III. Large Crown Watermark in Circles. A view of the Hungarian Crown from below, set within interlaced circles.

The circles are approximately 45 mm in diameter, while the crown is about 30 mm at its widest point. The spacing between the circles is approximately 42 mm both horizontally and vertically. In the quadrilateral spaces formed by groups of four interlaced circles, either the paper mill's trademark watermark or a Roman numeral indicating the grade of the paper appears. These auxiliary watermarks recur at fixed intervals.

On postage and newspaper stamps the watermark occurs sideways, while on postage-due stamps and proofs of postage stamps it occurs upright. As with Watermark II, there are four positions in each orientation, determined by the direction in which the cross on the crown leans. The orientation can be identified from even a small fragment of the crown motif, while the exact position can be determined from the crown cross or the numeral watermark. For classification purposes, the heraldically correct crown is taken as the basic position: the crown with its cross leaning to the left, together with the corresponding numeral watermark VI.

Possible watermark orientations and positions

• A1: upright crown, with the cross leaning to the left;
• A2: upright crown, with the cross leaning to the right;
• A3: inverted crown, with the cross leaning to the left;
• A4: inverted crown, with the cross leaning to the right;
• B1: crown lying to the left, with the cross leaning to the left;
• B2: crown lying to the left, with the cross leaning to the right;
• B3: crown lying to the right, with the cross leaning to the left;
• B4: crown lying to the right, with the cross leaning to the right.

Issues on which the watermark occurs

1899 Black-Numeral Krajcár Issue, 1899 Newspaper Stamp, 1900 Turul, 1900 Newspaper Stamp, 1903 Green Postage Due, 1915 Provisional Postage Due.

Distinguishing Watermarks II and III

Although Watermark III was intended to be essentially identical to the preceding type, its different execution is explained by the fact that, one year after the dandy roll for Watermark II had been made, the Nagyszlabos paper mill received another supply order in 1899. The watermark design therefore had to be adapted to the mill's wider machine.

On some examples of the Black-Numeral Krajcár issue, the similar crown motifs of Watermarks II and III can be distinguished by the following features:

1. The distance between the suspension elements is 23 mm in Watermark II and 26 mm in Watermark III.
2. In Watermark II, the two outer crown points on each side are of the same form and approximately the same height; in Watermark III, the outer point is low and narrow, while the adjacent one is tall and broad.
3. In Watermark II, the pointed crown element is narrow and approximately the same height as the two outer elements; in Watermark III, it is broad and lower than the adjacent elements.
4. The arcs representing the lower-view brow band of the crown close at the outermost point of the band in Watermark II, while in Watermark III they close farther inward, at the hooks representing the crown chains.
5. The space between the lines representing the two side bands of the crown is narrow in Watermark II and wider in Watermark III.
6. The lower line of the band ends at the outer edge of the second crown point in Watermark II, and at the top of the second crown point in Watermark III.

The lines of Watermark II appear sharp both when viewed through the paper and under oblique light. The lines of Watermark III appear blurred in transmitted light and are less distinct under oblique light than those of Watermark II.

In addition to details of the watermark design, the paper and the colour of the stamps can also help distinguish Black-Numeral Krajcár stamps bearing the large-crown watermark.