Newfoundland #17 2d Deep Rose, Heraldic Flowers, 1861-1862 Pence Issue, a Fine Appearing but Very Good Unused Example on Medium Hard Paper

A fresh and fine appearing, but very good unused example of the 2d deep rose Heraldic Flowers stamp from the 1861-1864 Pence Issue, printed on the medium hard wove paper, from the November 1861 printing.

This misunderstood and often misidentified issue was printed in 4 main printings, which are listed in Unitrade as follows:

• 1857 to 1860 - dry printings made on thick, soft machine made paper with distinct mesh. This encompasses the scarlet vermilion rarities and the better 1d and 3d's, which are distinguished from what follows by shade and by dimensions, being that the design is 1/2 mm wider than the later printings.
• 1860 to July 1861 - dry printings, but now made on handmade paper that varies in thickness and has no mesh. These are listed in Unitrade as the orange stamps and the better 5dm which again is 1/2 mm wider than later printings.
• July 1861 - wet printings made on soft paper, which varies in thickness in deep shades. These are not separately listed in Unitrade, but are grouped with #15A-23. They are much scarcer than the later remainders in the pale shades, and are worth considerably more than the Unitrade prices.
• November 1861 to 1864 - wet printings, but on hard paper, which again varies in thickness, in medium to pale shades. These are the common remainders upon which Unitrade's prices are based.

The stamp offered here is one of the earlier printings from the last period in the deep rose shade. There is a vertical crease on the right side that is just visible from the front, and this reduces the grade from fine to VG.

Unitrade values a F-65 OG example at $130, so unused should be worth $65, and VG should be worth $35. The stamp offered here grades VG-64 as follows:

Centering/margins: 44/70

Paper freshness: 10/10

Colour: 10/10

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Adjustment for vertical crease: -10 points