Lagos SG#1 1d Very Pale Lilac & Mauve 5th Printing Crown CC Watermark Perf. 12.5 VG-61 Unused

A very good unused example of the 1d very pale lilac & mauve 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 19,800 stamps issued across 6 different printings between May 12, 1874 and May 13, 1875. This example is from the scarce fifth printing from February 3, 1875, of which only 3,000 stamps were printed. This is a very pale shade that may well be faded. However, the mauve colour of the duty plate is usually found with much darker frame plate colours. So it may indeed be a legitimately pale shade - we cannot verify this for certain. Vertical wove paper showing no visible mesh and watermarked crown CC. No gum, which does not detract significantly, as original gum is not often found on crown CC issues. Stanley Gibbons values a VF-75 mint example of the more common sixth printing at 80 pounds = $160. However, only 15% of all stamps in existence are from the third printing, and consequently in our opinion, they are worth at least 25-50% more than the Gibbons price. A very good unused example should be worth about 12% of this higher amount, or about $25-30. The stamp offered here grades VG-61 unused as follows: Margins/centering: 40/70 Paper freshness: 0/5 (pen marking on back showing through) Colour: 1/5 Impression: 5/5 Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5 Perforations: 10/10