Lot 251 Rhodesia and Nyasaland SG#31 One Pound Violet and Black, 1959-1963 Waterlow, De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson Pictorial Issue, A VFNH Example

A VFNH example of the one pound from the 1959-1963 Waterlow, De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson pictorial issue. The stamp is on DF paper. Waterlow lost its printing contract to De La Rue in late 1961, so where an issue spans the period from 1953 to 1963, most, if not all values can and will exist printed by both printers. Generally speaking, Waterlow printings will have a thicker than normal perforation tooth at the top right, but the bigger difference is that the impression will have tiny whiskers of colour and ink spatter, making the print appear somewhat fuzzy. De La Rue printings will be printed with much cleaner lines, which causes the entire design to appear lighter and softer. The difference is most apparent in the shading of the Queen's portrait. The fluorescence of the papers is another way to distinguish the printings. Waterlow and some De La Rue Printings are on DF paper, whereas stamps on LF and MF papers are almost always De La Rue and come from printings made in the 1960's. On this set Waterlow initially printed the 1/2d, 1d, 2d and 1/- values.

Gibbons values this stamp at 48 GBP = approximately $81.60. The stamp offered here grades 84.