Lot 138 Newfoundland #49-49b 3c Blue, Bright Blue, Pale Blue & Deep Blue Queen Victoria, 1880-1886 Third Cents Issue, 11 Fine Used Singles With Different Papers & Perfs

11 fine used singles of the 3c blue, bright blue, pale blue & deep blue Queen Victoria from the 1880-1886 Third Cents Issue with different papers & perfs.

The lot contains; 1) Blue on stout horizontal wove paper, perfs 12.2 & 12.1, 2) blue (2 shades) on stout vertical wove paper, perf 12.25 x 12.2, 3) bright blue on stout vertical wove paper, perf 12.2, 4) bright blue on stout horizontal wove paper, perf 12.2, 5) pale blue on vertical wove paper, perf 12.2, 6) dull blue on horizontal stout paper, perf 12.1, pale dull blue on horizontal stout paper, perfs 12.2 x 12.1 & 12.1 x 12.2, and 8) deep blue on horizontal wove, perf 12.1.

Unitrade values this at $55. The stamps offered here grade between 66 and 70 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 30/60

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 5/10, 8/10, 10/10

Cancellation: 6/10, 8/10, 10/10

The Third Cents issue is very confusing because of the way the issue is laid out in both Scott and Unitrade, as well as the names given to the shades, which are not very useful for identifying the individual printings. The key to understanding the set and being able to correctly identify the printings lies in understanding that there are three groups of printings for each value, which correspond closely to the Montreal and Ottawa periods of the Small Queen issues of Canada. The first printings, made between 1880 and 1887 are generally in duller or paler colours, but the main identifying characteristic is the stout wove paper that shows coarse mesh. This paper can be either horizontal or vertical wove, and is hard. These printings comprise all shades of 41, 46, the dull blue shades of 49, and 53. Both #41 and #53 show a wide variation in the shades, so the colour designations "violet brown" and "pale blue" are not very meaningful and will result in misclassifications if you rely on colour alone, as some shades of #53 are quite deep, and some shades of #41 are quite dull, but are not greyish. The second group are printings made from 1887 to 1894. These are generally on soft vertical or horizontal wove paper, that is quite thin and often stout, but not as hard as the earlier paper. Shades tend to be much darker, and so most shades of 42, 44, 48, blue and bright blue shades of 49, 51, 54 and 56 fall into this group. Then, the last group are the 1894-1896 postal reissues. These are generally in brighter colours and the paper is always thicker, soft and tends not to show mesh. The 5c blue tends more towards ultramarine than blue, but again, there is quite a range of shades for #55. The stamps that fit into this group are #43, 45, 47, 49b, 52, 55, 57, 58 and 59.