A well centered and very fine NH block of the 4c black William Lyon Mackenzie King stamp from the 1973-1977 Caricature Issue, showing a blemish inside the tagging on one stamp. Printed on vertical wove paper showing no ribbing on either the front, or the back. The paper gives a dull fluorescent grey blue reaction under ultraviolet light on the face and back, with a low density concentration of low fluorescent fibres, a sparse concentration of medium fluorescent fibres, a very sparse concentration of high fluorescent fibres and very few brownish woodpulp fibres visible in the paper. General OP-2 Ottawa tagging, 4 mm wide, of light strength (barely visible to the naked eye), and glowing a bright yellow under ultraviolet light. The blemish in the tagging manifests itself as a small "donut" like flaw inside the tagging bars. These occur infrequently on some sheets, affecting no more than 3-5 stamps in a sheet. Comb perforated 12.0 x 12.5. Smooth, creamy PVA gum with a satin sheen. Unitrade lists #589 as being on LF paper, but I have found at least 18 varieties of fluorescence and tagging which closely fits this classification. This is one of those 18 variations. Unitrade values a VF-75 NH block, without the flaw at $1, but usually a variety like this is worth $5-10. The block offered here grades 80 as follows:
Margins/centering: 50/70
Paper freshness: 5/5
Colour: 5/5
Impression: 5/5
Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5
Perforations: 10/10
You will receive one of the four pictured blocks.
