Great Britain SG#766var 1/9d Multicoloured, 1968 Bridges Issue, A VFOG Example of the Unlisted Missing Left Phosphor Band

A VFOG example of the 1/9d multicoloured 1968 Bridges issue, with the left phosphor band omitted. I have checked carefully, as discussed below for signs of phosphor bands on the left side of the design and can confirm that there are none, though the right band is clearly visible. Gibbons does not list this variety, but we would estimate the value at $5.

A general word about the missing phosphor and embossing varieties listed in Gibbons Concise:

The embossing applied to the gold head of the Queen is sometimes extremely weak, but if you examine the paper carefully with a 10x loupe you will always see an outline around the head of the embossing impression and if you tilt the stamp to a light source, you will see a small depression. Likewise the violet phosphors applied to issues from 1966 to 1970 are often very, very difficult to see even under short-wave UV light. I often use a combination of long wave UV, which will often reveal the lines of the phosphor bands and a 10x loupe to look for the edges of the bands, and usually I can see even the faintest ones. And there are some that are so weak it looks at first glance like the phosphor is omitted. You could send them for certificates, but generally the value is such that it is not economical to do so.