Canada #401p 1c Brown Queen Elizabeth II, 1962-1967 Cameo Issue, A VFNH Group of 6 Winnipeg Tagged Field Stock Corner Blocks With Different Selvedge Widths, Shades and Tagging Strengths, All on DF Paper

An interesting group of 6 very fine NH (VF-75 to VF-84) field stock corner blocks of 4 of the Winnipeg tagged 1c brown stamp of the 1962-1967 Cameo Issue, which may include unlisted paper, shade and perfs, as discussed below. As explained in the blog articles here, here, here and here, these stamps can be found with a variety of paper, shade, tagging and gum varieties, some of which are listed in Unitrade, but most of which are not listed. These articles will explain what these varieties are and how you can identify them.

The stamps were printed in plates of 600 stamps, divided into 6 panes of 100. In accordance with new directives established at the end of 1958, a portion of the panes were left with the plate inscriptions intact, and these were sent to the philatelic bureau. All other panes were trimmed to remove the inscriptions and were distributed to post offices. This is known as field stock. From the appearance of the cutting guidelines on the blocks, and the selvedge widths, it would appear that the panes are arranged in a 2 x 3 configuration, so that:

• Upper and lower panes have wide selvedge at the top and bottom.
• Middle panes have narrow selvage at the top and bottom.
• Left panes will have wide selvedge at the left side, and narrow on the right side.
• Right panes will have narrow selvedge on the left side and wide selvedge on the right side.

This lot includes:

• UL with light strength bands on lightly ribbed paper with smooth gum. The selvedge is wide on left and at the top, indicating it is from the UL pane.
• UL with medium bands, printed in brown, on smooth paper with slightly streaky gum. The selvedge is wide on left and narrow at the top, indicating it is from either the left centre or lower left pane.
• UR with medium bands, printed in brown, on smooth paper with slightly streaky gum. The selvedge is narrow on right and at the top, indicating it is from the either the left centre or lower left pane.
• LR with medium bands, printed in brown, on smooth paper with streaky gum. The selvedge is wide on right and narrow at the bottom, indicating it is either from the upper right pane, or right centre pane.
• LL with medium bands, printed in brown, on smooth paper with slighty streaky gum. The selvedge is wide on left and at the bottom, indicating it is from the lower left pane.
• LL with medium bands, printed in brown, on translucent smooth paper with streaky gum. The selvedge is wide on left and at the bottom, indicating it is from the lower left pane.

I have not checked these blocks specifically for the perfs, but the notes below will prove helpful.

In terms of paper, Unitrade only lists the untagged stamps on DF paper, except for some printings of the 4c, which are listed as existing on fluorescent paper. There are at least two types of DF paper that can be found, as well as NF papers. This lot is mainly the DF paper and will generally be 1 of 2 types as follows:

1. A vertical wove paper that shows no clear mesh.
2. A vertical wove paper that shows clear horizontal mesh when viewed from the back (sometimes referred to as "ribbed")

Also, in most instances, the paper is opaque, showing only a faint image of the design through the back. However, some stamps are found with more of the design visible on the back.

In terms of gum, there are generally three types, two of which are present in this group:

1. A smooth, cream coloured gum that has a semi-gloss sheen.
2. A streaky, cream coloured gum that has a semi-gloss sheen.
3. A grainy cream coloured textured gum with a satin sheen. This is not present in this lot, but has been seen to exist on the 4c value.

In terms of shades, there are subtle variations on the 1c, 2c and 4c, and the 3c and 5c values show clear variations.

The tagging on this issue does exhibit some differences that are not specifically mentioned in Unitrade. The main one is that the strength varies from light, which is almost invisible, to moderate, which is visible, but not dark, and finally to dark, in which the bands appear deep yellow. The width of the bands also varies from the standard width of between 8-9 mm to a smaller size of 7 mm, which was applied at the outer columns of the panes of some, but not all printings.

The perforations also vary due to the fact that CBN used up to four different machines to perforate sheets during this period. The old machines gauging 12 and 11.9 were used to perforate most of the original printings, and then the newer machines were used for the later printings. One of these new machines gauges 11.95, while the other one introduced sometime in 1961 gauges 11.85. Compounds can also be found of both these gauges, so that all sheet stamps can be found with many different perforation measurements that at least include: 11.95 x 11.9, 11.95 x 11.85, 11.9 x 11.95, 11.9, 11.95, 11.85 x 11.95, 11.85 x 11.9, 12 x 11.9, 11.9 x 12 and 11.85 x 12. I did not measure the perfs of these blocks specifically, and the most common perf. appears to be 11.9, but they could be any of the measurements given above.

Unitrade values these blocks at $7.50 in this grade. A wonderful opportunity to get started on a more specialized collection of the tagged corner blocks of this issue.