Lot 211 Lagos SG#6 (SC#5) 6d Deep Green & Deep Bright Yellow Green, Queen Victoria, 1874-1876 Perf. 12.5 Crown CC Issue, 5th Printing, A Very Fine Mint Part OG Example, 2022 Scott Classic Cat. $150 USD, Click on Listing to See ALL Pictures

A well centered and very fine mint part OG example of the 6d deep green & deep bright yellow 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 fifth printing from December 14, 1874, of which 3,240 stamps were printed. Vertical wove paper showing no clear mesh and watermarked crown CC.

2022 Scott Classic values a VF-75 mint OG example of the more common seventh printing example at $150 USD. A part OG example like this should be worth about $75. The fourth through sixth printings are twice as scarce as the seventh printing and thus should be worth a significant premium. This example does have a natural diagonal gum bend, which does affect the numeric grade, but does not reduce it below VF.

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

The stamp offered here grades VF-75 as follows:

Margins/centering: 50/70

Paper freshness: 4/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 6/10