Lot 194 Canada #597 25c Multicoloured Polar Bears, 1972 - 1977 Landscape Definitives Issue, 2 VFNH Singles OP4 Vertical Ribbed Pale Bands, NF Grey Blue/ NF Grey Blue & Flecked With Sparse LF, Type 1 Perf 12.5x12

2 VFNH singles of the 25c multicoloured Polar Bears from the 1972 - 1977 Landscape Definitives Issue OP4 vertical ribbed pale bands, NF grey blue/ NF grey blue & flecked with sparse LF, type 1 perf 12.5x12.

Unitrade values this at $1.5. The stamps offered here grades 80 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 50/70

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10

We have listed the two or three colour shift varieties that can be found on each of the values in this issue. For some strange reason, Unitrade only listed, until recently those varieties related to the 15c and 25c values. They de-listed them in the 2023 edition of the catalogue on the grounds that they aren't constant. However, our position is that this was a poor decision because these varieties are visually striking and thus very much collectible in our opinion. They also are not anywhere near as common as one might think, making up between 5-10% of all the stamps printed for each major printing. For each of the varieties found on the 10c, 20c and 50c that were never listed in Unitrade, we have coined a name for the variety and explained what causes it. We have generally estimated most at between $5-$15 each, which is in line with what Unitrade valued them at before they de-listed them. On this value, there is the Siamese bears variety, which I have only ever found on the perf. 13.3 printings, and the Water on Ice variety in which water appears on the ice sheet to the right of the bears.

We have listed the two or three colour shift varieties that can be found on each of the values in this issue. For some strange reason, Unitrade only listed, until recently those varieties related to the 15c and 25c values. They de-listed them in the 2023 edition of the catalogue on the grounds that they aren't constant. However, our position is that this was a poor decision because these varieties are visually striking and thus very much collectible in our opinion. They also are not anywhere near as common as one might think, making up between 5-10% of all the stamps printed for each major printing. For each of the varieties found on the 10c, 20c and 50c that were never listed in Unitrade, we have coined a name for the variety and explained what causes it. We have generally estimated most at between $5-$15 each, which is in line with what Unitrade valued them at before they de-listed them. The main varieties that exists on this value are the shifts, in all four directions of the deeper orange, the downward shift of which causes the field markings to appear doubled at the top of the design. These seem to be mostly combined to the plate 1 printings from what I can tell.

The original OP-4 migratory tagging can be found in two colours: bluish white bars and yellow bars. The difference does not appear to be due to the migration, as non-migrated examples can be found of the faded, bluish white tagging, while the yellow bars are almost always migrated, but there are a few non-migrated examples. The scans show what the difference between migrated and non-migrated tagging looks like. Often, the migration makes the inks appear to be fluorescent, when they are not. Unitrade asserts that non-OP4 tagges stamps contaminated with the tagging are damaged stamps, which may lead one to conclude that migrated OP-4 stamps are defective, but such is not the case. Most OP4 stamps are fully or partially migrated at this point, some 50 years after they were issued, and very little migration will occur now.