Canada #621iii (SG#760) 15c Multicoloured Queen Elizabeth II 1973 Royal Visit Issue"MF" Paper Type 5 F-74 NH

A very well centered and fine mint NH single 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. Unitrade lists a F-65 NH single at $1.75. The stamp offered here grades F-74 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: 0/10 (several nibbed perfs.) 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.