Canada #621iii (SG#760) 15c Multicoloured Queen Elizabeth II 1973 Royal Visit Issue"MF" Paper Type 5 Damaged C Variety LL Block VF-84 NH

A very well centered and very fine mint NH lower right plate 1 block of 4 of the 15c multicoloured Queen Elizabeth stamp from the 1973 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Issue, also known as the 1973 Royal Visit Issue, printed on the scarce "MF" paper. Comb perf. 12.5 x 12. Vertical wove paper with smooth chalk surfacing. Smooth creamy PVA gum with a satin sheen. 4 mm OP-2 tagging that is clearly screened and which glows bright green under UV light, and is quite damaged, appearing to be only 2 mm wide in places. It would appear that the BABN had experienced some difficulty applying the OP-2 tagging to the chalk-surfaced papers in use initially when printing began. Under ultraviolet light, the paper gives the following readings:

Unitrade lists this stamp as being on MF paper, but this is a gross over-simplification, as the above description shows. There are at least five different paper types that are bright enough to fit Unitrade's classification of medium fluorescent. In addition, the "C" of "Canada" shows some ink flaking damage. I have examined over 1,200 examples of this stamp and have found only a few showing this damage, on entire sheets where most stamps show the "C" completely intact. In these cases there is no sign of any surface damage to the stamps. So a logical conclusion is that the BABN had some problems with the ink of the inscription adhering to the gold background. Unitrade lists a VF-75 NH plate block without the variety at $15. The block offered here grades VF-84 NH as follows:

Margins/centering: 54/70

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10