Lot 398 Canada #BK80hvar 1c, 5c, 17c Multicoloured Queen Elizabeth II & Parliament Buildings, 1977-1985 Floral & Environment Issue, A VFNH Complete Booklet, DF Cover, DF/LF3 Pane, 3.5 mm Tagging, Double Cameo & Damaged "5"

A VFNH complete booklet of the 1c, 5c, 17c multicoloured Queen Elizabeth II & Parliament Buildings from the 1977-1985 Floral & Environment Issue . Nearly all of these booklets have dull or non fluorescent covers. Booklets with fluorescent covers are very, very scarce, with only a few turning up in every few hundred booklets. The length of the panes varies from 70mm to 77 mm, with the most common being the 70 mm panes. The tagging bars also vary in width with 3.5 mm wide bars and 4.5 mm wide bars. The 4.5 mm bars are much scarcer and carry a 200% premium in Unitrade. The design of these Queen Elizabeth II bas-relief stamps of this issue consists of the background colour and the inscription, a white area for the Queen, and then over top of the background colour is printed the details of the Queen and the shadow around the Queen in black half-tone, which gives the appearance of the cameo being grey and the background colour appearing darker in the centre and then getting lighter as you move toward the outer edges. This halftone, when it is registered properly, fits the contours of the design. But if it is shifted, it will create the illusion of doubling because there will be a small outline of colour immediately beyond the cameo, which will run into the edges of the halftone black, which highlights it to the eye, making it look doubled, when in reality all that has happened is that the black has shifted to either the left or right.

Unitrade does not list this variety. Our estimate of the value is $16. The booklet offered here grades 80 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 50/70

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Pane Edges: 10/10