Lot 150 Hong Kong #11, 11a, 11b 8c Pale Dull Orange, Brownish Orange & Bright Orange Queen Victoria, 1863-1871 Keyplate Issue, Four Fine Used Examples, Crown CC Watermark

Four Fine Used Examples of the 8c pale dull orange, brownish orange & bright orange Queen Victoria from the 1863-1871 Keyplate Issue, with Crown CC watermark..

Gibbons values this at £42, but we're estimating at $25. The stamps offered here grade between 65 and 70 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 30/60 and 35/60

Paper Freshness: 5/5 and 0/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10 and 5/10

Cancellation: 10/10 and 8/10

It is important to note that cancellations on these early keyplate issues usually consist of a barred numeral killer cancel. These are usually struck heavily and centered on the stamp, so that a heavy cancel will not preclude a stamp from being either fine or VF, though it will lower the grade by 5 points or so for an average cancel. So, a stamp that is well centered and would otherwise grade VF-80 or above will still be VF, but one that would normally grade VF-75 will be fine. In addition, on the unwatermarked and Crown CC issues, the centering was unsually poor, so that stamps with perforations touching the design are the norm for the VF grade. Fine centered stamps will have the perforations just barely cutting into the design on 1 or 2 sides. VG examples will have the perforations cutting quite significantly into the design on 1 or 2 sides and will often show the outer framelines of the adjacent stamps in the opposing margins. The Crown CA issues are a different matter entirely, and the normal grading stadards are applied to those in assessing conditon grade.