Niger Coast Protectorate SG#55-55a 5p Deep Purple and Reddish Violet Queen Victoria, 1894-1896 2nd Waterlow Unwatermarked Issue, Fine and Very Fine Used Examples of Both Shades, Perf. 14.5-15, Featuring A Bonny River CDS And An Indistinguishable CDS

Two fine and very fine used examples of the 5d deep purple and reddish violet Queen Victoria Widow's Weeds stamp from the 1894-1896 Unwatermarked 2nd Waterlow Issue, perf. 14.5-15. Printed on vertical wove paper with visible mesh. The first stamp was canceled in Bonny River on February 4th (year is faded, cant make it out) and the second stamp is entirely unreadable for the cancel.

One of the appeals to this issue is the number of perforation and shade varieties. There are 3 different printings of the 5p stamp, and many different perforation combinations to be found as well, some scarcer than others. I have written a general blog post about the 2nd Waterlow issue, which can be found here.

Gibbons values used examples of these stamps at 11 pounds = $22

The stamps offered here grade F-66 and VF-78 as follows:

Margins/centering: 30/60, 40/60

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 6/10, 8/10

Cancelations : 10/10