Lagos SG#14 4d Rose Carmine, Queen Victoria, 1876-1880 Line Perf. 14 Crown CC Watermarked Issue, 2nd Printing, A Fine Used Example

A well centered and fine used example of the 4d rose carmine Queen Victoria De La Rue Keyplate stamp from the 1876-1880 line Perf. 14 Crown CC issue. According to J.F Ince in his definitive work, there were a total of 57,540 stamps issued across 6 different printings between May 9, 1876 and November 18, 1880. This example is from the second printing from June 12, 1877, of which 6,300 stamps were printed. Printed on vertical wove paper with fine vertical mesh. Cancelled with a moderate strike of a Proud K1 Lagos grid killer cancel.

Stanley Gibbons values a VF-75 used example at 12 pounds = $24. Fine should be worth approximately 50% of Gibbons, so $12.

I have written a blog post which explains the differences between the printings, which you can access here.

The stamp offered here grades F-71 as follows:

Margins/centering: 40/60

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 5/10

Cancellation: 6/10