Niger Coast Protectorate SG#46d 1d Blue Queen Victoria, 1893 Obliterated "Oil Rivers" Issue, A Very Fine Used Example of the 2nd Printing With the Scarce Perf. 12.5 x 14 and Engraver's Slip

A well centered and very fine used example of the 1d blue Queen Victoria Widow's Weeds stamp from the 1893 Obliterated Oil Rivers Issue, with the scarce perf. 12.5 x 14, and showing an engraver's slip in the upper right corner of the design. Printed on vertical wove paper with visible mesh. Cancelled with SON Old Calabar River CDS Cancels with timecode A, dated April 1, 1894. In addition, there is what appears to be an engraver's slip in the upper right corner, where an extra vertical line originates in the left margin and eventually passes through the left frameline.

The appeal of this issue is the number of perforation and shade varieties, as well as the fact that there were three printings made between June 1893 and March 1894. A number of nice re-entries are to be found on these stamps as well. I have written a series of blog posts outlining the points of interest to be found on these issues. You can access the relevant ones here and here. No fewer than six perforating machines were used to perforate the stamps, so a very large number of perforation combinations can be found, and some of them are very scarce.

The quantities printed and sent were also relatively modest, at 37,000 of the 1/2d, 39,400 of the 1d, 16,000 of the 2d, 46,000 of the 2.5d, 25,000 of the 5d and 16,000 of the 1/-.

Gibbons values a used example of this scarce perf. at 25 pounds = $50, without the engraver's slip. This is a scarce and seldom seen stamp - any stamp from this series with 12 or 12.5 in the perforation is very scarce.

The stamp offered here grades VF-76 as follows:

Margins/centering: 40/60

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 6/10

Cancellation: 10/10