Lot 48 Palestine SC#5var (SG#6avar) 2m Deep Green "Postage Paid" and "E.E.F" in Frame, 1918-1927 Somerset House Lithographed Issue, A VFOG & VFNH Lower Left Sheet Margin Block of 6, Showing Constant Plate Varieties and Missing Perf on Positons 229-231

A VFOG & VFNH lower left sheet margin block of 6 of the 2m deep green "Postage Paid" and "E.E.F" in Frame from the 1918-1927 Somerset House Lithographed Issue, perf. 15 x 14, Royal Cypher watermark, showing constant plate varieties on 5 of 6 stamps, rough perf., and missing perf on positons 229-231 . The block is hinged in the margin only. The stamps are all NH. The block is from the lower pane, positions 217-219 and 229-231 and shows the missing perf. Variety on positions 229-231, as well as minor constant plate varieties on 5 of the 6 stamps in the block, including (1) a nib on the J-shaped Arabic character on the upper left stamp; (2) a dot between the framelines on the top centre stamp; (3) damaged scrollwork to the right of "F" on the upper right stamp; (4) a damaged "O" in "Two" on the lower centre stamp; (5) a damaged Arabic character on the lower right stamp, and dot above "Two".

Dorfman values this at $155. The block 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

Perforations: 10/10

The issues of Palestine have been studied extensively and written up by David Dorfman in a specialized catalogue titled "The Stamps and Postal Stationery of Palestine Mandate 1918-1948", which was published in 2001. In this book he details the many variations in the plate characteristics, papers and overprints that are not listed in Gibbons. The first issues with the "Postage Paid" between "EEF" panels exist with a wide variety of major and minor constant plate flaws, which he identifies in the catalogue. He also lists these issues with the missing bottom perforations, which come only from positons 229 through 240 of the sheets. Also, these issues can be found with both clean cut perforations, which are the more common perforatons, and rough perforations which he lists also. The Jerusalem and London Palestine overprints can generally be plated and the plates were made up from a number of different identifiable types of each overprint, many of which we identify here. The 1927-1948 pictorial issues exist on three different kinds of paper: (1) a thin, semi-transparent paper, (2) a thicker white wove paper and (3) a vertically ribbed paper. In valuing these stamps we have used Dorfman's catalogue values where the item is completely unlisted in Gibbons. Where the item is listed in Gibbons we have calculated an "Adjusted Gibbons" value which is the value obtained by taking the premium inherent in the particular variety, as listed in Dorfman and applying this premium to the Gibbons catalogue value for hinged singles. In the majority of cases we have added no premium for NH stamps, but would emphasize that NH stamps of this period from other countries typically command premiums of between 50% and 200%, so there is every reason to suggest that there should be a premum over these calculated values for blocks containing NH stamps. In several cases the percentage premium to be appiled to varieties is stated in Dorfman, but in other cases, such as plate blocks, we have had to impute the premium by comparing the Dorfman price for a plate block, which is an outdated 2001 price, to the Dorfman price for equivalent singles. We have done this because the Gibbons value in 2021 is considerably higher than the Dorfman values for the basic listed stamps.