Lot 187 Lagos SG#3 (SC#3) 3d Milky Red Brown, Queen Victoria, 1874-1876 Perf. 12.5 Watermarked Crown CC Issue, 1st Printing, A Very Fine Used Example, February 24, 1875 Lagos CDS, 2022 Scott Classic Cat. $45 USD, Click on Listing to See ALL Pictures

A well centered and very fine CDS used example example of the 3d milky red brown 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 15,780 stamps issued across 4 different printings between November 18, 1874 and May 13, 1875. This example is from the first printing from November 18, 1874, of which 3,000 stamps were printed. Vertical wove paper showing no clear mesh and watermarked crown CC. Cancelled with a clear strike of Proud type D6 CDS with timecode A, dated February 24, 1875.

2022 Scott Classic values a VF-75 used example of the more common fourth printing example at $45 USD. The other three printings are each twice as scarce as the fourth printing, so this example should be worth at least a small premium.

I have written a blog post which explains the differences between the printings, which you can access here.

The stamp offered here grades VF-82 as follows:

Margins/centering: 44/60

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 8/10

Cancellation: 10/10