Lot 174 Canada #740i 25c Multicolored Peace Tower, 1977 Parliamentary Conference, A VFNH Sealed Pack Of Plate Blocks On MF Paper With LF Type 3A Insert With Smaller Font, Unitrade Cat. As Blocks $72

A VFNH sealed pack of plate blocks of the 25c multicolored Peace Tower from the 1977 Parliamentary Conference on MF paper with LF type 3A insert with smaller font. There are 4 divots in the plastic where the previous owner cut them to allow the pack to "breathe" otherwise it is intact

Unitrade values this at $72. The pack offered here grades 75 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 45/70

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10

The sealed packages of plate blocks and single stamps first made their appearance on the Canadian philatelic Scene in 1973, as best I can determine. They are an exciting and emerging new field within Canadian philately, as Canada Post went through no fewer than 6 basic design changes for their inser cards, and several of these exist with two or three sub-types. Whenever a change was made it often happens that a particular definitive or commemorative issue may have been issued with more than one type of pack design. We have seen as many as three for one issue. Also, the fluorescence of the card stock used for the cards varies widely from DF to HB, and in some cases when the Philatelic Department ran out of a particular size card, a certain size sealing bag or the blocks themselves, improvisations were made to allow production to continue, and all of these varieties are collectible. The best part is that no one knows the relative scarcities, so you can pick up scarce varieties for less than you would otherwise pay. These packs are the subject of this week's blog post. In it, you will find a full explanation of the terminology that we have used in the lot descriptions, such as the pack types and so forth.