Lot 265 Great Britain SC#3 (SG#BS90) 1c Red Brown 1841-1854 Imperf Penny Reds, Plate 91, 2.5 Margins, Extended Frameline At UR, A Very Good Used Example, Click on Listing to See ALL Pictures, Estimated Value $10

A very good used example of the 1c red brown from the 1841-1854 Imperf Penny Reds, plate 91, 2.5 margins, extended frameline at ur. Gibbons Specialized Cat. 38 GBP. Our estimate of the value based on the condition is $10.

The imperforate penny reds were issued between 1841 to 1854, and were printed from a grand total of 177 different plates, with the first 11 of those plates being the plates used to print the Penny Black. Those are known to philatelists as the black plates. Then, from plates 12 to 131, a particular type of font was used for the corner check letters, called Alphabet I. Starting with plate 132 and going through to plate 177 a new font was adopted, known as Alphabet II. Distinguishing between the plates requires one to study the characteristics of the stamps, and this week's blog post discusses how you can accomplish this task. In this sale this week, I am offering first, those stamps which have already been plated by the previous owner(s). Then, I will offer a series of "study lots", which have been broken down according to whichever characteristic they will be most useful for studying, whether that be shades, corner letters, for learning to tell the alphabets apart, or specific plate charateristics, such as weak corners, recut frames, re-entries, burr runs and basal shifts, which can narrow down the plates that the stamp could have come from significantly, sometimes down to just one plate. These lots should help you gain some familiarity with the different components of what makes up this remarkable stamp, and then you can use them to help you in your own plating efforts. The idea here is that by offering the plated examples, you can build a quick reference collection while you seek out the fine and very fine examples, although there are a few VF stamps in this week's offering. I did however want to offer the accumulation that these came from warts and all, so that you can gain some appreciation for how scarce fine and VF quality actually is. There were some 2,730 stamps in the lot that I bought, and what you see here for VF stamps is all that there was in the lot, save for a few unplated examples, which I am saving for next week, when I can atttempt to plate them. A word about grading is in order. Full margins on this issue are just 1/2 mm, which is very small. If you look at examples which show the next stamp to the left or right, you will be able to see how narrow the space is, and how unlikely it was that someone using scissors by candlelight or gas light would cut in a way that would leave 1/2 mm on all four sides of a stamp. Stamps with 1/2 mm around on all 4 sides, with a moderate Maltese Cross or 1844 type cancellation, which are by their nature heavy, is at the top end of VF (i.e. VF-84 and VF-80). One that has 4 margins but one or two close, but not in is VF-75. One that has 4 margins that are all close, or one margin just touching is F-65-F70. 3 Margins and one just touching is VG-F, i.e. VG-60 to VG-64. One that has 2 margins, or three margins with one clearly into the design on 1 side is VG-55 to VG-60. One with only one such margin and touching or just in on 2 or more sides is Good, and anything less is either fair or poor. A heavier than normal; cancel, or one that is badly smudged and unsightly lowers the grade to the next lowest level, i.e. VG-F or VG if it would normally have been fine, depending on how strong a fine the stamp was. For instance an F-65 with a heavy cancel would be VG, but one that was say F-70 would be VG-F. In valuing the stamps I take the Gibbons price as dollars (so ignoring exchange). Then I divide by 2 for fine, again by 2 for VG and than again by 2 for good. Generally where I can see that the stamps will average less than VG in a study lot I simply call them "ungraded" and I estimate them at $2-$4 a piece, depending on what they are. For more information you should definitely visit the blog post in our Classic Worldwide Stamps blog. It should be published there by end of day on Friday, November 17, 2022.