Lot 241 Canada #606pi/609pi 6c-15c Multicoloured Candles and Fruit, 1972 Christmas Issue, 10 Mostly All VFNH Winnipeg and Ottawa Tagged UR Corner Blocks Of 4 With Various Paper Fluorescences, Smooth & Ribbed Papers

10 mostly VFNH UR Winnpeg and Ottawa tagged corner blocks of the 6c through 15c multicoloured candles and fruit stamps from the 1972 Christmas Issue with smooth and horizontal ribbed papers, showing various fluorescence levels, as well as shade varieties.

All the blocks are identified in respect to paper type, tag & fluorescence on the front of the glassine in which the blocks are stored.

Unitrade values these at $22.50. The blocks offered here grade between 70 and 84.
The 1972 Christmas issue is significant in five respects. Firstly, it is the first christmas issue to be comb perforated. Most of the sheets are printed in such a way that the left selvedge is imperf, and the selvedge on the other three sides is imperf. The main exception to this are all the field stock sheets, which are perforated through on all 4 sides. However, both tagged printings can also be found with imperf left selvedge. The second point of interest is that this is the only commemorative issue to exist with both Winnipeg tagging and the new OP-2 Ottawa tagging. Thirdly, although not listed, this issue can be found on both smoth paper and paper showing horizontal ribbing on the face. This ribbing is usually light, but the paper does appear different from the smooth paper, which shows no trace of ribbing. The paper is chalk surfaced and is HF under UV light on the back, but the strength of the fluorescent reaction on the front varies from LF to HF. Lastly, each value exists in at lest 2 shades of the background colour, though on the 6c the differences are quite subtle. However, on the other three values they are quite distinct.