Canada #600 (SG#707) $1 Vancouver 1972-1978 Caricature Issue Paper Type 3 Blank UL VF-80 NH

A well centered and very fine mint NH blank field stock upper left block of 4 of the $1 multicoloured Vancouver Skyline definitive from the 1972-1977 Caricature and Landscapes Issue, perf. 11. Vertical wove paper, with no ribbing. Smooth creamy PVA gum with a satin sheen. Under ultraviolet light, the paper gives a dull fluorescent bluish white reaction, with a sparse concentration of dull fluorescent fibres, a very spars concentration of low fluorescent fibres, very few medium and high fluorescent fibres, and a very sparse concentration of brownish woodpulp fibres visible in the paper. Unitrade lists this stamp as being on DF paper, but this is a gross over-simplification, as the above description shows. There are in fact, at least 12 different varieties of smooth paper, and four varieties of the ribbed paper, and some of these are at least as bright as LF. Unitrade lists a VF-75 NH plate block of the basic dull paper at $35. Unitrade does not list field stock blocks of these, but they are quite a bit scarcer than the plate blocks, and consequently their value should be approximately the same. The block offered here grades VF-80 NH 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 Note any vertical or horizontal line shown in the scan is the edge of the acetate strip that the stamp was resting inside on the stockcard. Note: the above scan is a stock photo as are all my scans for material after 1952. The item(s) you will receive has (have) been carefully checked to adhere to the above grading standards, so while it (they) may not be exactly the same, it (they) will be of the same quality. Also, I do not provide back scans of NH stamps or blocks after 1952 unless they are required to illustrate some attribute of the paper or gum.