Lot 209 Lagos SG#6 (SC#5) 6d Bluish Green and Bright Green, Queen Victoria, 1874-1876 Perf. 12.5 Crown CC Issue, 4th Printing, A Very Fine CDS Used, January 8, 1875 Lagos CDS, 2022 Scott Classic Cat. $20 USD, Click on Listing to See ALL Pictures

A well centered and very fine used example of the 6d bluish green and deep green 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 22,620 stamps issued across 7 different printings between May 12, 1874 and May 13, 1875. This example is from the fourth printing from November 18, 1874, of which 3,240 stamps were printed. Vertical wove paper showing no clear mesh and watermarked crown CC. Cancelled with a crisp strike of a Proud D6 Lagos CDS cancel, dated January 8, 1875, with a reversed time code B.

2022 Scott Classic values a VF-75 used example of the more common seventh printing example at $20 USD. The first and second printings are three times as scarce as the seventh printing and thus should be worth a significant 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-79 as follows:

Margins/centering: 44/60

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 0/5 (light diagoinal bend at top)

Perforations: 8/10

Cancellation: 10/10