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Lot 374 Niger Coast Protectorate SG#5-6 (SC#5-6) 5d Purple & Ultramarine and 1/- Dull Green Queen Victoria, Fine and VF Used Examples, 2022 Scott Classic Cat. $107.25 USD, Click on Listing to See ALL Pictures

Lot 374 Niger Coast Protectorate SG#5-6 (SC#5-6) 5d Purple & Ultramarine and 1/- Dull Green Queen Victoria, Fine and VF Used Examples, 2022 Scott Classic Cat. $107.25 USD, Click on Listing to See ALL Pictures

Fine and VF used examples of the 5d purple & ultramarine and 1/- dull green Queen Victoria Jubilee Issue of Great Britain, overprinted with the Oil Rivers overprint. The 5d is cancelled with black February 2, 1894 Old Calabar River CDS cancel with timecode A.

This issue appeals both to collectors who specialize in the Unified designs of the GB 1887-1902 Jubilee issue, as well as Nigeria specialists. The main appeal of this issue lies in the large number of plateable constant varieties in the overprint, as well as the types. The overprinting was carried out using two electrotype plates of 60, so the values other than the 1/2d and 1d could be done with one pass through the press, while the larger sheets of 240 for the 1/2d and 1d required 2 such passes. The overprints varied slightly from column to column, and the 6 types can be identified by a combination of the widths of certain words, as well as whether the "B" and "H" of the word "British" is level, low or raised, relative to the other letters. The types can be identified as follows:

Type Length of "British" Length of "Protectorate" Length of Oil Rivers Position of B, R and H
1 8 mm 16.25 mm 16.5 mm B, H raised
2 7.75 mm just under 16.5 mm 16.5 mm B, H raised
3 7.75 mm 16.5 mm 16.5 mm B low, H raised
4 7.75 mm 16.5 mm just over 16.5 mm R slants, H raised
5 7.75 mm 16.5 mm 16.75 mm B, H raised
6 7.75 mm 16.5 mm just under 16.5 mm B level, H raised


I have written a blog post outlining the different constant varieties that can be found in the overprint itself. These varieties are fully constant and can be found on all 6 values of the set. You can read about them here.

The quantities printed and sent were also relatively modest, at 50,000 each of the 1/2d and 1d; 42,000 of the 2d, 72,500 of the 2.5d, 36,000 of the 5d and just 10,000 of the 1/-. So, what all this means is that the number of stamps with the constant varieties is quite limited for each of the varieties.

2022 Scott Classic values used examples at $107.25 USD.

The stamps offered here grade VF-84 and F-70 as follows:

Margins/centering: 30/60 and 44/60

Paper freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of visible paper flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10

Cancels: 10/10



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