
The Lagos Queen Victoria - Crown CC Keyplates of 1876-1880
In 1875, De La Rue replaced its perforating machines that had been in use since 1863, with new line machines gauging 14. So, this effectively gave rise to a new issue of stamps, which was identical, in almost every way to the previous issue, except for the perforation, which was now 14, rather than 12.5. What will surprise collectors though is that there were both line and comb versions of this perforation. Stanley Gibbons does not recognize this difference in its listings, though in my opinion, they should, as the comb perforated stamps were generally from the last printings made in November 1880, and were perforated using entirely new machines which were installed by De La Rue in 1878. These machines were distinctly different from the comb 14 machines in use by Somerset House in the sense that Somerset's machines only produced one column of vertical perforations in the gutters between the sheets of 60, which resulted in the wing-margin examples that we see of many early De La Rue issues. These machines used by De La Rue produced two vertical columns of perforations in the gutters between panes. There were never any wing-margin examples of Lagos stamps, and this is the reason why.
In addition to the perforations there are eight other aspects that are unique to this issue that collectors need to be aware of:
1. This is the period in which the first postal stationery appears, being in the form of the 1.5 pence postcards.
2. The use of the Lagos CDS cancellation had ceased in February 1876, being replaced by the Lagos diamond barred grid, which was replaced by late 1879 with a simple barred oval killer containing 8 thick, horizontal bars, of varying width. Consequently, there are almost no used examples of these stamps cancelled with CDS cancellations. In fact, the 8-barred oval is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the last comb perforated printings from 1880. Nearly all of the used examples you will see of these stamps will be canceled in this manner, whereas very few of the line perforated stamps will have a barred oval cancellation, most being canceled instead by the Lagos diamond grid. Furthermore, because of the lack of dates on the cancellations, they are of limited use in identifying the individual printings of these stamps, except for the comb perforated last printings.
3. The paper and the gum undergo a notable change in this period, with most of the line perforated stamps being printed on a paper with a clear vertical grain, much like that found on the second last printings of the perf. 12.5 stamps from 1875. The gum is the same as that found on the 1874-75 issue. By 1880, the paper becomes smoother, and the gum becomes whiter.
4. All values of this issue, except for the 1/- are more common overall, than the previous issue, though nearly all, except for the 1d are usually found used. Mint examples of the 4d, 6d and 1/- are very scarce, with the 1/- being a very rare stamp.
5. This is the only issue in which the watermark can be found sideways. It falls in the same period as other keyplate issues that are found with similar sideways watermark from Sierra Leone, Gambia, St. Christopher, and Virgin Islands. This suggests quite strongly that rather than being an error, these sideways watermarks resulted from a particular guillotine operator cutting the sheets of paper differently from the other operators. The dimensions of the dandy roll and paper rheams were such that there were two different directions in which the watermarked paper could be cut, each of which would produce 12 sheets of 60 stamps. One way would result in the watermarks being sideways, while the other would result in the watermarks being upright. It is curious that so far, the only known value with sideways watermark is the 4d carmine.
6. Gibbons lists only one shade variety: the 3d chestnut, in addition to the regular 3d red brown. Collectors should be aware that this is simply the last printing of the 3d, made in November 1880. It is thus always comb perforated. In reality, there are many other shades on the other values as well, which I will describe below. The 3d chestnut is a scarce stamp, being almost as rare as the 1/-. The catalogue price partially reflects this scarcity, by virtue of the fact that the chestnut shade is priced at 10 pounds more for mint. However, in my opinion, this is not nearly high enough given the overall scarcity of this stamp, when we consider that the 1/- is 8 times more expensive. In reality, all of the comb perforated printings are scarcer than the line perforated examples, representing, in most instances, less than one-quarter of the total issue.
7. As this is not really a new issue, per se, there are no specimen overprints recorded, no imperforates, and only one imperforate plate proof of the 1d value recorded, in the Queen's collection.
8. All values of this issue have been forged by Panelli, using line-engraving. They are generally poor forgeries. The watermark is usually impressed, and the letters of "Lagos" are malformed - especially the "G" and the "S".
The Printings, Dispatch Dates and Quantities
There were between three and six separate printings of each value in the series, except for the 1/-, of which there was only one known printing. The printings, release dates and quantities of each value are as follows:
1d Lilac - 4 Printings Totaling 66,660 Stamps
- First printing: May 9, 1876 - 24,000 stamps.
- Second printing: June 12, 1877 - 12,360 stamps.
- Third printing: July 23, 1879 - 18,300 stamps.
- Fourth printing: November 18, 1880 - 12,000 stamps.
- First printing: May 9, 1876 - 6,360 stamps.
- Second printing: June 12, 1877 - 6,300 stamps.
- Third printing: August 28, 1878 - 12,000 stamps.
- Fourth printing: July 23, 1879 - 6,300 stamps.
- Fifth printing: November 26, 1879 - 6,000 stamps.
- Sixth printing: November 18, 1880 - 12,180 stamps.
- First printing: May 9, 1876 - 6,300 stamps.
- Second printing: June 12, 1877 - 6,360 stamps.
- Third printing: August 28, 1878 - 11,460 stamps.
- Fourth printing: November 18, 1880 - 6,000 stamps.
- First printing: May 9, 1876 - 6,240 stamps.
- Second printing: June 12, 1877 - 12,180 stamps.
- Third printing: August 28, 1878 - 15,000 stamps.
- Fourth printing: July 23, 1879 - 6,120 stamps.
- Fifth printing: November 26, 1879 - 6,000 stamps.
- Sixth printing: November 18, 1880 - 12,000 stamps.
- First printing: May 9, 1876 - 6,360 stamps.
- Second printing: June 12, 1877 - 12,720 stamps.
- Third printing: August 28, 1878 - 15,000 stamps.
This occurs on the 6d green and consists of small nick in the bottom tail of the "S" and white void area in the middle of the "N" of "Pence".
Covers and Multiples
Due to the low print quantities, covers and multiples of any kind are extremely rare. I have yet to encounter any examples on cover, and any multiple of any value, either mint or used.
This concludes my introduction to this second issue of Lagos. My next series of posts will take a look at the individual values and attempt to provide some guidance into identifying the individual printings.
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