A nice late example of a Queen Victoria post card from Gibraltar.

The design is basically a late ‘Empire for the use of’ like this example from Natal

We can date the Gibraltar example to probably sometime after 1898 due to the peculiar history of the Gibraltar pound.

Prior to 1898 Gibraltar used Spanish currency on a day to day basis and stamps were often issued with values in Spanish currency, even though the first Sterling denominated stamps had been issued as early as 1886.

In 1898, as a result of the Spanish American war, the value of the Spanish peseta crashed and it ceased to be used in Gibraltar which began to exclusively use Sterling, as it did throughout the twentieth century. (When I was in Gibraltar nearly thirty years ago the ATMs dispensed Government of Gibraltar sterling notes and shops would happily accept Bank of England notes at face value.)

I am guessing that the postcard dates from after 1898. I’d also guess that as Gibraltar is a very small place, they probably printed a batch of them and kept on using them after Queen Victoria had died in 1901 rather than simply pulping all the old ones once Edward VII came on the throne.