Lot 396 Canada #723-725 50c-80c Multicoloured Prairie-Maritime Street Scenes, 1977-1982 Floral & Environment Issue, 5 VF Canada Post Official FDC's Franked With Singles On DF & LF Papers, DF and Fluorescent Envelopes, Two Building Colours On 50c

5 VF Canada Post official FDC's of the 50c-80c multicoloured Prairie-Maritime Street Scenes from the 1977-1982 Floral & Environment Issue franked with singles on DF & LF papers, DF and fluorescent envelopes, two building colours on 50c. On the 50c covers, one has the building at right looking more brownish and the other has it looking orange brown. The 50c and 60c stamps are on LF paper, while the 75c and 80c stamps are on LF paper. The DF envelopes appear to be the standard ones for these issues, with the those higher than LF being less common. The fluorescence of the envelopes is an important characteristic that has been ignored by all the catalogues. Why does it matter? Because the envelope is an integral component of the FDC in the same way that a cover would be to a complete booklet, or the cardboard insert would be to a pack of plate blocks. The expectation, and general observation would be that Canada Post would utilize one type of envelope for a particular issue, so that if a different one from the standard type is found, then there is a good chance that it will be scarce, and is therefore, in our opinion collectible.

Unitrade values the basic covers without paper varieties at $11.65. The LF paper on the 60c is worth a small premium, so our estimate of the value is $12.