexander was in readiness for issue,
but before they were sent out under the new _regime_ the effigy of the
murdered king was almost completely obliterated by the overprinting of
a design of the Serbian Arms (_Fig._ 222).

[Illustration: 222 223 224]

The year following the grimmest of all the royal tragedies of Serbia
the surviving dynasty commemorated its centenary, and issued perhaps
the most sensational stamp series known to collectors. These will go
down to posterity as the "Death Mask" stamps, although the curiosity
of artistry which led to this designation probably owes more to the
excited imagination of the Serbian and foreign public than to any
gruesome intent on the part of revolutionary artists.

The Coronation stamps of King Peter, issued September 21, 1904, are
of large size, and in two designs, by G. Janovic. M. Mouchon was the
engraver, and the stamps were printed at the French Government Stamp
Printing Factory in Paris. The names of the designer and engraver
appear in microscopic letters below the design of each stamp. The
first design (_Fig._ 223) shows a medal on which the profile of the
new King Peter is superimposed upon the profile of the founder of the
dynasty "Kara," or Black George. The names inscribed upon the medal
are KARA GJORGJE at left, and PETAR I. at right. To the left and right
of the medal respectively are the centennial dates 1804-1904, and
below are the Serbian Arms, with the motto SPES MIHI PRIMA DEUS. Along
the top of the stamp in Sclavonic characters is KRALJEVINA SRBIJA
(Kingdom of Servia), the value in PARA is in the lower left corner,
and the word POSHTA in the lower right corner. This design was used
for all the para values.

For the higher values in dinar (_Fig._ 224), the same frame design
is used, but for the medallion what may have been the reverse of
a Coronation medal is shown. This is reputed to be an allegory
representing the succes