Lagos SG#3 3d Chestnut & Orange Brown, Queen Victoria, 1874-1876 Perf. 12.5 Crown CC Watermarked Issue, 4th Printing, Perf.12.5, A Very Fine Unused Example

A well centered and very fine unused example of the 3d chestnut and orange brown Queen Victoria De La Rue Keyplate stamp from the 1874-1876 Perf. 12.5 Crown CC issue. According to J.F Ince in his definitive work, there were a total of 15,780 stamps issued across 4 different printings between November 18, 1874 and May 13, 1875. This example is from the fourth printing from May 13, 1875, of which 6,480 stamps were printed. Vertical wove paper showing no clear mesh and watermarked crown CC.

Stanley Gibbons values a VF-75 example of the more common fourth printing example at 130 pounds = $260. Unused should be worth approximately half the Gibbons price, so $130.

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

The stamp offered here grades VF-78 as follows:

Margins/centering: 50/70

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 8/10