Canada #589vvar 4c Black William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1973-1978 Caricature Issue, a Fine NH Example of a G2aC 1 Bar Tagging Error on DF Ribbed Paper

A Fine NH example of the 4c black William Lyon Mackenzie King stamp from the 1972-1978 Caricature Issue, showing a G2aC 1-bar tagging error on DF ribbed paper.

Adminware values this error at $30 for VF, so fine should be worth $15. The stamp offered here grades 70 as follows:

Centering/margins: 40/70
Paper freshness: 5/5
Colour: 5/5
Impression: 5/5
Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5
Perforations: 10/10

A Note About Paper Types, Perforations and Tagging on the Caricature Designs

The 1c through 10c stamps were printed primarily by the Canadian Bank Note Company on uncoated paper with PVA gum. However, the early printings of the 7c, 8c and all the 10c were printed by BABN, again on an uncoated paper that is smoother than that used by CBN.

The paper used by CBN was most often low fluorescent, but variations from dead all the way up to HB are found. In addition, even though the paper is uncoated, the fluorescence readings on the front and the back of mint stamps are quite often different, which suggests that the gum exhibited chemical differences during the life of the issue that manifest as different fluorescence readings on the back of stamps. In addition to fluorescence, there are also noticeable differences in texture. Unitrade lists the horizontal ribbed papers and the vertical ribbed paper on the 2c, but there is also a rough paper, as well as a smooth paper that is NOT ribbed. The rough paper is most often seen on the printings of the 6c Pearson from plate 3 on the NF paper.

BABN's paper as stated earlier is, as a general rule, smoother than CBN's, but it too exhibits differences in front and back fluorescence, as well as smooth and ribbed versions.

In terms of perforations, all the stamps are comb perforated. BABN had more experience than CBN in comb perforating, with the result that most BABN printings show perfect spacing between comb strikes, such that it is generally not possible to see, by looking at a sheet, how many comb strikes were required to perforate a sheet. In contrast, this issue was CBN's first attempt to use comb perforators, and jumps and skips between comb strikes on a sheet can often be found.

The tagging also differs in appearance between BABN and CBN printings. With the exception of the 8c, which often has what appears to be azure tagging, from contamination by the blue ink, tagging on BABN stamps is colourless and slightly glossy. CBN printings on the other hand have tagging bars that vary from very light, which are nearly invisible, to deep brownish yellow. Unitrade makes no distinction between these, but in my listings, where necessary I distinguish between light, moderate and dark tags.

Shades also vary slightly for each value, with differences in tone and intensity for all values.