Canada #337p(var) 1c Chocolate Queen Elizabeth II, 1954-1962 Wilding Issue, Upper Right Blank Winnipeg Tagged Blocks of 4, Four Different, Various Perfs., DF Gr Vertically Ribbed Paper, Streaky Satin Gum, Light Yellow Tagging With Extra Spot, VFNH

Four different VFNH upper right blank Winnipeg tagged blocks of 4 of the 1c chocolate Queen Elizabeth II stamp from the 1954-1962 Wilding Issue. Various perfs., including 11.95 x 12, 12 x 11.95, 12 and 11.95 and printed on DF Gr Vertically ribbed paper. Streaky satin gum. The Winnipeg tagged stamps for this value are all printed on horizontal wove paper. Some of the printings are on paper that shows clear vertical ribbing on the back, while others are printed on smooth paper. The paper varies in terms of it's reaction under UV light, with dull fluorescent greyish, greyish white, or bluish white being most common. Sometimes a slightly darker non-fluorescent brownish paper can be found.

Finally, the intensity of the taggant varies from heavy, which appears deep yellow in normal light, to lightly applied, which appears almost invisible to the naked eye in normal light. Under UV light the heavily applied tagging appears to fluoresce light yellow, whereas the lightly applied tagging appears bluish white. This difference could be more of an optical illusion due to the difference in the concentration of the taggant chemical used, or it could represent a real difference in the chemical formula of the taggant compound used. Which of these two it is, is not yet clear. In addition the CBN had some difficulty containing the taggant as it was being overprinted on the sheets. This was later corrected, but these blocks show an additional spot of taggant above the upper right stamps. The attached scan shows an example where the spot is above the left stamps, but the appearance is the same.

The gum generally varies from cream to yellow in colour, and the sheen varies from a satin sheen to a semi-gloss sheen. The gum can also appear either smooth or streaky. The grade of these blocks varies from VF-80 to VF-84. Unitrade values these blocks in these grades at $36.