Lot 215 Canada #129 3c Blackish Brown (Brown) King George V, 1911-1928 Admiral Issue, A VFNH Coil Single With Unlisted Engraver's Slip At LR Frame, Perf 8 Vertical, Wet Printing, Retouched Frameline

A VFNH coil single of the 3c blackish brown (brown) King George V from the 1911-1928 Admiral Issue with unlisted engraver's slip at lr frame, perf 8 vertical, wet printing. Retouched frameline. This very unmistakable engraver's slip is the first one we have seen since the 20c Numeral issue. These slips are generally valued at between 50% and 100% more than the basic stamps.

Unitrade values this at $125, but if this were listed in Unitrade we feel it would be listed at $200-$250. The stamp 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

Unitrade's treatment of the Admiral issue is quite simplified in the sense that only the broad shade groups are listed, and the retouched frameline is only listed on a few values, even though most of the first colours of each value can be found with both retouched frame and normal frame in the upper right spandrel of the design. In terms of shades, what we have done is to sort the stamps into each identifiable shade, name them using the Gibbons Stamp Colour Key and then attempt to assign each shade to one of the groups listed in Unitrade. This is fairly easy to do when you have all the shades identified and laid next to one another. The difference between the retouched and redrawn frameline is another source of confusion for many collectors. Basically, the normal frame, from the early printings has horizontal shading lines that terminate in a uniform straight line, with no vertical line connecting them. The retouched frameline is a light vertical line which has been added to join all the horizontal shading lines. It is generally only found on wet printings. The re-drawn frameline on the other hand is a thicker, heavier line and is only found on dry printings.