Lot 162 Hong Kong Used in Shanghai #Z772 2c Brown Queen Victoria, 1863-1871 Keyplate Issue, Two VG & Fine Used Examples, Crown CC Watermark, With Blue and Black "S1" Shanghai Treaty Port Cancels

Two VG & Fine Used Examples of the 2c brown Queen Victoria from the 1863-1871 Keyplate Issue, with Crown CC watermark, with blue and black "S1" Shanghai treaty port cancels..

Gibbons values this at £24, but we're estimating at $10. The stamps offered here grade between 56 and 66 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 35/60 and 20/60

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 5/10 and 10/10

Cancellation: 6/10

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.